"When life hands you lemons, what do you do Mr. Sanders?" Mrs. Gribbecki asked. I just looked at her. "Well. . . ?"

"I make lemonade, of course," she smiled and moved on to the next part of her discussion on optimism. I enjoyed being of help, but I needed something new.

"Uhm, Mrs. Gribbecki? I'm pretty sure this is lit class, not unrealistic life lessons," said a Raven Price. Her irritable voice caught the attention of the entire class. I never noticed her before now. She had a pretty face. She was one of those goth girls and her long black hair was so straight it looked unreal.

"Lighten up Raven of the Doom," my elder brother, Cam, said tauntingly. I sent a glare in his direction. The last thing I needed was more stress of being the brother of "Bad Boy Cam".

"Bite me, pretty boy," she replied angrily.

"It'd be my pleasure, my sweet." I glanced back at her and it surprised me to see that she was now blushing. How did he always do that?

"Enough of that Cameron." Mrs. Gribbecki looked slightly flustered herself as she tried to stare down Cam. Just as he was about to say something, the bell rang for class to end.

As we all spilled out into the hall, I managed to catch up with Raven as she sped past everyone without even a single glance.

"Raven!" She turned around so abruptly that I nearly crashed right into her.

"What do you want, Sanders?" Her voice was radiating hatred.

"I'm sorry about Cam, he's kind of an ass."

"You think?"

"Yeah. . ." We stood in awkward silence for a minute before I could see calm spread across her features. We looked at each other long enough to understand that she was grateful. I smiled politely and she walked away with a shy smile on her face.

I wandered to my next class relieved that I was no longer near my annoying brother. When I sat down, I realized that there were some new students in the class. A boy with shoulder-length, straight, brown hair that had a large streak of blonde hanging directly in his face. The girl standing next to him was looking directly at me. It would have been creepy if I hadn't found her so attractive. She had sandy blonde hair that feathered around her face; cradling it. She had brilliant blue eyes that were a pure, deep blue that reminded me of the ocean because they were so clear. Even standing there, she seemed to be radiating happiness. It was unreal. Together they looked so. . .beautiful. Everyone walking into the room was openly gaping at them. As our teacher, Mr. Yaun, was speaking to them, the girl was still looking directly at me. I was getting self-conscious. The boy next to her whispered something in her ear and she abruptly turned away. Finally, Mr. Yaun got in front of the class and announced we had two new students joining us. Everyone was seated quietly in anticipation. I could see my best friend Schuyler basically drooling over them both.

"I want you all to make Arriane and Dimitri feel welcome, and Mr. Sanders," he looked at me expectantly.

"Yes?"

"I want you to show them around. You know this school fairly well and you know the people. I would appreciate it, as I'm sure they would as well, if you would give them a tour after class. I'll write a note to your next teacher explaining why you won't be there." I nodded my head in agreement. "Good, then it's settled. Mr. Wood you can take the seat there on the left. Miss Collins. . . hmmm. It looks like you will get the seat next to Mr. Sanders." My heart picked up a bit and I smiled at her invitingly but she didn't even glance at me. She only looked at Dimitri halfway across the room.

After class, I waited for Arriane and Dimitri by the door. The first to come out was Arriane. She was even more stunning every time I seen her. "Hi," I managed to studder out. I shook my head. I was never nervous when speaking, even around a pretty girl. She looked at me and smiled. "I'm Xavier," I said with a little more confidence. She held her hand out for me to take it.

"Arriane; pleasure to meet you," she said, but when I shook her hand she laughed as if she had expected something else. "Xavier is a very peculiar name. Is it handed down, or are you the first of your family to have such a name?"

"I'm one of a kind," I grinned. Suddenly, Dimitri was standing close behind Arriane. "So. . . are you two ready for your tour?" Dimitri made me a bit nervous, although I didn't know why. He looked at Arriane for a moment and then spoke lightly.

"I'm sure we can figure it out on our own, but thank you for the offer." I looked at him in surprise. I insisted on giving them a tour but Dimitri was set on saying no. They walked off together and as soon as they were out of view, I felt a ping of sadness, but merely dismissed it as having an off morning. I hadn't known that at that very moment, my life had changed forever.