Disclaimer:I do not own Secret Circle just Madelyn Warren and her family.

I slammed my hand on the alarm clock and groaned.

"Time to wake up." My grandmother announced as she walked into my bedroom and flung open the curtains. "Rise and shine cupcake."

I groaned again as I covered my head with my blanket to shield myself from the light coming from the window.

"Breakfast's on the table." My grandmother continued as she left the room. "You can't be late for your first day back at school!" I focussed on the door and it closed with a loud bang.

I rose from my four poster bed and walked to my en-suite bathroom to shower and get dressed. Once I was dressed I walked down the stairs and sat down at the dining table. After I finished my food I grabbed my bag from the hook in the reception and gave my grandmother a kiss on the check before leaving. I got into my BMW convertible, put my sunglasses on and looked in the mirror before leaving from school.

I got out of my car once I arrived at school and leaned against it. "What are you staring at?" I demanded as I saw someone staring at me.

"I'm sorry - I didn't mean to - I'm sorry," The girl said helplessly.

"You better be." I snarled as I turned away.

All around me teenagers were greeting one another, shouting hello; the girls giggling and hugging, the boys horsing around. It was an excited bustle.

I went to my first class which was writing for publication, an English elective, and I was glad I had it. I

liked creative writing. I took a seat in the back of the class.

"Center on the basketball team," I heard Jeffrey Lovejoy say to the girl I met in the parking lot. She must be new. "Also captain." His hair was as auburn and curly as it was the last time I saw him.

"Already hitting on the newbie Jeffrey? Wonder what your girlfriend would say?" I chuckled as I walked up next to him.

Suddenly a shadow fell over us. Or at least that was how it felt. "Hello, Jeffrey," she said. Her voice was low for a girl's; vibrant and almost husky. I smirked.

"Faye." Jeffrey's voice, by contrast, was noticeably unenthusiastic. He looked tense. "Hi."

Faye leaned over him, one hand on the back of his chair, and I caught the scent of some heavy perfume. "I didn't see much of you over summer vacation," she said. "Where've you been?"

"Around," Jeffrey said lightly. But his smile was forced, and his entire body was taut now.

"You shouldn't keep yourself hidden away like that. Naughty boy." Faye leaned in closer. She was wearing an off-the-shoulder top - completely off both shoulders. It left a great deal of skin exposed just at Jeffrey's eye level. "You know, there's a new horror movie at the Capri this week," she said. "I like horror movies, Jeffrey."

"I can take them or leave them myself," Jeffrey said.

Faye chuckled, a rich, disturbing sound. "Maybe you just haven't seen them with the right girl," she murmured. "Under the proper circumstances, I think they can be very... stimulating."

Jeffrey wet his lips, looking fascinated in spite of himself, but also scared. Like a rabbit in a trap.

"I was going to take Sally down to Gloucester this weekend -" he began, voice strained.

"Well, you'll just have to tell Sally that... something came up," Faye said, raking him with her eyes. "You can come get me Saturday night at seven."

"Faye, I - "

"Oh, and don't be late, all right? I hate it when boys are late. Oh, and by the way," she said, lifting one hand in a languid gesture that showed off her long red nails, "she's from Crowhaven Road too."

Jeffrey's jaw dropped. He stared at the girl he was flirting with a moment ago with an expression of shock and distaste, and then he quickly turned around to face the front of the room. Faye was chuckling as she walked away to take a seat next to me.

"She's a neighbor." I hissed to Faye as our English teacher came in. "How come I didn't know?"

Faye shrugged her shoulders, "She just moved in. She's living at number 13. Name's Cassie."

"And since you've all had a chance to talk during your summer vacation, now I'll give you a chance to write," our teacher said. "I want each of you to write a poem, right now, spontaneously. We'll read some of them aloud afterward. The poem can be about anything, but if you have trouble thinking of a subject, write about your dreams."

There were groans from the class, which gradually died into silence and pen chewing. I bent over my notebook with my heart beating rapidly. A vague memory of my dream last week intruded. But I didn't want to write about that. I wanted to write about him.

This heartache I just can't explain,

All I ever feel is pain,

That passion I long for true love for real,

His gentle caressing what I long to feel,

A love that when we are together

we'd rather die than be apart,

A love that when our lips meet

I can feel the kiss from his heart.

I'll wait forever to have this special love,

I'll even wait for all eternity in the heavens above,

All this waiting for him may cause me pain and strife,

But I'll wait, because this love comes once in a life.

Mr. Humphries was calling for volunteers. Predictably, no hands were raised... until one went up next to me.

The teacher hesitated. "Faye Chamberlain," Mr. Humphries said at last.

He sat on the edge of his desk as Faye came to stand beside him, but I knew that he would have moved away if he could. An almost palpable air of tension had filled the room, and all eyes were on Faye.

She tossed her glorious mane of black hair back and shrugged, causing her off-the-shoulder top to slip down a little lower. Tilting her head back, she smiled slowly at the class and held up a piece of paper.

"This is my poem," she said in her lazy, husky voice. "It's about fire."

I dream about fire
Tongues of flame licking me.
My hair burns like a torch;
My body burns for you.
Touch my skin and your fingers will stick
You'll blacken like a cinder.
But you'll die smiling;
Then you'll be part of the fire too.

As the entire class watched, riveted, Faye produced a match and lit it. She touched it to the paper and the paper caught fire. Then, walking slowly, she moved to stand directly in front of Jeffrey Lovejoy, waving the burning paper gently before his eyes.

Howls, whistles, and desk banging from the audience. Many of them looked scared, but most of the guys looked excited, too. Some of the girls looked as if they wished they dared to do something like that.

Voices called out, "See, Jeffrey, that's what you get for being so cute!" "Go for it, man!" "Watch out, Jeff, Sally's gonna hear about this!"

Jeffrey just sat there, the back of his neck slowly flushing dull red.

As the paper was about to burn her fingers, Faye sashayed away from Jeffrey again and dropped it in the metal wastebasket by the teacher's desk. Mr. Humphries didn't flinch when something in the wastebasket flared up, and I admired him for that.

"Thank you, Faye," he said evenly. "Class, I think we can call what we've just seen an example of... concrete poetry. Tomorrow we'll study some more traditional methods. Class dismissed."

Faye walked out the door and I quickly followed.

The next lesson I had was Biology and as I walked into the lesson I knew I would dread it. The person I least wanted to see was in this class. I was the last to the lesson so all the seats but one were taken. I turned to some red headed boy. "Move!" I growled. He scrambled to get his books when my asshole of a teacher walked in.

"Stop!" He ordered and the boy stopped. "Madelyn there is a seat over there" He pointed to where Nick was sitting. "I hope that won't be a problem"

I narrowed my eyes "Of course not."

Begrudgingly I sat down next to Nick who didn't look happy to sit next to me either. I could already hear the whispers break out around us. Everyone knew that something had happened over the summer. That one of New Salem's longest and most popular couples had broken up. Especially as they both happened to be in the Club.