Clare walked down the hall to one of her only classes for this semester. She would probably not have enough credits by the end of her four years, anyway, and she would need to take a fifth year anyway. So, she decided to ease the future stress away by only taking two classes. It would be better than trying to cram in extra classes.

She walked into the room, and took an empty seat next to Alli.

"Clare!" Alli gripped her best friend in a tight hug. "How was your summer?"

"Eh, fine. Now, tell me about you and Dave. Did he ask you out yet?"

"No."

"So, you're being a feminist, huh? Making the move yourself-"

"No, Clare. We hung out a little, but he told that he just got over a break-up. It would be wrong to convince him that he'd be okay to go out with me."

"Alli, come on! You're never going to get anywhere by just sitting back. You have to take charge!"

"Well, if taking charge means sitting back and waiting for him, than that's exactly what I'm doing." She grinned.

"Don't act dim." Clare sighed. "Hey, didn't you say that Dave was taking this class, too?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Maybe you two will get paired to work together."

"Come on. You think things like that just happen? He'll probably get paired with someone more…popular. Like Bianca. She's one of the most popular girls here."

"But she has Drew. Do you really think she'll dump him to go out with someone younger than her?"

She shook her head. "No. I guess you're right… What am I going to do? He knows that I like him, and …I-I just don't know."

"Well, you better think fast. Here he comes."

Alli stared longingly at Dave, captain of the football team.

Dave smiled when he saw Alli, and went to take a seat next to her.

Alli leaned over toward Clare, and spoke through her teeth so Dave would not hear her. "Pinch me. Am I dreaming?"

"Um, no. You're not. We're in class, Dave's next to you. …And hearing every word we're saying."

Dave was out of his seat, with his head tilted towards their conversation.

"Dave!" Alli jerked her head up so fast that their foreheads collided. "Oww!" She rubbed the crown of her head. Her blush, which immediately showed up, was very noticeable, even on her dark skin. "I am so sorry." Her voice always went up an octave when she was nervous.

"It's ok, Alli." He flashed his teeth; the signature smile which helped to make him one of the hottest guys from their old high school. He sat back down in his seat.

"So…" She began, trying to start a quick conversation to diminish the previous event. "Do you think this is going to be an easy class?"

"I heard good things. Paying attention would definitely help, but I heard that the teachers are lenient." That was another thing she loved about him: he wasn't like all of the other jocks. He was actually smart. He didn't cheat. He didn't break hearts. It was more likely for his heart to get broken, just like what had happened this Summer.

"Well, that's good." Just as the words left her mouth, the instructors walked in, taking center stage.

They introduced themselves. The woman began first. She was a short, petite female who looked to be in either her late twenties or early thirties. "Hello, everyone. I'm Professor Spencer Hernandez, and this is Professor Nathan Parker." She gestured to the man on her right. He was a bit taller than Spencer, and was clearly younger.

"Hi." He waved a little nervously; the way one would when they were meeting someone new. He got more comfortable very quickly. "Welcome to Life Relations! First off, can you call us by our first names? Yes. But, please, no 'Nathaniels'. I get that too much. But, you can call me Nate." There were scattered chuckles.

"Next on the agenda-what this class is really about. Like the class title says: life relations. This means experiencing many events that happen in life. From marriage to pregnancy to birth."

"To buying a new sports car." A lot of guys laughed, and some even "wooed!". "Which puts you in debt…" The girls joined in, snickering. "Yes, the various major and minor events that happen to everyone… Uh, what's next? Attendance. Do you have to come everyday? Hell yeah! Well, you should. It's mandatory for you all to be here for every class. We try not to hassle you too much about coming in late, but you can't just come in at 11:30 with some McDonald's, wearing sweatpants and looking like a mess."

Alli laughed.

"What?" Clare asked. "You were hoping that you could do that?"

She shook her head. "No. I think it's funny that people come to school looking like that. You have to look good at all times."

Clare rolled her eyes. Same old Alli…

Spencer cleared her throat. "As for partners, we did get more boys that were interested in the class than what we usually expect."

"So don't complain if you get paired with someone of a sex that you aren't …preferably interested in."

Spencer spoke again. "I'll start the pairings after the attendance. Alli Bhandari…Fiona Coyne…Bianca DeSousa…Clare Edwards…Elijah Goldsworthy…K.C. Guthrie…Jenna Middleton…Zane Park…Riley Stavros…Adam Torres…Drew Torres…Dave Turner…"

After everyone had raised their hand to be marked present, Nate started calling out groups. "Zane you are with Riley." The two boys shared a brief glance, happy that they were going to be partners for the course. "Uh…Dave is with Alli." Dave seemed to be happy, yet calm, but Clare knew that Alli was dying inside. The pairing continued. Fiona and Adam were partners. K.C. got Jenna. Drew was, no shock here, assigned to be partners with Bianca. This was it. "Clare and Elijah. Do you prefer Eli?"

Nate looked up when he received no answer. "Um, I guess someone is not in class today because they're smoking crack." He joked. "Clare, you can just pair up with Dave and Alli until your partner decides to come to one of his classes."