I can't stand the feeling of being watched. It's unnerving. It feels like a drop of sweat sliding down your back, right along your spine, but you can't reach back and wipe it away. It's the stickiness of wearing all black with your hair down on a 100 degree day, never resting from the sun.

That's how I'm feeling now.

I spin around on my heels, eyes sharpened like daggers. They scan the bustling crowd for anyone who may meet my gaze. People rush to class, shoving up against each other to avoid barely brushing up against me. I smirk, the tormenting feeling of being watched gone. But it creeps back up slowly and I shudder, glancing down at my pear phone to try and coax myself from concentrating on it.

But it's still there, causing me to feel somewhere between a tickle, a burn, and numb. I clench my jaw, my eyes flickering to look around without letting my head move. The feeling heightens and I growl before slamming my locker and shoving my phone in my pocket.

"What?" I yell. People pause briefly to look at me before my sinister glare scares them away. Suddenly, I feel a hand on my shoulder. I jump with a yelp and spin back around, only to find Beck leaning against my closed locker door, his shaggy black hair partially covering his left eye. A breath is let out slowly through my nose as my jaw clenches once more and I stare up at him with my eyebrows pushed as far down in front of my eyes as I can get them. He laughs, his perfect white teeth gleaming in the hallway light.

"Breathe," He smiles, kissing my cheek. I sigh and relax, my hand running through my hair.

"Yeah, well, I have rage," I mumble, taking his hand as we begin the trek to class. He pauses outside the door, taking both of my hands in his.

"I love you," He says softly before kissing me. He pulls away and something's different about him, his gaze seems… distant. I bite my lip and nod, not an unusual reaction, and lead him into class. He sits in the back row and I take a seat to his left, dropping my bag next my feet. Sikowitz greets everyone individually, his eyes narrowing as he greets me, earning a sarcastic smile in return. I cross my legs and arms, the feeling creeping back.

"Oh for God's sake!" I fly out of my chair just as the bell rings. "Why don't you just take a picture? It'll last longer!" Beck's hand takes mine.

"Calm down," he says carefully. I'm in full fledged rage now, there was no stopping me unless they called a SWAT team.

"No, I won't calm down!" I cry. "Someone keeps staring at me and it's getting on my last nerve!" The words were ground out. I look around, and everyone else has gone back to Sikowitz's lecture. I sit back down with a 'Humph' as Beck takes my hand. I sneak a glance around, scared that the feeling is either truly coming back or I'm imagining it. Then my eyes land on Tori, and my suspicions are confirmed. I pull back my lips in obvious distaste, but she smiles in return before looking back to Sikowitz. No one ever smiles at me. I'm a machine of terror, not a source of happy, cuddly love. The nerve she has to smile at me. How dare she! No one gets away with smiling at Jade West!

"Okay!" Sikowitz says loudly with a clap of his hairy man hands. "Today you will be doing…" He flutters his hands in an attempt to get guesses from the students. No one says anything and he looks at us quizzically before sighing and grabbing half a coconut from his desk. "Today you will be doing romance scenes," He winks. I groan, burying my face in my hand as I pull my phone out of my pocket and scroll to The Slap. I'm about to update my status to, "Sikowitz wants romance? Well I think we all know what he can kiss," when the device is snatched from my hand.

"Hey!" I scream. He's there, smiling like the idiot he truly is.

"If you want this back, you're going to have to go first!" I take a deep breath.

"Fine," I mutter, stomping to the impromptu stage in the front of the room. He follows me, shaking the pear phone in front of me. "I pick Beck."

"No no no," he says, shaking the phone as he would a finger. "You must pick…" He turns to the class, "from the magic coconut." He says it as if we're enchanted three year olds, when in reality we're young adults wondering about his mental capabilities. I thrust my hand into the nut, pulling out a slip of paper. I read it.

"You've got to be kidding me," I growl. He glances at my paper then smiles wickedly before moving off to the side of the room to sit next to Sinjin. I sigh, my disappointment quite clear to the rest of the class. "Can I trade?"

"The magic coconut has spoken Jade West," Sikowitz says hauntingly.

"Tori." The word barely leaves my mouth before everyone turns to her. But our eyes are already locked. She looks confused and nervous at the same time. I stamp my foot impatiently. "Get up here, Vega." She frowns and rises slowly, ignoring the stares of her fellow classmates. She steps onto the stage and stands next to me. My own heart flutters as her hand brushes against mine.

"Okay," Sikowitz announces. "You guys are a couple that just got reunited after a tornado ripped your hometown apart. Jade, you were gone buying fireworks when the tornado ripped your house apart and you're glad that Tori isn't dead. GO!" I turn to face her, and she fidgets in front of me, unsure of what to do. I swallow nervously, embarrassed.

"Do something," I mutter barely audibly, unsure of what to do. My heart rate is picking up. I look into Tori's eyes, confused, nervous, and my hands shake.

"I don't know—" I wrap my hands around her upper arms, probably too tightly, and pull her to me, our lips crushing together. My head is spinning, and a sudden heat floods through my body. My eyes snap shut, and then it's over. I pull away, a stunned look on Tori's face. I glance back to my classmates. Sikowitz's face goes from disbelief to admiration to glee to insanity all in less than five seconds. He claps, but I barely hear it. I'm feeling so lightheaded and dizzy that I think I may actually pass out in front of all these people. My eyes catch Beck's, then Andre's, then Cat's. Sinjin's mouth is wide open. I swallow and look back to Tori. Then I'm out of the classroom. My feet have carried me, chest heaving unbelievably for breath, out the back door of the classroom. I slump down against the wall, taking deep breaths in through my nose and blowing them out slowly through my mouth. I have to focus on something other than what just happened. I rest my elbows on my knees and bend my head forward, clasping my hands behind my head.

"Hey," I'm too tired to look up, but I know who it is. They sit down and a hand finds my thigh and moves up to my knee. "Sikowitz said that was the best impromptu he'd ever seen."

"It's probably because he's a creepy old man," I mutter, taking a deep breath. I sit up, looking forward, refusing to meet the gaze that hungered for mine.

"He's an acting teacher. He said he's never seen such fearlessness on stage like that."

"Go away Tori," I murmur.

"Why?"

I finally tilt my head to meet her gaze.

"Are you okay?" She asks, her brown eyes earnest.

"No."

"Do you need to go to the nurse? You look like you're about to pass out."

"Just leave me alone Vega!" I stand up quickly, instantly regretting the decision. The blood rushes from my head, leaving me temporarily blind. I stumble, finding support in the brick wall behind me, but Tori's already grabbed my arm. I shrug from her grip before starting to walk back into the classroom.

"Wait," she says quietly, taking my hand. The touch feels electric and I nearly jump at the contact. I look at our hands and follow her arm up to her face again. "That… For me… You're really great, Jade." I shrug and walk back into the classroom, pondering what exactly that meant, and take my seat next to Beck while ignoring the incredulous stares.

I'm great?

How?