Disclaimer: Does it seem likely that I'd own any of this? Therefore it goes without saying, I own squat.

"You're not awake yet? Class is going to start in about ten minutes! Wake up Evy!"

I cracked an eyelid open and looked at my frantic roommate- a perky ball of energy before eight o'clock, who was running this way and that way, getting ready for class. Slowly sitting up, I rubbed my eyes. "Relax, your immaculate record won't be tainted by my being late to class."

"Of course it will! The headmaster personally asked me to make sure that you made it to class on time! And I refuse to shrink from my duty!" my beloved roommate vehemently pronounced as she threw my uniform at me.

I loved Julie, really I did, but the girl could be a tad uptight, " I don't think that he'll hold it against you. But," I quickly added as she gave me the most venomous glare she could, "I'll be quick." I put on my uniform fairly fast- it took a mere five minutes and this was before I'd had any caffeine yet - and went to brush my teeth.

Grabbing my arm as soon as I came out of the bathroom, Julie who had been waiting at the door very forcedly pushed me towards class. We entered the room seconds before the professor and barely had time to sit in the first row before he made quick work of attendance and started lecturing. History was usually one of my favorite subjects but lack of sleep and professor Garth's monotone droning did me in and I started nodding off about five minutes into the class.

Half an hour into the class and thirty minutes of my trying to stay awake later, Julie poked me in the side…once more and finally managed to snap me out of it, just as Reid Garwin decided to make his entrance.

"Mister Garwin, how nice of you to finally join us."

"Sorry," he said with a shrug, "had some things to take care of," he finished with a wicked grin that had half the girls in the room sighing and fantasizing about the meaning behind the words.

"Please stay after class so that we may discuss whatever was so important that you simply had to miss a half-hour of my lecture," the professor quipped before going back to the lesson.

Reid only smiled as he took the stairs two at a time to find his usual place next to Tyler Sims. I had to hand it to the boy, nothing fazed him. I looked over at Julie to ask for her notes, since mine were half-scribbled words that turned into squiggles where I'd started to nod off, and noticed for the first time the far-away look in her eyes as she followed Reid's trajectory.

Frowning I looked back and forth between the two and it dawned on me for he first time that my shy, perfectionist, goody-goody roommate had a crush on the school's resident bad boy. I lightly slapped my forehead, why hadn't I noticed before. Adoration seemed to pour out of her eyes as she kept looking at him. Finally I brought her back to reality with a nudge.

I turned slightly and looked back at Reid through the corner of my eye sighing in turn. My friend could not have chosen a worst candidate. An equally bad candidate she could have, I though, as I let my eyes slide to the right to find Tyler, and then corrected myself as my eyes landed and the very taken Pogue and Caleb. Could have been worst, I kept telling myself. It really was none of my business but I didn't want to see my friend get hurt. Though she was too much of a sticker for the rules for my taste she was the first to befriend me when I transferred from a regional school during sophomore year.

My eyes returned to Reid once more, only this time he was looking back with that grin of his in place. I smiled accepting I'd been caught looking and turned slightly in my seat so that wouldn't be tempted to turn and look again. I glanced back at Julie to see that she was also looking at me; maybe I needed to work on my subtlety. She sent a questioning glance my way, but I only shook my head in response. I'd try to get it out of her later. If nothing else, she was consistent – she always did go for the nearly impossible.

She wasn't bad looking by any means; there was no such thing as an unattractive girl at Spencer Academy. The school seemed to chose its students based on looks as well as academic performance. Julie was the type of girl who could eat like a horse and never gain a pound, I knew because I saw her eat everyday and she never went near an exercise tape or a gym. Naturally slender and blonde, she had some of the prettiest gray eyes I'd ever seen, a well-proportioned body, and she was intelligent to boot. Maybe there was a chance for her…if she'd just let loose once in a while and showed the side of her that wasn't such a stick in the mud.

The bell rang and brought me out of my reverie. I gathered my books and dodged Julie's questions with a promise that I would explain my thoughts to her at lunch.

I walked to my next class, study hall, thinking about the nap I'd be able to wedge between my classes. I found my usual secluded spot in the school's immense library, plopped my books down at my table, and immediately rested my head on my arms. I needed at least ten hours of sleep every night in order to function properly. Scientific improbability, probably, but it was undisputable.

I couldn't fall asleep, strangely enough, but I kept my head down to dissuade others from interrupting my quiet time. My thoughts went back to Reid and Julie's attraction to the boy. Reid, and his cohorts, seemed to come right out of the pages of an Abercrombie catalog, so I could understand an initial attraction, but had she not been in the same classes as the guy since freshman year? Did she not know that he was modern day Don Juan and to be avoided at all cost?

What a hypocrite I was, being also guilty of admiring him, but the difference laid in the fact that I knew him for what he was and did not harbor any fantasies, unlike many of the female populace at Spencer. There was no harm in admiring art if the opportunity arose but that was as far as I'd be willing to go. And I needed to find out if Julia though the same or if I needed to stock up on Kleenex boxes. Maybe I was being harsh, I only knew Reid by sight and reputation after all.

I heard someone approaching and decided to ignore whoever it was. But the footsteps stopped and two or more of the chairs at my table protesting being moved. Foreign knees bumped mine and I didn't really have a choice but acknowledge who had dared to interrupt me while I was thinking on "grave matters."

I rubbed my eyes slightly and looked to see who it was. Speak of the devil…it was Reid and his constant sidekick.

He stared, so I stared right back. Boys were never something I felt I needed to be nervous over.

The silence was thickening and I was getting tired of his attitude, he was the one who'd come to me after all. "Did you want something?"

A slow smile spread across his face and I wondered how much trouble I'd find myself in.

I looked to Tyler to see if he'd speak up but he simply shrugged and rubbed his lips as though trying not to smile.

I responded as anyone else would and raised an eyebrow in inquiry.

TBC

A/N: Short first chappie, but this just had to be written it's been playing with my mind and just demanded to be put into words. Review as always greatly appreciated. Also the rating may change in later chapters, haven't decided on that point yet, but if I do I'll let you know a chapter before.