He hardly noticed the sound of footsteps echoing in the hall. Or the gentle knock on the classroom door. In fact, even the noise and general hum of the class didn't bother him. It was the lack thereof that caught his attention.

Dirk glanced up from his notebook, curious as to what was going on. It was then he noticed the young man standing at the front of the room, speaking quietly with the teacher. Who was he? Before he could ponder that thought any further, the people around him burst into excited whispers.
"New kid?"

"...cute!"

Mrs. Banks spoke a few words to him, then called out in an attempt to silence everyone. Her request had little effect, so she increased the volume of her voice. Eventually, she was audible over the static. "This is our new student." After those few words, the room fell silent again. "Go on," she urged the boy, "introduce yourself."

He blushed, fidgeting uncomfortably. "H-." He choked on his words, stuttering to a stop. That only seemed to fluster him more. Clearing his throat, he tried again, this time with much more gusto. "Hello..."

Wow. The more Dirk looked at him, the more he realized his classmates were right. He's adorable. His messy, dark hair looked as if he'd tried to cut it himself before settling on styling it. Two dorky buck teeth were set in his serious overbite. His eyes- though he couldn't quite make out what color they were through his shades- seemed to pierce through everything they glanced at. And his thick accent... Dirk sat there for a moment just listening to the tone of his voice as he began to answer questions.

After a bit, he tuned in to what the young man was saying. He was sixteen and had a pet dog. He just recently moved. He came from an island somewhere off the coast of Australia. Basic introduction stuff, although Dirk had to admit that the tidbit about the island was rather interesting. It was only then that the most basic question was brought up.

"So... What's your name?"

The teen adjusted the frame of his glasses anxiously before speaking. "It's Jake... Jake English."

Hearing the name startled Dirk so much that he jerked forward in his desk. The sudden movement startled the pens and pencils he had out, sending them tumbling over the edge onto the floor. He felt every set of eyes- even Jake's- on him. D-damn! Think fast! I can't afford to lose my cool now!

Rubbing at his eyes underneath his shades, he yawned. In a groggy voice, he mumbled. "I'm awake. I swear...!"

His cover-up sent the class into a fit of laughter. Mrs. Banks herself even began to chuckle at Dirk's antics. He let out his breath, relieved. Thank God no-one was paying attention... Jesus, what the hell is he doing here, of all places?!

"Well, mister English," Banks spoke up, "perhaps you can fill Rodrick in on what happened in the past half hour or so."

Rodrick? You've gotta be kidding me... He heard a few snickers around him and grimaced. Why does she insist on using my real name...? It's so lame.

She motioned to the empty desk beside Dirk. "That will be your seat for now, unless you have any objections." After Jake indicated that he had none, she grinned at him as he made his way down the aisle. "Welcome to Financial Literacy- and welcome to Northgate!"

A steady buzz of noise built up in the room again as Jake sat down. He tugged his messenger bag off his shoulder, sliding out a piece of paper from its smallest pocket. Dirk watched him, intrigued as he pulled out a map of the school building and began to circle various rooms and places of importance.

Wow, it's been a long time since I had to do that myself. His mind wandered to his own first day at Northgate High. Wandering the halls, all alone. At one point, he had gotten lost and been twenty minutes late to his second period. Not only was the campus fairly large, it was also a labyrinth for those who hadn't memorized its contours. No wonder freshmen always hated their first semester.

An angry tapping brought his attention back to the real world. Jake was furiously clicking the end of his pen on the map, clearly frustrated. Dirk found himself highly amused at seeing him in this sort of state. Raising an eyebrow, he reached out and took a hold of the map. "Need help?"

Jake looked over, a bit startled by the stranger's kindness. "Oh... Well..."

"What do you need? I can help."

"...I was looking for the music rooms. I'm in Advanced Wind Ensemble..."

What? Jake's a band geek? Oh, man! Dirk had to bite his lip to stop himself from laughing. In fact, he also had to hold in his potent mix of emotions- confusion, anger, but most importantly, excitement. It thrilled him to finally be able to meet Jake in the flesh, but of course he had to try and keep it cool in front of his peers. The struggle proved difficult, and he had to stop and take a deep breath to calm himself several times throughout the rest of the period.

He leapt up as soon as the bell rang, shrugging his bag over his shoulders. "Hey. Jake. Where you headed?"

He glanced up at Dirk, stuffing a notebook back into his bag before rising from his seat. "Um. Trigonometry?"

"That's just down the hall. Come on."

Jake barely made it halfway down the aisle before he became distracted by the small crowd that had gathered around him. Dirk shrugged it off, continuing his route. He called out behind him, "I'm leaving now!"

After a few moments, a hand grasped his arm. "Wait for me...!" Jake fell in step next to him, keeping pace with Dirk's quick, confident strides. "Say... what's your name again, chum?"

He began to laugh as he skidded to a stop, chuckling to himself. "Man, I never thought you'd ask."

Jake looked puzzled. "What are you-"

Gently grabbing a hold of his shoulders, the blonde spoke with a smirk planted firmly on his face. "It's me, Jake. It's Dirk."