Low battery. Exactly the two words I didn't want to see right now. I sighed softly to myself. I hadn't brought my charger today, and I still had one and a half periods to go before my day was over. I tucked my phone in my backpack and tried to pay attention to my Trigonometry lesson. Unfortunately, since I hadn't been paying attention for the first half of class, nothing was making any sense. I started digging through my backpack, hoping I actually had a book in here to entertain myself.

After searching through my backpack, I finally found a book, buried under mounds of papers and binders. I pulled it out, frowning. Was this why my backpack was so heavy? Reading the title, I smiled slightly. "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince," I muttered to myself. At least I knew it would be a good read. It was one of the few books I'd read multiple times. I must've just thrown it in to have something in case of an emergency, like now. I smiled to myself. I straightened up and glanced at the board, only to find my teacher, Mrs. Coulson, staring at me.

"It's nice of you to rejoin us, Charlene." I scowled slightly. I'd been caught, and no matter how many times I told Mrs. Coulson I preferred Charlie, she still called me Charlene.

"Sorry, Mrs. Coulson. Just looking for a pencil," I said sweetly. Her expression hardened and I winced. Ugh. She was so hard to get past.

"See me after class, Charlene. We need to talk."

One of the boys in the corner spoke up. "Charlie's getting detention," he said loudly. I turned around to see the culprit. I should have been able to know without looking that it would be Devin Findlay.

"That's none of your business." I glared at him, wanting to punch the smug smile off his face. Did he really hate me so much? It wasn't my fault he'd been stupid enough that I'd broken up with him sophomore year. We were both almost 17 now. Why couldn't he let it go?

He rolled his eyes. "We all know it'll happen anyway."

I shook my head. Mrs. Coulson frowned. "Mr. Findlay, you'll be staying after class as well." She gave him a pointed look and returned to the lesson.

After class, I waited for everyone to leave, except Devin, and then walked to Mrs. Coulson's desk. "Mrs. Coulson-" I started. She cut me off before I could continue.

"Charlene, you really need to start paying attention. I've already sent an email to your parents about your cell phone usage in my class, and that I'll be taking a few disciplinary measures. Now, I'm not going to give you detention, but I am giving you a warning. If I see your cell phone again, it will be taken. I'm also going to start requiring you to take an extra page of notes as part of your grade so that I know you've been paying attention."

I started to protest but she held up a hand. "You have no other options besides detention. I'm sure you and I both would rather just worry about taking notes."

I slowly nodded. She was right on that account. My parents would kill me if I got detention. They would kill me when they got home already for using my phone in class. "Thank you, Mrs. Coulson," I said, my voice slightly weak.

"Stay for a minute and I'll write you a tardy excuse." She turned to Devin. "As for you, I don't want to hear anything like that again. If I do, you'll get much more than a talking to." Devin looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn't. Mrs. Coulson handed us our notes and we left, the bell ringing a minute after we walked out of the classroom.

I wish I could say I didn't see Devin again and that our paths diverged, but he was in my Chemistry class as well. We walked in silence until we'd almost reached the classroom. I glanced over. "Do that again, and you're dead," I muttered and walked into the classroom. I handed the note to my teacher and went to my seat.

I sat down and pulled out my notebook. We were getting assigned partners for the term project today. Hopefully I wasn't too late. I glanced over at Ally, my best friend, and mouthed, "Did we choose?" She bit her lip and nodded.

"Everyone else has a partner," she mouthed.

I stopped myself from groaning. Of course I was too late. It took an entire passing period to cross the school, and that was walking quickly. I'd taken my jolly sweet time. This meant I'd be working alone, or with whatever idiot was dumb enough not to come to class the day we chose partners. I glanced around the classroom, only to find every single seat filled. I sighed and attempted to pay attention. I only managed, however, to doodle over an entire page of my notebook.

By the time the bell rang, I packed up and got ready to go. My teacher called over to Devin and told him to wait after class, and then he came over to me. "Charlie, I just wanted to let you know that since you were late to class, we'd already picked partners for our term project." I looked up at Mr. Havers and nodded. "I'm happy to inform you, however, that there is one other student without a partner. I hope you'll be able to work together and both get a good grade on your project." He gestured to Devin. "Have fun with your partner." Mr. Havers walked over to Devin and I stared. This couldn't be true.

I glanced up at the ceiling. "Please, let me die before I have to work with him," I muttered and walked out of the classroom.

I plopped down on my couch as soon as I got home. Devin! I had to work with Devin on my chemistry term project. I was going to fail, I just knew it! I sat there for a while and stewed, completely ignoring my homework and everything else I had to do. I heard the front door open and sprung up. I didn't need the added bonus of my little brother right now. I grabbed my backpack and hurried upstairs to my room. I slammed my door shut even as I heard a loud "Charlie!". I threw my bag onto my bed and sat beside it.

A loud thump sounded and I looked down. The Harry Potter book I'd been about to read during Trig had fallen next to me. No wonder it had been so loud. These books were thick! I slowly picked it up, fingering the cover. For all my show of being an airhead in some of my classes, I actually did love reading. I'd read my first Harry Potter book when I was seven, and I'd finished the series for the first time two years later. Half-Blood Prince had always been my favorite in the series. I opened the book, ignoring my brother's continued shouts, and started reading.

I'd gotten about halfway through the first page of the fifth chapter (the one at the burrow with Fleur) when I groaned. My stomach rumbled and I felt a tugging in my gut. I closed my eyes, a dizzy sensation passing over me. When I opened them, I was smack dab in the middle of someone's yard. I hurriedly got up, my stomach no longer hurting. I looked up and an old man with a long white beard stood in front of me. "Ah. You must be our newest reader. Am I correct?" the old man asked.