A/N: Welp. Here I am. writing AU High School fics because the god damn plot bunnies don't go away. It took me three days to write nearly 30 pages of this thing, and I don't know how close to being done I am. Please don't hate me for the cliche high schooliness.
And of course, have to Lalonnello, because I've been watching Reborn lately and dear god am I obsessed. Not with just the show, but with the pairing. I also happen to be an avie Reborn/Luce shipper but we can get to that another day.

So, this chapter is short, but I promise there's more (if you're a fan of the story, that is) and I'll be updating a few times a week if I can get to editing the chapters.

Also feel free to point out any errors in spelling (especially the names because they're spelled so many ways all over the place that it's hard to decide what's right.) and grammar and such. Or if anything sounds awkward!

Reviews are my best friend, even if it's just to say that you like the story. Criticism and welcomed oh-so-much as well!

Excuse OOCness, as well. I'll just say that they are teens and thus act a little bit different than they would as adults in the anime. That's my excuse!

And now I will shut up so you can read. Enjoy~!

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Blackness. Darkness. Nothing. It was warm…comfortably warm.

'No point in getting up now…' Lal thought lazily. A smile formed on her lips and she curled up into a tight ball under the covers of her bed, ready to drift back into sleep.

But when is being a teenager ever that easy? Lal's multiple alarms blared near and far from her warm cocoon all at once, shocking the girl into wakefulness and coaxing several curses from her mouth.

"LA-AL! Get u-up!" Called her mother, pulling forth more curses as Lal sat up and rubbed sleep from her eyes. She sat at the edge of her bed, legs dangling and back hunched as she continued to blink sleep out of her eyes. After a few minutes of idleness she slid off her bed and stumbled clumsily toward the bathroom to get ready for the day.

'Friday.' Her thoughts were muddled but that brought another smile and she went more or less cheerfully about her morning ritual. Once everything in the bathroom had been accomplished, she stripped out of her pajamas and rooted through her closet for something to wear for school that day. In the end, she decided to go the comfortable route and pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a simple, matching t-shirt.

"Ahh…just what I need to suffer through one more day of school." Lal muttered to herself while gathering the few binders and notebooks that she needed for the day. She shoved them noncommittally into her backpack while simultaneously looking for her wallet and keys. Only one more week of school and then she was done – the privileges of being a senior.

"Lal, dear, do you want me to make you breakfast?" Her mother asked while lal scrambled around downstairs in search of her phone.

"What? Oh. Oh yeah. Um. Sure, mom." She replied distractedly. She ran quickly back up to her room and tore apart her desk and bed before glancing at her clock and seeing it plugged in and charging. Of course.

"Christ, I need to go to bed earlier…" She muttered as she pulled it free and shoved it into the pocket of her sweatpants.

"Lal, hon, you've got to go, or you'll be late!" Lal's mother called up the stairs while shaking the paper bag that held Lal's breakfast. The girl ran down the stairs and snatched the bag from her mother's hand, calling out a hurried "Bye!" before picking up her bag and keys and running out to her car.

"Late, late, late…" She hissed under her breath, putting her foot to the floor and speeding the entire way to school.

"Laaate, fuck, I'm late." Lal growled, pulling into the student parking lot and running from the car to the building that held her locker. When she got there, her run slowed to a jog and then a walk, finally she stopped, several feet away from her destination.

Standing in front of her locker, having an animated conversation was a blonde boy and the crazy-haired, suit-wearing Reborn. It took Lal a moment to recognize the guy waving his arms around like a maniac, but the moment she did, she got a dangerous look on her face and walked with determined steps over to her locker.

Reborn looked up when he noticed someone approaching him and his friend. It took him only a moment to realize who it was. The look of surprise on his face made the blonde boy lower his arms and cock his head in confusion.

"What is it, Spiffy?" He asked, while Lal stood with her arms crossed and her scary looking scowl still in place.

"Er. You may want to leave now, Colonnello." Reborn replied, putting his hands in his pockets and pulling his lips up into a smirk.

"Eh?" Colonnello caught the direction of Reborn's gaze and turned around. He looked down at the frowning girl in front of him and smiled, "Well hey there, Lal!" His face was the epitome of relaxation and ease, but Reborn could tell from how tense the rest of him was that he didn't like being this close to the much smaller girl.

"You're in front of my locker, Zipperhead." She said through gritted teeth. Colonnello looked somewhat taken aback by the insult, while Reborn simply cracked a bigger smile and allowed a chuckle.

Lal stood there, arms crossed, scowl firmly in place and eyes narrowed as she stared down the tall blonde in front of her. After a few seconds it was clear that Colonnello had lost his nerve and moments later his hands were up and he had backed into Reborn in his haste to run from the situation. Reborn quickly sidestepped him and caught his arm as he fell backward, helping his friend to his feet and shoving him on his way.

"Do as the lady says, if you want to keep your ass, Zipperhead!" Reborn called after him, earning two middle fingers in response. When Reborn turned back to Lal she was already finishing up with her locker and closing it to go to class.

"I've got to go to class, talk to you later, Spiff." Lal said hurriedly.

"Lal, wait." Reborn said as she turned away. Lal paused and looked at Reborn, a little confused by his hesitation.

"Reborn?" She asked, looking up at him and then down at his hand as he held something out. Once she realized what it was, Lal laughed nervously and shook her head.

"You're…kidding, right?" She asked, looking at the ticket in his hand and then up at his face. She got no answer, "Reborn. You're kidding, yeah?" She waited several seconds before prodding him with another question, "Rebooorn?"

Finally, Reborn shook his head.

"No, I'm being serious." He looked her in the eye and actually grinned, "Come on, Lal. Let me take you to senior ball. You skipped out on every single social event in favor of whatever it is you do when you're home since freshman year. I'm not going to let you miss this." Lal was shaking her head at this point. Class had been forgotten as she leaned up against her locker and stared at Reborn, carefully coming up with her well-thought-out reply.

"I'm not wearing a dress. And there's no way in hell you'll ever get me to." She stated matter of factly. Reborn's grin just grew into an infuriating smirk.

"No, no, see, you're going. Colonnello may be scared shitless of you, but I know how to get you to do things for me." The disgusted face Lal made at the lewd remark eased a chuckle from the hat wearing teen.

"Here, take this, Lal. Please?" Reborn pleaded with her, waving the ticket in front of her face. Lal stared at it with no expression for several seconds before she finally let loose a massive sigh and took it from his hand.

"You didn't give me much notice, you know." She muttered, but she accepted defeat. Reborn could have gotten anyone he wanted as a date for prom; instead, he'd waited until a week before to ask her. Probably because he knew she would feel horrible if she said no.

"You don't have to worry, Yuni already agreed to help you get your dress and all that girly stuff." Reborn answered.

"Yuni…already…oh you bastard." She shoved him roughly, "You're lucky I like you. You had this all planned didn't you?" Reborn's cocky grin was all she needed to see to confirm her assumption.

"Now go to class, Lal. You're late!" He turned and strode off, leaving Lal feeling way more pissed off than when she saw the army brat in front of her locker. She leaned back up against her locker and stared at the ceiling, wondering why the hell Reborn wanted to torture her so much. Once the tardy bell rang, she decided to actually make her way to class, sliding into her seat just as the teacher began calling out names for attendance.

She wouldn't be focusing at all today.