Teresa stepped into the grade 10 classroom and looked around; it was typical, old two person desks in the middle of the room surrounded by counters that had gas knobs and sinks. She scanned the already full room for a seat and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw an empty table in the back.

She sat down and didn't bother talking to anyone, there was no point. Instead, she let her mind wander to her brothers. She hoped they were okay but she knew after what they had been through they would never be normal again. That summer they had moved, and only one week after they had unpacked the unimaginable had happened – their mother had died in a car crash with a drunk driver. She shuddered remembering the months that followed; after her mom's death her dad had started drinking and it turned out he was a violent drunk and would have blackouts. He would come home before dinner and it started, anything would set him off. Teresa tried to always be in between her dad and her three little brothers so she bore the most bruises, cuts and once a broken arm. She touched her arm relieved to find it didn't hurt anymore. At the end of their summer they had decided to go to school to keep up a normal facade, Teresa would rather be beaten every night then have her and her brothers separated in the foster system. She was 16 now, only 2 more years until she could take them and move out.

Teresa looked up from her arm to see that the teacher had already started talking. She tried to concentrate but she found her mind wandering to worrying about her brothers. They were right- she did worry to much. She shook her head and tried to listen to the words.

"..And then I went to teachers college for three years and.." She looked down and took out her notepad to start sketching. She stopped when she heard a door open and a second voice start talking.

She looked up to see a boy with curly blonde hair smiling charmingly at the teacher explaining why he was late. He had bright blue eyes and judging from the way the girls were looking at him and the guys weren't laughing she guessed he was as charming as he looked. She rolled her eyes as the teacher let him off with a warning looking slightly swayed.

She was about to start sketching again when she realized the only seat left was beside her. She huffed out of frustration and moved her bag off the spot beside her and onto the floor before pulling her hair out from behind her ear to create a barrier between her and the person who was soon to sit beside her.

She heard the chair pull out and someone sit down before the teacher started talking about her life story again. She started to draw her old house. She had loved her old house – her old life. She hated this town, she hated her new house and she hated this place. Sometimes she wondered if remembering her old life was the only thing keeping her sane. She was brought back from her thoughts when she heard a confident voice from beside her.

"Hi, I'm Patrick Jane."

"Teresa." She replied curtly.

"What, I don't get a last name?" She heard the fake hurt in his voice.

"Nope."

Through the short conversation she didn't bother looking up and continued sketching. She paid no mind to the boy next to her and finished her rough sketch. She looked up in time to hear the last part of the teacher's speech.

"..So these are the seats you will be sitting in for the next few months so I would like you to spend a couple minutes to get to know your partners." The teacher finished and sat down to do attendance while the students started talking.

She decided it was better to confront her partner right away to show she really didn't care for small talk so she sat up to look at Patrick. She was startled momentarily at the intensity of his blue eyes as he searched her and broke eye contact. It was almost as if he was seeing right through her. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat under his intense gaze.

"So, Patrick, why were you late?" She decided that was a good topic and she was relieved to see her words broke the searching look in his eyes as he thought of a response.

"Alarm didn't work, couldn't find anything to make my lunch with, dad wouldn't drive me – the usual. What's that on your arm?" He sped through what he had done but slowed down when his gaze settled on a purple bruise that was partly showing under the sleeve of her t-shirt.

"Fell." Teresa said pulling her sleeve down self-consciously and turning back to her sketch to end the conversation. She could feel his gaze on her but ignored it and concentrated on shading in the trees around the house.

"What are you drawing?" He asked curiously, all the previous intensity gone but Teresa doubted it was forgotten.

"My old house." She liked to answer in short replies, it gave little away and it was something she commonly used as a defence mechanism.

"I noticed you were new here." It wasn't a question. He regarded her for a second before adding, "You moved from Illinois this summer right?"

"How did you know that?" His statement had rattled her enough to turn and look at him quizzically.

"I can just tell." He replied simply and she rolled her eyes.

"Sure you can." He just smiled to himself in a way that annoyed her enough to look back at her sketch. They were silent for a few minutes and Teresa had almost forgotten his presence when he suddenly spoke.

"Would you like me to show you around the school?" She looked at him eyebrow raised but one look in his eyes and she knew he was being sincere. She bit her lip contemplating because in all honesty she had trouble finding this classroom this morning and she still hadn't even begun to look for her locker. He stayed silent and watched the emotions play across her face.

"Okay." Her voice was still unsure but at her acceptance he flashed a dazzling smile.

"Good. First of all, after this class, we will go find your locker." She drew her eyebrows together wondering how he had known this but shrugged it off with a smile and went back to working.