Disclaimer: I obviously don't own NCIS, only in my dreams

As she walked into the busy, bustling home-room, she suddenly knew fitting in here was going to be one of the hardest assignments she had ever faced. She looked around the room slowly, attempting to find any clues that might show her what to do, where to sit or who to talk to. She noticed how everyone's eyes flicked towards her, taking in what she was wearing and how she stood: who Ziva David was.

The room was clearly split, in one corner was a group of guys, laughing and joking without a care in the world. In front of them was the prettiest of the girls, bleached blonde hair and lashings of mascara, pointing and giggling towards the back corner. The rest of the room was split into smaller groups; the band crew, the girl jocks and the geeks. However the group Ziva was drawn to most though was the pair at the front of the room. One looked like a geek, unfashionable, inexpensive clothes and an unflattering haircut, the other was dressed in all black with a chunky dog collar around her neck.

However it wasn't the odd clothes or even odder combination of people that drew Zivas eyes to the pair, it was the bright, genuine smiles and laughs they shared. A set of smiles that was shortly directed at her!

''Come sit over here!" the dark haired girl shouted loudly beckoning and pointing to the empty chair next to her. Ziva looked to the boy for conformation to find him smiling shyly back and nodding gently. Ziva quickly walked towards them and took a seat, ignoring the points and giggles that she was attracting.

''Im Abby!'' the girl said with a beaming grin, ''And this is McGee!'' she said happily, her smile growing wider.

''Tim'' he said quietly, ''what's your name?'' he asked embarrassedly.

''Ziva'' she said with a quick smile, still wondering how the loud bubbly goth came to be friends with the shy geek. ''Im new. From Israel.''she finished, looking down at her hands as if she had said to much.

''Wow that's cool.''Abby said excitedly 'what it like there?' she asked happily.

''Its cool'' Ziva said uncertainly looking down at her hands again, ''well actually it's pretty hot there!'' Ziva said with a shy laugh, knowing that it was a pretty lame joke. Thankfully both Abby and McGee laughed distracting Ziva from the memories of Israel.

Ziva had moved to America for safety. After the suicide bombings that had killed her mother and beloved sister, her father had decided Israel was not safe for his daughter and she should therefore move to America. Ziva had been too shell shocked to notice the fragile gesture of care and protectiveness that her father was showing. Her body had gone through the motions of moving to a foreign country, but her mind had always been stuck back in Israel rewinding and replaying the memory if her home: smoking debris on the ground, no living people left inside. Stepping into the classroom of foreign faces was the first time it had sunk in, she had started a new life.

''Ziiii-vaaaaa'' Abby said loudly waving her hand in front of Zivas eyes ''You zoned out for a moment there!'' she finished with a smile.

Just as Abby finished talking, a wave of silence swept across the room. Ziva looked up to see a teacher had walked into the room and taken a seat at her desk. As she began to take a register Ziva began to really observe the world around her, she listened to the way the teacher said a students name and to the way they replied, she matched names to faces and stored them in her mind for later.

Just as the teacher (a Miss Fontanne) was reaching the end of the register another student walked in. The whole class immediately broke in to chatter as the jocks in the corner called out the their friend and the girls began to giggle- again. He briefly scanned the room before his eyes came to rest on Ziva, he gave a small but confident smile and nodded briefly at both Abby and McGee before jogging over to the back corner and greeting his friends with hi-fives and tales of his summer holidays.

''Thats Tony'' Abby said with grin, ''star of the football team and possibly the most popular guy in the entire school!'' she finished glancing in his direction. 'Nice guy as well' she added breezily, nodding at McGee for confirmation.

'Nicer than his friends' McGee muttered under his breath so only Abby and Ziva could hear. Ziva cocked her head confusedly, not really understanding, but she sensed it was not something to ask about so left it alone.

Ziva looked over towards Tony who was sitting in the middle of the swarm, telling yet another funny story about his summer. Even Ziva admitted he was very handsome, he had dancing green eyes and messy brown hair; he also had an impressive physique, it was clear he was an athlete.

Suddenly Zivas musings were interrupted by the cutting voice of Miss Fontanne, 'Mr DiNozzo, please let me finish the register' she said sharply 'then you can explain why you are so late!' she finished ignoring his protests that it wasn't his fault.

After the register and general start of term messages it was time for the first class of the day.

''Whats your first class Ziva?'' Abby asked politely, peering over to look at Zivas timetable. ''Ooooh Spanish! Same as me!'' she said excitedly, picking up her black, studded bag, ''let's go!''.

As the two girls wandered towards the Spanish classroom someone came running up behind them. ''Hey Abs'' the voice said cheerily. The two girls quickly turned around to see none other than Tony DiNozzo standing behind them, ''Did I hear you two say you were heading towards Spanish?'' he said with a huge grin, ''Tony, by the way'' he said to Ziva pointing one hand to his chest and sticking the other out for a handshake. Ziva shook politely and said that her name was Ziva. ''Pretty name'' he said with another charming smile, ''and nice to meet you''.

When they got to the Spanish room they found that the teacher wanted them to sit in alphabetical order. Ziva rolled her eyes, how old did the teacher think they were? She simply hoped that she didn't have to sit next to one of the blonde barbie dolls from the morning group.

''Hello Zeeevvah'' a voice said, before pulling up a chair next to her. It was Tony again.

''What are you doing?'' Ziva asked with a hostile voice. Tony just smirked: ''David- DiNozzo, their alphabetical, I sit here'' he said with another swift smile. Zivas first thought was to wonder how Tony knew her surname- as far as she could remember she had told no-one her surname, not even Abby. Her second realisation was that he had pronounced it correctly. Since she had arrived in the states no-one had pronounced he surname correctly.

''How did you know my name..'' Ziva asked trailing off embarrassedly looking up at his face, once again realising how handsome he was. He just tapped the side of his nose knowingly and told her he wouldn't reveal his sources.

Before Ziva had a chance to reply the lesson began. Ziva knew she was going to be bored; she already spoke fluent Spanish and she could tell her classmates were only just at a conversational level. The teachers gaze turned to Zivas corner of the room and Ziva just hoped she didn't get asked a question. She wanted to stay invisible for as long as possible. Thankfully her prayers were answered and she saw the teacher ask Tony a question: ''Tony, what is the word for apple?'' she asked, leaving Ziva incredulous at how easy the lesson was.

Tony looked stumped.''appel-a?'' he said in the best Spanish accent he could master. The class burst into laughter as Tony grinned again. Ziva just rolled her eyes, it was clear Tony had no-idea. As the laughter died away she turned to Tony and rolled her eyes again. Tony just leant in and whispered something in her ear:"¿por qué poner los ojos?". He leant back and smiled at her raising his eyebrows. Ziva just stared at him. There was clearly more to Tony DiNozzo than originally met the eye.

translation: ¿por qué poner los ojos? = why do you roll your eyes?