The bell had just rang for the lunch shift. The teacher was discussing a group assignment that we would have to turn in for next week in which we would have to work in pairs, which is why I was so eager to leave when the lunch bell rang. I hated having to socialize with the other shallow students in my class and I really didn't want to think about going back to class and having to be paired up with a partner by the teacher since no one ever wants to work with me. I just wanted to get my food and go eat somewhere alone without being bothered.

I made my way to the end of the lunch line and looked around at the other students while waiting to get my food. Same as always, everyone was laughing with their friends and enjoying themselves, taking no notice of me. I looked over at Yugi and his friends, my heart aching a little. I bet they all already picked their partners for the assignment. Even till this day, I wish they still talked to me. I had never really had any friends growing up until I came here and met Yugi. He seemed to be just like me in every way; shy, quiet, and even a bit socially awkward. Yet he had friends, and I still don't. If it wasn't for his stupid friends, I probably would have had a chance of not having a lonely life. Yugi caught my eye and I looked away quickly. Nothing's ever going to change…

I sighed and grabbed a tray. Making my way through the line, I paid for my food and made a beeline for the cafeteria door. The quicker I can get outside, the quicker I can be alone. But in my process of making my way to the door, I didn't notice Ushio walking towards the door as well. Just before I got there, he stepped in front of me, smiling menacingly.

"And where do you think you're going? It's against the rules to leave the cafeteria without a teacher's permission during the lunch shift."

I looked down at his feet. I knew this was true, but no one ever cared. No one ever even noticed. Like always, it was like I was invisible, except for today. Ushio must be in an extremely bad mood for him to even be bothered with stopping me over something so trivial as leaving the cafeteria.

"Let me deal with him."

No. Anytime my Yami stepped in during school, I ended up having to stay late for detention. Or even a few days worth of suspension. I'll be fine. I looked up at Ushio defiantly.

"No one has ever cared before. I don't see why anyone should care today." My confidence faltered slightly as his expression changed to a scowl.

"Are you defying me and the school rules? I'm a hall monitor, and as so, I'm required to enforce these rules and report you if you break them." Whatever. He's never stopped his friends when they skip class. Or when they smoke behind the gym during Phys. Ed. He's just a bully. And I really wasn't in the mood to be bothered today. Before I could stop myself, the words slipped out of my mouth.

"What do you fucking want?" My eyes widened and I quickly looked down, bracing myself for what could happen next. Where did that come from?

"What did you just say to me?" He grabbed me by my collar and pulled me to him, my toes just barely touching the ground. My food fell to the floor and splattered all over my shoes.

"N-nothing. I was just… I was…" I could sense people starting to stare. I glanced up and saw Yugi and his friends watching us. Great. I was thankful my hair was long enough to hide the red of embarrassment in my face.

"Back talk like that can get you sent to the headmaster's office. Or worse…" I looked up into his face and took a deep breath. He raised his free hand, preparing to strike. I closed my eyes, waiting for his fist to make contact with my face.

"Leave him alone, Ushio." That voice. Oh, I definitely know that voice. Ushio let go of me and I dropped to the ground. I straightened out my shirt and looked up at the source of the voice. I found myself looking up at the most beautiful sight. Ayumi Sato. She was a quiet girl with a light pink braid down her back and a giant purple bow tied at the end. She moved here from America when she was younger and had the faintest southern American accent. It was pretty adorable mixed with her japanese dialect. She had this sweet, innocent look about her and I had taken a liking to her from day one. She sat two seats in front of me in class so we were always in the same group for discussions or in-class assignments. She was probably the smartest girl in our grade.

Ushio never liked having confrontations with girls. I never understood why. "He was breaking rules; and talking back to me. I should report him to the headmaster."

"He didn't do anything wrong until you provoked him, so just leave him alone." She reached out her hand to help me up. I looked up at her thankfully as she pulled me to my feet. Ushio scoffed. "Next time you won't be so lucky." I assumed that meant he would just find me after school later, but why worry about that now. He walked away and I looked down at my feet shyly.

"Thanks," I whispered. Being helped by a girl during a fight sure wouldn't help me make any friends, but I really didn't care. I was just in shock of the fact that Ayumi stood up for me. She pulled me over to a seat in the corner and handed me a napkin.

"To clean your shoes," she said, smiling slightly. I started wiping the food residue off my shoes. "Ushio can be such a jerk sometimes. If the teachers weren't so scared of him, they'd revoke his hall monitor privileges. It doesn't really matter though. He'll never make it to a University with his grades."

I couldn't help but smile at this. It is true. Ushio was already held back twice and was on his way to being held back again. But why was Ayumi being nice to me or even talking to me for that matter. The only time we ever really spoke to each other was in class during group discussions. And even then it was just about the topic the teacher assigned.

"Ryou?" Oh lord, she must think I'm brainless. I'm just sitting here not saying anything. But what can I say? I'm never really good at conversations. So I just said the only thing that was really on my mind at the time.

"Why did you help me?" She looked a little taken aback. I don't think she expected me to ask that. But her expression quickly changed to a smile.

"I hate bullies. I have three older brothers and they always pick on me. One thing it's taught me is how to have a tough backbone in situations like that. Ushio drives me nuts anytime he messes with anyone. And you're really such a nice guy."

Why would she think that? I can recall plenty of times when my Yami would take control of my body during class just to stand up to someone. And the things he would say were never pretty. I can't imagine she would think that was nice. Don't be stupid! She's paying you a compliment! Don't just sit there. Do something! I smiled again, which seemed to satisfy her. She leaned back and went on talking. I wasn't really listening though. I just sat there watching her while she played with her food and talked more about her family. Bloody hell, she's really quite adorable. My eyes traveled up her neck to her lips. Those beautiful lips. Wait… they stopped moving. I looked up at her eyes. She was staringat me. She must think I'm a complete bloke. I haven't really said anything. Why do I have to be so awkward?

She cocked her head to the side and smirked a little. "You know, I don't believe what people say about you."

"What do you mean?" What do people say about me? Are there rumors? Who would start a rumor about me?

"About what happened at your previous schools. About all those people going in to a coma. I've kinda watched the way you act with other people. You're too nice to ever have done anything like that. " Oh, if she only knew. Personally I didn't really know much either. Back at my old schools, the spirit was powerful enough to block me out entirely. But lately I had been getting strong enough to at least sense what was going on when he controlled my body. Ayumi had gotten quiet again. I kept letting my thoughts run away and forgetting to talk.

"Actually, Ryou, I kinda wanted to ask you something; before stupid Ushio got in the way."

"Okay…" Why? What could she want? And why doesn't she think I'm weird, I added as an afterthought. I waited for her to respond but she just sat there pursing her lips. "Well?"

"Well… I was hoping you'd be my partner for the group assignment. I can't really stand working with anyone else in class because they never put forth any effort when I work with them and they just end up getting an A for all of my hard work. But you always do so well on every assignment." She paused for a second. "It'd be nice to work with someone smart for a change."

Really? She thought I was smart. I bit my lip, trying to hold back my smile. She seems to make me smile a lot. Something I haven't really done in a long time. "Yeah… I mean… Sure." She giggled quietly.

"Awesome! I'll tell the teacher when we get back to class. And you can meet me at the library on Saturday to work on it." She stood up to go throw away her tray and handed me her left over apple. "Here. Since Ushio ruined your lunch." I took it from her and she smiled at me before she walked away.

I sat in the corner for the rest of the lunch period with an amazing high.

Maybe she liked me. I took a bite of Ayumi's apple and leaned back against the wall.I mean she did compliment me a few times. And she wasn't completely freaked out when I just sat there staring at her. Not to mention she saved me from getting sent to the nurses office.

"Don't be stupid, she was just being nice. She wouldn't have done any of that if you didn't get assigned that stupid group assignment in the first place." My Yami tended to interrupt my thoughts like this during school. He really loved to make me feel bad. I squeezed my eyes shut.

Just shut up! Can't I just be happy for once?My Yami retreated back into the ring and didn't bother me for the rest of the day after that. The bell finally rang for us to go back to class. I waited for most of the people to clear out before I got up to leave. I finished off the apple and threw it away before I left the cafeteria. I couldn't wait for Saturday to get here.