Sitting at the table with the Drama kids, hoping that they wouldn't randomly break out into song, Sharpay stared over at Adam.

"I mean, who does he think he is? He just sat there all of English looking at Mr. Todd with blank eyes. He didn't even look at me. He had that stupid smug look on his face and now he's – well he's sitting there by himself, eating! I mean god, you think that people would understand how things worked around here. People LOVE me!" Sharpay complained.

"Sis, don't mean to offend you because your amazing presence is really, truly a gift - but he's not doing anything. He sat there minding his own business in English and he's continuing to do the same an hour later at lunch so why are you going on about him so excessively?"

The sudden expression of opinion from Ryan came as a shock to Sharpay, who was used to her brother silently sitting there nodding at everything she said.

"Who asked for your opinion Ryan?" questioned Sharpay in a way that told Ryan it was time to lock his opinions up in the place he kept any sense of style he'd once possessed and go back to compliments.

"Ignore me Sis. Mirror?"

"That's better."

But sitting there in the cafeteria hall, Ryan looked around and took in the usual table groups that were never altered and then took in this Adam character who was new on the scene and therefore groupless as of the moment. Contrary to current rumours, as a heterosexual male, even Ryan could appreciate the striking quality that Adam had. He could also appreciate that only if you looked at him long enough, did this quality surface. Ryan looked at his sister and saw she was taking Adam in too. She never gave people the time of day. Ryan thought that possibly, Sharpay was noticing this physical attractiveness too and even though she was smirking, if Ryan had felt able to voice his opinion he might have said that the look on Sharpay's face was even one of…interest.

Dear God.

Kill me. Seriously, right now. God can you please send someone down right now from up there in heaven and kill me. Look, I know I'm an atheist and I realize how that might have offended you but please, kill me. Wouldn't that be a win/win situation? Did you have anything you wanted me to take for you on my way to dance with the devil once dead? Or maybe you're playing some little joke on me, and this is actually hell. I'm already there. In which case I can't take anything with me for you because I've arrived but seriously, I have about 100 bucks in my wallet if you want it.

"Ok I'm going crazy. What the hell is wrong with me?" Adam said out loud as he looked around the cafeteria. Luckily, no one had come near enough to him all lunch to have possibly heard him talking to himself. This was the only positive of being a loner, insanity was a private thing. Playing on his laptop and writing fake letters to God was a good distraction for a while, but how could you ever really avoid hell? Wasn't the point of hell to suffer? Adam closed his laptop and glanced at the tables which surrounded him. He'd never witnessed a school that was so segregated. Everyone was categorised, labelled, branded and written off as a Nerd, Drama Kid, Emo, Goth, Basketballer, Anorexic, Fatty or Loner. And those were just the groups Adam could remember. His old school had been nothing like this. People had had their groups of friends and still mixed with others. People weren't placed into groups due to their appearance, sport or interests. You were just, well – friends.

This was prejudice in its purest form. Never the journalistic type, Adam suddenly felt like writing an article. "SCHOOL IN NEW MEXICO PRESENTS GUINEA PIG-LIKE SITUATION IN WHICH A BUNCH OF 16 YEAR OLDS REPRESENT PERFECTLY WHY RACISM WILL ALWAYS EXIST." Adam typed that into his Mac. Well, it summed up the situation but was probably too long to make it on the front page of even his old school's student newspaper. Adam erased the 24 word long headline and changed it to "INSANITY: IT ALL BEGINS AT SCHOOL." He even felt that "WEIRD" could have gotten the message across. Never one for following much through, Adam closed his laptop and walked off to get his books for his next class. The bell hadn't gone yet but waiting in a classroom alone had to be better than this.

Sharpay was sick of Ryan. He really was a bit of a pushover. He should stop being so damn compliant. Sharpay enjoyed the compliments, but she began to feel that the assurance he always offered was not completely genuine. Shaking off this thought, Sharpay flounced off to Math. Great, Math. Her worst subject.

Sharpay arrived at Room 42, did her lip gloss in the reflection that the glass door offered her and walked in. She was always early to class – she had to make sure that she got her pick of where to sit and who to sit next to (luckily Mrs Sills the math teacher didn't care for assigned seating) and due to her self confessed vanity, Sharpay hated coming into class as one of the crowd. She had to be one step ahead – it never failed her.

Except for maybe this time. Sharpay walked into the classroom and her eyes fell on the boy from English sitting at the front of the class. Sharpay stopped short, caught her breath and spoke.

"Well hello to you to."

The boy hadn't looked at her yet but now looked up as if he had thought he was alone and smiled sarcastically.

"What are you doing here?" Sharpay questioned.

"What are you doing here?"

"Don't answer a question with a question. It's so irritating."

"Don't flounce around like you own the place. It's so irritating."

"I'll have you know kid, that I pretty much do own this place. I don't flounce and don't need some new kid telling me not to. I can if I want, anyway."

"Kid? Wow it procrastinates too! Ok, flounce if you want. But you're not cool."

"Not cool? Wow I'm so offended. Head of the Drama Group, boys asking me out left right and centre but still, the opinion of some random kid who's been at the school one day is really killing me over here."

"Yeah well obviously my opinion means nothing. But it's on the table. I'm sure you're a nice kid as well."

"As well? I never thought you were a nice kid."

"I meant apart from what you make out to be – that fake personality you seem to put. As well as that character, I'm sure you're a nice kid. Get me?"

"So you're saying I have multiple personalities? Seriously go back to mars, ET."

"Wow. Cutting. Seriously I'm bleeding over here."

Sharpay screamed. And walked over to a desk as far away from this kid as the could and sat down waiting for everyone else to come in.

"Oh where ARE my manners? I'm Adam."

"Sharpay."

"I know."