RPOV

I couldn't believe I had said something to Dimitri. I walked back to the table with my heart hammering against my chest. When I sat down, Avery shoved my shoulder roughly.

"What the hell, Rose?" she snapped.

"What?" I asked irritably.

"Why'd you have to do that? What those guys did was hilarious." If looks could kill, Avery would have me six feet in the ground. But that didn't matter.

I snorted. "You thought it was hilarious. I felt sorry for him."

Avery glared at me. "Why would you go and help a loser? Do you want our reputation to be ruined? My reputation to be ruined?"

"Your reputation?" I said. "What kind of reputation is that, Avery? Being 'popular? Or being the school's biggest slut? That isn't something to be proud of."

"Like you'd understand," Avery exclaimed. "You're still a virgin."

"Big deal," I retorted. "I'm proud I'm a virgin, not a whore like you. I should probably tell Adrian right now about that one-night stand you had with Eddie. And about that other one-night stand you had with Ivan. Or about the time you and Mason had that one-night stand."

Avery's face paled. "You wouldn't."

I smiled wickedly at her. "Why wouldn't I? Oh! How about I tell Adrian how you got pregnant with Eddie's kid, then aborted it. I'm sure he'd stick around after that." With that, Avery ran out of the cafeteria. I'm sure our 'friendship' is ruined, but I couldn't care less. I've spent four years (all the characters in this story are seniors in high school) dealing with her shit. I ate my food and by the time I finished, the bell rang, so I went to class.

~Secret admirer~

After the whole insident with Avery, I haven't heard a word from her. But whenever I'd walk by her fake-ass friends, I'd get glares. I would easily ignore them. I've got better things to do than worry about Avery and her prostitute groupie.

~Secret admirer~

It was sixth period, the last period of the day, and I was waiting for the last bell to ring. I wanted to get home, to forget about the day (except for the fact I spoke to Dimitri) and just have a better day tomorrow. But for the remainder of the period, I would have to hear Mr. Alto drone on about crap I didn't care about.

DPOV

Sixth period. My favorite period of the day. The only thing on my mind was Rose. Her beauty, her kindness. Just thinking about her made my heart flutter. I looked up at the clock, fifteen minutes until school ended.

~Secret admirer~

When the bell rang, I put all my things away and went to leave. I was so close to the exit, but someone called my name. I froze. It was probably the guys who knocked my things out of my hands during lunch, but whoever called my name was a girl. It wasn't those guys. I turned and was surprised to see Rose running over. I gulped.

"Hey, Dimitri," she said happily.

She knows my name, I thought dreamily.

"Um, h-hi," I stammered quietly.

Rose started walking, I hesitantly started walking beside her.

"You're not much of a talker, are you?" Rose asked, eyeing my. I felt my heart hammer in my chest.

I shrugged. "I talk sometimes."

She smiled. After a minute of silence Rose giggled. I felt my cheeks heaten.

"No, no, I'm not laughing at you," she reassured. "Don't get embarressed. I was just thinking."

"Oh," I said, looking down, my cheeks turning a deeper red.

"You look cute when you blush." Rose quickly shut her mouth when she said that, as if she said something bad. I looked at her and gave a small smile. "You should smile more."

I nodded.

"Why do you let the kids here pick on you?" Rose asked.

I looked down and shrugged. "I don't like to fight back. I'm an easy target."

I felt something on my hand, when I looked, I saw Rose's fingers gently touching mine. I felt my stomach do a back flip.

"Don't take the crap these people give you," she said softly. "You're unique, that's why they pick on you."

I looked at her. "Unique?"

"Yeah, I have a feeling they're jealous of your uniqueness. Or maybe they're just immature. Probably both." Rose looked at me with genuine care in her eyes. "It's okay to stick up for yourself, Dimitri. Don't take their crap."

"Okay," I whispered. I looked at her. "Why're you so nice to me?"

She gave a small smile. "Everyone deserves a little happiness in their lives, don't you think?"

I nodded.

"Give me your hand."

I gave her my hand. She got a pen out of her backpack and wrote something on my palm.

"If you want to talk to me, call me," she said. She smiled. Then, before I could react, she went on her tiptoes and pecked my cheek before running off.

After a minute of standing like an idiot, I looked behind me, where Rose had run off. I looked at my hand, where she wrote her number, then I looked at where I had stopped, right at my house.