A/N: Please read and review!

The day we met was pretty normal for me. It was in the middle of the summer, so I did what I always did. I ran around the small community, barely drinking any water because that had cut into my time which was not good. My dad found me in one of my favorite trees. He stood below me, looking up at me as he had crossed his arms.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"We're having guests for dinner," he told me. "We're trying to get you cleaned up."

Those were the words I dreaded the most, and I made a face at him. I only tolerated being cleaned up on Sundays because Grandma could be pretty scary, and it was one day of the week. Only temporary, in my mind.

"No," I said, holding tight to the closest part of the trunk of the tree.

My dad gave out a long-suffering sigh. "So, it's going to be one of those days. . ."

He climbed into the tree, and I laughed my very phlegmy laugh. My dad was somehow able to carry me out of the tree, and he carried me back to the house, though I did squirm a lot to make it pretty difficult for him. When he walked into the house, he handed me to Mom, and she gave me a glass of water as she started to brush the tangles out of my hair. I had to sit still despite how painful it was for me as my mom brushed my hair. It dried as an extremely tangled mess. I was probably drinking far too much water far too quickly which could never end well for anybody.

She took the glass out of my hand. "You'll make yourself sick."

I sulked as we waited for Dad's friend and the three boys which didn't take long as both of my parents went to greet those guests. My mom looked at me, quirking an eyebrow at me and made a small hand gesture at me, and I knew had needed to walk over to them and greet them. I knew the older two, Dick and Tim, but the younger and more scowling one was a mystery to me. He wore a slight and aloof expression of someone who believed he was much better than the people around him, and I glared at him, wanting to punch him in the face.

Then, I started to really feel a little queasy, and I went to go to the bathroom. Tim stood in my way, wanting to talk about something, but he didn't get the picture I didn't want to speak to him right then. I threw up all over him, and Mom quickly went to take me to the bathroom before she went to help the poor boy.

I swore I heard the third and sullen sounding boy say:

"Even she finds you distasteful, Drake."


"I do not see why we have to go there," I said when Father told me we needed to go to some dinner that was hosted by a close and old friend of his. "And, I especially do not see why we must make the effort for them."

Grayson had done his best to explain to me how good a friend he was to Father, but I refused to really make sense of it. The only thing that mattered to me at the time was nobility and power one's blood would give to them. To me, the family of his very close friend was not important. As the dutiful son, I obeyed my father and allowed myself to be taken to the home of his friend to have a dinner with that family.

An outsider would have said I sulked the whole drive to the small and inauspicious home of that friend of Father's. If I had to be there as the son's duty to his father, then I wasn't going to ever enjoy it.

I kept my comments to myself about the small and unimpressive home, understanding that one must never insult one's host, especially when they would be serving the food. My expression I started to wear started to catch the attention of our hosts' only child, and she narrowed her eyes at me, clearly understanding what I saw of my surroundings. Or. . .she may have been pretty curious, trying to decide what to make of me. I was a stranger in her home.

She started to glare at me when she realized I saw myself as much greater than the people around her, and it was pretty clear she was pretty irritated by that sort of belief. Her glare was pretty icy, but it never bothered me as I returned a glare for her of my own. She began to seem a little more queasy looking and tried to politely leave, but Drake stopped her to start talking with her. Her eyes flashed with a slight irritation over what was happening. For once, I was interested over what could happen next. The look that passed across her face meant that it was going to be pretty interesting and unexpected.

She threw up all over Drake, and for a moment, she did not look like she felt bad about doing it. That look she gave Drake was like he had deserved it. Because she threw up all over Drake and was not apologetic about it, I decided she could not have been that bad. Her mother quickly walked her out of the room to help her and check to see if she was alright before she quickly walked over to Drake to help clean him.

My sullenness was long gone, and I started to feel very much amused over what had just happened.

"Even she finds you distasteful, Drake," I said to him.

Drake looked back at me and narrowed his eyes, but before he could even respond, the woman rather firmly grabbed his arm and pulled him with her. He knew enough to never argue with that sort of woman.

"Is she alright?" Father asked his friend.

The friend wore a look of concern. "I think she drank too much water far too fast."

He quickly apologized before checking to see if his daughter was alright, and he led her back into the room. She looked much better than before.

"I'm sorry," she said, but by the way her eyes flashed, I could tell she was only saying it to be pretty polite. Drake had irritated her, and she only partially meant her apology.

She was sitting and placed her head in her hands, preferring never to really speak to anyone else for the rest of the night. I walked over to her, making her look up at me.

"What?" She asked me.

Despite her obvious shyness, she had a loud voice when she had wanted it. That took me aback, though I was not going to show it to her.

"Nothing," I quickly replied to her.

She sat up, and as she studied me, she tipped her head to the side.

"Then why d'you walk over here?" She asked me. "If it's nothing. . ."

"I have nothing to speak to you about," I dismissed her. "The fact you are trying to bring out some conversation with me makes me believe you are rather low."

Grayson must have heard that comment, and he was going to step in to apologize for me and diffuse the situation. She, though, actually seemed to be very amused by that, and she cackled loudly.

"That's good," she said, still snorting. "You're not that bad."