Victoria Kirkland mentally screamed in her head. She would have coupled it with some hair-tearing and possibly a few swear words here and there (her older brother unfortunately, was not exactly the best of influence a sibling could have) if not for the fact that she was in literature class. What was once her absolute favorite subject was soon becoming one of her most hated classes when she saw who she was partnered up with for the midterm project. The teacher must have some kind of personal vendetta against me. Why must I be paired up with Francis? Bloody pervert.

She gritted her teeth, refused to look at the smirk she knew was growing on Francis' face, and held her gaze on the projector screen. She scanned the list noticing who her friends were partnered off with (Eliza, lucky bitch, you get to be with Lilli). She unconsciously let her eyes drift to Alfred's name before catching herself and forcing herself to look at a more neutral name. Shit. I do NOT care. I do not care. Damn. Shit. Fuck. It's just Alfred. ALFRED for crying out loud. Her eyes slid back to his name and her heart dropped.

Alfred F. Jones- Bella Janssens

Bella was a natural beauty with a touch of sensuality that stemmed from her being Belgium. She was not bright but she definitely was not stupid either. Kind, and even with a bit of a manipulative side to her, she attracted the attentions of many, many boys. Her fluency in French did not help either. Pretty. Exotic. Nice. Alfred had no chance of escaping. Of course Victoria had already known about his fairly obvious crush from the start; they were friends, but it still hurt a bit. Damn. She winced. Who was she kidding? It hurt a lot to know Alfred's elation at the prospect of spending even a little more time with Bella. If it was anyone else, Victoria knew she could play dirty; she was the queen of that in her underclassmen years, but she was over that. She couldn't have anyways. It was Bella after all. And she was her friend.

Victoria tried to not let any of her emotions or thought show on her face, but Alfred had noticed her discomfort and walked to her with a semi-concerned face.

"Vickie? Are you okay?"

"Jones. I am perfectly fine…" She hesitated. "I just do not enjoy the idea that I am about to spend two weeks with that frog. Can you believe that my grade depends on him?"'

"Haha. Francis isn't all that bad," Alfred smiled.

"He took your boxers while you were showering during the swimming unit and cut holes in it."

"It's all in good fun Vickie"

"…Stop calling me Vickie"

"Anyway. Enough about you. Did you see who I'm partnered up with? Did you see?"

Yes I saw you bloody fool. Stomp on my heart some more would you? " No. Much to your disappointment Jones, I do not spend every moment of my life caring about you." Lies. All complete and utter lies.

Alfred frowned momentarily before smiling again and becoming excited, "I'm freakin' partnered up with Bella." He pumped his fists a few times for the full effect drawing some chuckles from the people in the class; Bella included who just smiled at him. He turned to her and said, "You're going to love working with me babe," making sure he gave her his best smile before turning back to the conversation with Vickie.

Fuck him. "Whoa, there Jones. If you continue, you might fuck her over with your stupidity," Victoria mocked.

"Don't worry Vickie, you're safe. I would never go for you. You're too uptight for me... Being all British and stuff," laughed Alfred at his own joke.

"At least I am not a stupid fat American." The classroom hushed. Everyone knew Alfred was sensitive about his weight, but Victoria didn't care all she could feel was the overwhelming sense of pain from the confirmation of what she had always suspected. He had the audacity to look shocked before shaking it off as a joke.

"Aww Vickie. That hurt." Alfred whined in that annoying puppy voice of his.

Victoria just rolled her eyes. "Excuse me now. I need to start on my project now." She could not stand it anymore. Scanning the room quickly, she spotted Francis flirting with a few of the girls as always. Dashing toward him, she latched onto one of his arms before sharply saying, "Bonnefoy. Now. We need to discuss our plans for the project." Away from Alfred.

"Au revoir, my beautiful ladies," he cooed at his giggling classmates and gave them all air kisses, "Mon petite lapin is calling and I must answer before she beats me up with those formidable eyebrows," he continued while patting Victoria on the head while she glared at him from behind her glasses.

"And fuck you too Bonnefoy."