A/N So I'm glad people liked the last chapter…yay. I hope this one doesn't bore you. I know where I'm going with this story, but introducing everything is so annoying. Gotta get it out of the way. Oh, and FYI: Jenny's in this story, only she's waaaaaaaaaay less accident prone.

Palm Woods High wasn't really that different from Logan's school back in Dallas, only a bit smaller. Though for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why it was named that when there wasn't a palm tree in sight for a hundred miles around.

As Logan headed off to lunch, he reflected on his day so far. Most of the people he had met were pretty friendly, but the majority of his teachers had decided to be annoying and make him stand up and introduce himself, like they were still in middle school. The only teacher he actually liked was his AP Calc teacher, Mr. Rollins. He was a funny guy; he seemed to know all the kids and made fun of them, but in a friendly way. Other than that, his English teacher was a bitch, his APUSH teacher was too monotone to pay attention to, his gym teacher was the typical dictator, and his Spanish 4 teacher was one of those crazy types who felt the need to act out everything she was saying.

Logan got in the lunch line and appraised the menu. He felt someone tap his arm and turned around. A small girl with curly blonde hair was looking up at him.

"Hi. Logan, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'm Jenny Tinkler. We're in the same English and Calc class."

"Right."

"Ah, man of few words I see. Do you wanna sit with us?"

"Depends, who's 'us'?" Jenny shrugged.

"Just me and a few other people. Why, do you have somebody better to sit with?"

Logan chuckled. "Apparently not. Okay, I'm game."

Jenny shot him a smile. "Great. We're over by the windows. Oh, by the way, where are you from? You sound like you're from the South or something."

Logan silently cursed his annoying tendency to slip into that stupid drawl. "I'm from Dallas."

"Aw. You're a cowboy. That's cute."

"Yeah, except I've never ridden a horse in my life."

Jenny winked. "That's not really important, now, is it?" She spun around and half-skipped away, but tripped over her own feet and almost ran into two people.

Logan turned around to get his food but was tapped again. He sighed when he saw it was James. "Seriously?"

"How's it going?"

"Fine," grumbled Logan, ordering a meatball sandwich from the lunch lady. "I actually have somewhere to sit, so you don't have to invite me."

"With Jenny?" Logan raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah. So?"

James nodded. "She's nice. Her friends are okay. But, just so you know, that's also the girl that gave me the only paper cut in history that needed surgery in elementary school."

"It's that chick?"

"She's a lot less clumsy now, though."

"I'm glad." Logan paid for his lunch and turned around. "James, seriously. I want to be able to make my own friends."

"That's fine," responded James, following him. "But just so you know, I think you actually would get along with my friends too. I'm not just trying to be nice or whatever. Plus, Jo has decided that you're her future boyfriend."

Logan groaned. He hated these kinds of situations. "Are you gonna let her down gently for me?"

James grinned devilishly. "No fuckin' way. I'll let you take care of that."

"Bastard. You're a terrible friend. And cousin."

"You love me!" James jogged away to a table near the center of the room, where Carlos and Kendall were waiting for him.

Kendall. Logan wouldn't admit it to James, but damn, did Kendall do it for him. He wasn't really sure why. It wasn't like Kendall was Logan's type or anything. It was just something about him. Like maybe his tallness. Or his dark gold hair, or his slight dimples. Or his soft green eyes, which Logan had never seen in a guy. Whatever it was, it was distracting Logan like crazy, which was really stupid, since the guy hadn't even spoken to him yet. And James would kill him if he hit on his (straight) best friend.

"Logan!" Logan turned back to Jenny, who was sitting with her friends. There was another girl, with long red hair, and two guys, a Hispanic-looking dude and a guy with pale blonde hair and an eyebrow piercing. "Hey."

"Hi." Jenny smiled and patted the seat next to her. "That's Luis, that's Topher and this is April." April smiled and waved. Luis nodded. Topher, the eyebrow dude, didn't acknowledge Logan's presence. Okaaaay then.

"So, Loge, you're from Texas?" Logan turned his attention back to Luis, who, he was grateful to see, also had an AP Calc book. Maybe he'd found people who actually enjoyed math (in Texas, not one of his friends had understood his preoccupation with the subject.)

"Yeah, I grew up in Dallas."

"That's cool. My grand mom lives in Austin."

"Oh, I have some cousins that live there."

The period passed by pretty quickly. Logan could feel people's eyes on him, which always made him uncomfortable, but it was expected. Nobody else seemed to notice though. April and Luis were friendly and Jenny was hilarious, if slightly clumsy. Topher didn't say anything, to anyone. At least, not until Jenny snatched his schedule.

"Lessee…wow, all AP classes huh? You don't strike me as the type…"

"Thanks?" Logan wasn't sure if he should take that as a compliment.

"You've got AP Chem next… And art? Awww, you should've chosen Music as your elective…I have that last period."

"Um….music's not really my thing." This was actually a lie. Back in Dallas, he had played piano and occasionally sang in choir- he had a pretty decent voice- but truth be told, he didn't really like it that much. He wasn't the greatest musician. When the secretary had told him his options for his elective, it was either art or music, since all the cool ones, like Korean or Drama, had been filled. He went with art. At least he knew his way around a pencil.

"Psht. Lies. Music's everyone's thing." Jenny tossed his schedule back at him.

"Yeah, well, I didn't feel like being stuck with James for a whole period with singing."

"Oh yeah! I saw you walking with him earlier. How the fuck do you hit it off with the school player on the first day?"

"Yes, please tell us," drawled Topher, opening his mouth for the first time. "How does one get buddy-buddy with the amazing James Diamond on the first day of school? We're simply dying to know."

Logan raised his eyebrows. "He's my cousin."

"Really?" questioned Jenny, oblivious to the sudden and slightly weird tension. "You guys don't-"

"Look anything alike, yeah, I know." Logan didn't look away from Topher. He didn't know what this kid's problem was, but he wasn't going to let himself be intimidated by some asshole on the first day. The bell buzzed loudly, abruptly ending their brief staring contest.

Logan walked into his chem class, which, once again, looked like just about every other chem class in the world, except it was slightly newer than the one he used back in Dallas. The tables were set up for pairs, in neat columns. He sat at the first empty one he saw, near the back of the room. His classmates trickled in, mostly in groups or pairs, and sat together at the tables. Their teacher, a tall, middle-aged man with a receding hairline, shuffled some papers at the front of the class. As the last person wandered in, he began to speak. "Hi, for those of you who don't know me I'm Mr. McIntyre, and this is AP Chemistry. Now, before-"

He was interrupted by two things- the loud bringing of the bell, just as Kendall dramatically slid through the door, looking like he had just run to class. "I'm not late."

The class laughed as Mr. McIntyre sighed. "Mr. Knight, I'd ask you not to make a habit of this, but having known you for three years, it's probably futile. Can you at least try not to be late this year? I'd really like to make the most of our final year together and actually teach you something."

Kendall stood up straight and saluted him. "Sir, yes, sir."

"Take a seat, Kendall." Kendall moved towards the back of the room. There was only one available seat left. He almost froze when he saw who it was with- Logan, James' cousin. Breathe, Kendall, he reminded himself as he forced himself to keep walking. As he dropped his bag next to his chair, he tentatively smiled, so not to be rude. He almost had a heart attack when Logan smiled back. He turned towards the front of the room, pretending to be listening when he already knew what Mr. McIntyre was going to say.

"So, if you've never had me before, I'll tell you now that these will be your seats for the rest of the year. I won't change them unless you make me, but you really don't want to make me, so let's try to get along, shall we?" Nobody groaned or said anything, so Logan assumed they had all known this was coming and had chosen to sit next to their friends. Except him and Kendall. Although he hoped they could at least try to be friends.

As Mr. McIntyre started handing out papers and outlining the course, Kendall zoned, the majority of his brain wandering towards hockey and the upcoming tryouts (not that he had to try out, being captain) and a small portion still thinking about Logan. Then he felt somebody tap his arm. He turned to his right and saw Logan gesturing to the paper on his desk.

You don't really strike me as the AP chem type (no offense)

Kendall smiled and picked up his pen. He slid the paper over to Logan when he was done.

Neither do you.

Logan smirked. All of my classes are AP.

Really? None of mine are. Science is my only good subject. It's probably just because Mr. Mac likes me. I'll fail this class though, I completely suck at math.

Why didn't you take biology?

Ew. Dissecting cats, man. Not my thing.

Are you a cat person?

I do have a cat. But it's the blood and guts part that bothers me.

Oh that. Psht. Wouldn't a hockey captain be used to blood?

Mainly the guts. And the smell. How do you know I'm the hockey captain?

James talks about you and Carlos all the time. By the way, where do I sign up? (Guts don't bother me)

Oh you play? We're having tryouts soon, I'll tell you when. (You must be a weirdo to not be bothered by having your hands in another person's organs)

Yeah I play. And I want to be a doctor, sort of.

You don't sound so sure about that. Why didn't you take biology then?

I took it last year. And can't dreams change? I came here to get away from the way things used to be.

Kendall wrinkled his forehead. How did they end up on a topic so heavy? And how did those things used to be?

Logan just shook his head. It's not worth getting into.

Okay then….so…. how do you like PWH so far?

The period passed by pretty quickly as the boys passed notes, ignoring Mr. Mac almost completely. The bell rang when they were in the middle of a conversation about their favorite hockey teams. As Logan packed up his things, he realized that James was right. He liked Kendall- he was a cool guy, funny, and seemed pretty confident. Not to mention he was so fucking attractive. Even if he was only to look at, not to touch.

"So where are you going?" Kendall asked Logan, making him jump. Then he laughed.

"What?"

"Nothing, it's just… I haven't actually heard you talk yet."

Kendall cracked an adorable smile. "Oh yeah, and I've only heard you say like three sentences or whatever."

"I'm going to art, since you asked."

"Ah."

"You?"

"Music."

"What is up with you people and music?"

"Why? Do you not like music or something?" Kendall raised an eyebrow. Logan shrugged.

"Everybody likes music. I just don't know why all these people are in the same music class."

"Who's 'all these people'?"

"Uh…you, Jenny and James."

Kendall laughed. "Oh yeah dude, that's a ton of people. Wow. We must all be music obsessed."

Logan rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Do you play something, or what?"

Kendall looked away, slightly embarrassed, although he wasn't certain why. "Uh… I play the guitar. Though sometimes I sing with James and Jenny. I try not to get any solos though, James nearly blows a gasket when Jenny gets some."

Logan looked up in surprise. "Is Jenny good?"

"Dude, she's a freaking amazing singer. If a bit klutzy."

Logan chuckled. "Yeah, I hear that." He stopped when he saw a room that was obviously the art room.

"So… I guess I'll see you around?"

"Sure." Kendall sort of wanted to switch to art, so he could keep talking to Logan, but immediately scolded himself for thinking that. "Bye."

As Kendall scurried off, Logan looked after him curiously. That was sort of weird…but Kendall seemed like kind of weird guy so he dismissed it as he walked in the room. There were six tables with four chairs. He sat down at the closest one, with a Goth girl who barely looked up when he sat down, a sort of pudgy guy, and an Asian girl he remembered from his English class, who he believed was named Kitten.

"Hey," she smiled up at him. He greeted her back as he looked around the room. He recognized practically no one, except for Topher a few seats away. Logan was definitely not going to initiate any sort of contact with him. "So you're new, right?" He turned back to Kitten.

"Yeah. I'm Logan."

"So I'll warn you now…" Kitten pointed towards the back of the room, where there was a woman in a long, flowy skirt sorting through papers. "Kristen is a pretty cool teacher, but you have to actually try. Like, she doesn't care if you're a sucky artist or whatever, but you have to at least attempt something, not just sit there. Anthony made that mistake sophomore year." She gestured towards the pudgy guy next to Logan.

"It's not my fault I suck at modern art!" Anthony protested. Kitten rolled her eyes.

"Kristen?" Logan questioned.

"Yes, my dear." The woman from the back of the room had magically appeared behind them, making Logan jump and Anthony let out a little scream. Kitten giggled quietly.

"Um…hi?" Logan wasn't sure how to greet this woman. She was fairly pretty and young, in her mid-thirties, he would guess, with dirty blonde hair and a million pieces of metal jewelry- earrings, necklaces, bracelets, all clanking around on her.

"I prefer that my students call me by my first name." She smiled at him warmly. "That way, we can all feel comfortable enough to create our art in here."

"Uh, okay." She turned around and walked to the center of the room, her skirt swishing as she took each step.

"Now, I am certain that by the end of this day you're all very tired of introductions, outlines, blah blah blah. So instead, I'll give you a brief introduction to senior art in a slightly different way." She started handing out sketchbooks, the nice kind that you had to get at an art store. "These books will become your lifeline this year. Anything, anytime, anywhere, whatever you feel, draw it in these. It doesn't matter how good it is, or what it is you're drawing, just so long as you draw." Her eyes locked with Logan for a second when she handed him his sketchbook. He recognized the brand- he used to have several just like it.

"Now," she said, clapping her hands and looking around at her students. "To break in these new sketchbooks, let's all try and draw something in this room. To commemorate our first day of your senior year. It doesn't matter what, you just have ten minutes. GO!"

Logan got out a pencil and looked at the blank page. He hadn't drawn in a while. He used to draw all the time, when he was a kid, but when he got older his parents wanted him to focus more on school; they said drawing wasn't worthy of his time. Not that it mattered what they said now. When people used to ask him, he would say "I haven't drawn in years," but that wasn't true. He still drew, just late at night, when he was alone in his room and stuck with insomnia. The entire summer, though, he hadn't drawn a single thing.

Logan looked around, trying to decide what to draw. Finally, he settled on Kitten, since she was right across from him. He almost asked her, but then decided against it. It wasn't like she would ever know, and besides, he didn't want to break her concentration. She actually looked very pretty, staring determinedly at whatever she was sketching- possibly her shoe.

"Okay, class, time's up, pencils down," called out Kristen. Logan looked up in surprise. He hadn't even noticed the time passing, he had been so focused on Kitten. He looked down at his drawing. He had gotten down her profile and face pretty well; he had focused on that part so he could capture how focused she was with her own drawing. Her arms weren't finish, but her upper body was fairly outlined. It was a pretty decent drawing, he thought, for someone who hadn't drawn in three months.

"What'd you draw?" Logan was so taken aback by Anthony's sudden question that he didn't try to snatch back his book when it was taken out of his grip. He saw Anthony's brow furrow, then his mouth form a little o.

"What is it?" Kitten questioned curiously, looking up from her own sketch. Goth Girl looked up, too, but she didn't say anything.

"Damn, son! You just drew this now?"

"Yes," muttered Logan, annoyed that Anthony had seen it. Now Kitten would want to see it too.

"What is it, Ant?" Kitten snatched the book lightly out of his hands and turned it around. "Oh wow, Logan! That's really great! Did you just draw that in the ten minutes we had?"

"Sorry I drew you." Logan took the book back.

"Are you kidding me, that's amazing! I can't draw people like that at all, how did you do that?" Logan just shrugged. He closed the book and felt eyes on him, yet again. He turned around and saw Kristen standing not far away. She was watching him, but didn't say anything. Logan was glad. The last thing he needed was to get any more attention than he had already this day. Although he wouldn't mind a little more attention from a certain gorgeous, green-eyed blonde…