I just finished watching Battlestar Galactica and it was SO good. One of the best shows on television! Hope you like this new chapter.

The rest of the day went by in a blur for Scully. There was this thing called block scheduling which she was just beginning to understand. There were only four periods in a day but each period lasted for an hour and a half. She wasn't used to it and it still confused her. Luckily, Monica was in her second hour which was Computer Applications. It was a total blow off class and they got to sit wherever they wanted, so naturally the two girls sat next to each other. She had no one she knew in her third hour History class, but there was a girl that sat next to her named Marita. In her last hour, Math, she had Mulder in it. She was ecstatic about it, but tried not to show it. Who was in their lunch was based on what first hour they had, so her new best friends all had the same lunch as her.

When she and her siblings got home from school, their mother was waiting for them at the door, eager to pounce.

"How was your day? Did it go well? Did you make any new friends?"

"Is it just me or does it look like she's gonna have a coronary?" Melissa said so low that only Dana could hear. Scully snickered loudly, catching her mother's attention. "Come on Dana, let's hear it!"

"I made three new friends, Monica, John, and Mulder. I actually have a creative assignment due next Monday and Mulder is my partner…so…yeah," she finished lamely, walking into the kitchen and dropping her backpack on the table. "I have homework, so I'll be in my room." Her entire family raised their eyebrows, but said nothing.

She ran up the stairs into her room and immediately logged onto her laptop. Before she left the school, she had gotten Mulder's email address. She typed in her screenname then her password, and hit the enter button. She opened a new window, and started the email.

Hey Mulder,

I was thinking about our writing project and I came up with a few ideas. I just wanna know what you think before I tell you.

Scully

P.S. I love my new nickname! ;)

She heard her mother's footsteps on the stairs and quickly logged off. Her mother knocked on the door loudly. Dana scrambled to get her homework out.

"Come on in."

"Hey sweetie. Your sister and brothers just told me about their day and you barely told me anything about yours. You just rushed up here to do your homework. You know, sometimes I worry about you. Did it ever occur to you that you might need a break after school? You could watch the television or talk on the phone like other kids do. You don't need to come up here and immediately start your homework," Dana smirked silently, this time without her mother noticing.

"It's okay Mom. I'll be fine. We'll talk later, I promise."

"Alright, just don't be too long. Dinner will be ready in an hour and a half anyway," she began walking towards the door. "And Dana, I really do hope you had a good day," she closed the door softly.

"Right," Dana murmured.

She logged onto her email again and found that Mulder had sent her a reply.

Scully,

Yeah. We don't know much about each other, but what we do know is that I believe in aliens and you don't. So I think we should evolve our story around that. Maybe we see something and go on a "quest" to find out what it is. What do you think?

Mulder

P.S. I'm glad you love the nickname! I thought since you called me by my last name, I should call you by yours.

She found that her heart missed a beat when she read the postscript. It was silly but she looked at the word love and smiled.

She heard footsteps outside her door again. They were quieter than her mother's, and Dana automatically knew it was Melissa. She knocked on the door and without waiting for Dana to respond, she let herself in and plopped down on the bed.

"So, what's up?"

"I don't know Dana, what's up with you? You seemed preoccupied on the way home and almost trampled me in your hurry to get up here. And don't tell me you're doing your homework. Mom and Dad might buy it but I don't."

"Nothing's up Missy. It's just your imagination gone wild."

"It's a boy isn't it? I am so right, it's a boy. Who is he? What does he look like?"

"You're worse than Mom. I'll tell you later, now get out," Melissa stood up slowly, winked at her, and then left the room.

Mulder,

I just revised my idea. What if you and I were FBI agents that investigated weird cases? You always think aliens were involved and I always try to prove you wrong. What do you think?

Scully

She logged off again and started her homework. An hour later, she heard her mother calling the entire family to the table. She finished up the last problem and ran downstairs.

The next day, Dana walked to her locker before first hour and saw Mulder there. He seemed to be looking for someone.

"Hey Mulder."
"Scully! I want to talk about the assignment. I think your idea is great! We should totally do that. Since Skinner isn't going to be giving us anymore class time to work on this, I was thinking you could come over to my house tomorrow. I can drive you there, I already have my license. My parents are out of town on business and the butler and the maid will stay out of our way. Maybe they can fix us a snack," he looked hopeful.

"I'll ask my parents tonight and I'll email you. Are Monica and John here yet?"

"I don't know, they're probably making out somewhere. Just kidding, but I wouldn't be surprised."

When they walked the short distance into the classroom, they found their friends to already be there. They quickly looked at each other and smirked. As soon as they sat down, the bell rang giving them no time to talk.

"Class, I forgot to tell you something yesterday. I have to pick one winning group from this school to compete in a national tournament. Whoever I pick wins a trip to the state of Iowa. There, you will compete in a timed competition. The judges will give you a specific topic you are to write about and you will have only a few hours to write the best story you can. From there, the judges will grade it and whoever wins that will wins a vacation to the islands of Hawaii. Isn't that something to strive for? Anyway, I expect great writing from you all since this is my only honors class," Skinner said as he walked into the room and sat down at his desk.

During the rest of the class, they started a new book, the classic tale of Romeo and Juliet. They discussed the beginning of a book, and they started on the worksheet Skinner handed out.

When the bell signaled the end of the class, Monica and John stayed behind to talk to Skinner while Mulder escorted Scully to their lockers. They gathered their books, narrowly avoiding a football being thrown across the hallway.

"See you later."

"Bye."

She almost got lost getting to her second hour, so by the time she got there, Monica was already in her seat.

"Hey."

"Hey. What's going on with you and Mulder?" Monica asked curiously.

"What's going on with you and John?" Dana countered.

"Ok, point taken. No questions asked."

While Dana smirked privately at her small victory, the teacher babbled on about how to use Microsoft Word. She got so bored, she ended up putting her earbuds through her sleeve and listening to her iPod while the teacher talked.

The rest of the day went uneventfully, with the exception of Mulder falling asleep in math class. On the way back to their lockers at the end of the day, Scully confronted him about it.

"If you keep falling asleep in class like that you'll never pass the class."

"I'm gonna prove you wrong. On the next test, I'm gonna get an A."

"I'd like to see you try."

While riding home with her siblings, she noticed Melissa staring at her. Dana mouthed the word "zoning?" and Melissa answered the inquiry with a nod. Once again, she started her homework and finished just before dinner.

At dinner, she decided to bring up the writing assignment.

"Hey Mom, you remember that assignment that I told you about yesterday? Well Mulder invited me over to his house to work on it tomorrow. He said he can drive me to his house. He can also drive me home whenever you want."

"Sure Dana, just be careful. I'll call you on your cell phone when I want you to come home. I'm going to go out with my friends tomorrow, so you can probably stay for dinner."

"Thanks Mom."

The second dinner was done, she ran to her room and emailed Mulder.

Hey,

My Mom said yes and I can stay for dinner. See you tomorrow.

Scully

Once again, there were footsteps right outside her door. And this time, Melissa didn't even knock.

"It's this Mulder kid right? He's the one you've got the hots for?"

"Getting right to the point I see. Is it that obvious?"

"Only to me. I just know you too well. Mom didn't notice, Bill was too caught up in his own world, and Charlie is great but he just doesn't understand girls." She was right about that. Charlie wouldn't notice if a girl liked him if she came up and said it to him. He barely knew the difference between a pad and a tampon.

"You won't tell anyone will you?"

"Your secret is safe with me."

What do you think? I really shouldn't be writing at one in the morning. No matter how many times I do it, no matter how many times I tell myself I'm not going to do it again, I always end up doing it. I know that when I write so late, what comes out is always really crappy, just like this chapter. It is kind of crappy but this is the only time I can update. Oh whatever, I'll just go to sleep now.