Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice!

Warning: AU. OOC. Please excuse the language, also. :) [I'm not much of a Potty Mouth.]

It just takes some time

Little girl you're in the middle

Of the ride

Everything, everything will be just fine

Everything, everything will be alright,

Alright

The Middle by: Jimmy Eat World

Chapter 2.

I sat down about a minute ago. And I now needed to walk. Or do something. ANYTHING. This anxiety was killing me. Meanwhile, the stupid Natsume was sitting to my right, beside me. Just sitting there. Why couldn't I be as calm as him? Ugh. Life was no fair. What ticked me off even more was while I was shaking my legs, he looked at me and said, "Don't pee in your dress, Idiot."

Oh, God! Please help me now! All I said was, "Shut up." Why did I have the same class as him? And English Literature, too. Well, at least I knew what I would be doing in this class. Not so sure about History. Or Math. Or Science. Heh. When I said that I was tutored, it didn't mean that I was any good at most of the subjects. I looked at the clock. 5 more minutes until class started and not a lot of students were already here.

"Oi, Hyuuga, where is everyone?" I asked. He turned his head to face me, "How should I know? I'm not their mother." I gave him an irritated look and he just smirked. What a child. And he's the one that told me to grow up? I thought looking towards the doorway. A girl with dark green permed hair walked in. She looked around bored until she had her eyes on the boy next to me. "Natsume?" she said. He didn't even bother to look her way. She walked closer to where we were, at the back of the class. "Natsume! How have you been, my love?" she interrupted our little stare-down by grabbing his arm.

"Oh my God! I missed you, Silly!" she pouted when he pulled his arm back. She just stood there trying to flirt with him and I couldn't help but laugh. He obviously wasn't into her at all.

After the giggle, I looked up to see that she looked at me with dark green eyes that matched her hair. Natsume had his eyebrow arched up; wondering as well what was funny as well. "Natsume, who's that?" the girl said. He looked at her and then at me. His expression was as bored as ever.

"I'm Mikan Sakura," I said giving a small wave.

"Oh. The new girl?" she gave Natsume a glance for conformation, one that he did not give.

"Um, yeah, you can say that," I replied, "By the way, what you're name?"

"Sumire Shouda," she said gazing at me for a split second before turning and walking to the front. "Welcome to Hell, Sakura," she muttered. I blinked. Did she seriously say that? Woah, I could have sworn that her eyes were blazing with something… fury? Anger? Oh God, this may be the worst decision my parents ever made.

As people started to enter the class, the girls would go up to Sumire, whom I dubbed as 'Permy'. The nickname really did suit her. But when those girls would talk for about a minute with her, they would all suddenly look at me. Probably a bad sign. They would look at each other again, and then glance at Natsume, who wouldn't leave me alone or go somewhere else, and then nod. Yup, definitely a bad sign. After going through that procedure, they would take their seats or give me glares. What the heck did I ever do?

I finally relaxed when a blonde boy came to say hi. Apparently he was Natsume's friend and was way nicer than the dork. His name was Ruka. We became fast friends and he sat on the seat next to Natsume. Getting the window seat was much to my disadvantage, because I didn't have anyone to talk to besides the person next to me. Man, it's so lonely here. I thought, looking out the window. Even from the second story I could see Misaki's red head and figure running around the soccer field. Boy, she was kicking some butt!

A blonde man came in, looked around, and smiled, "Good morning, class."

I turned shifting my gaze from the soccer game to the man. Nothing much to say but my intuition told me he was gay. Which I had no problem with; after all, most of my mom's designer friends were gay. "Morning, Narumi," replied the class. Ahh, so that's his name, I figured, but why didn't the class call him 'teacher' or 'sensei'? I mentally shook my head. He was probably one of those cool teachers that let the students call him whatever. To my right I saw Natsume sink back on his chair from the corner of my eyes. Ruka saw me watching and gave a warm smile. I looked away, blushing. He was such a cute boy. Natsume saw the exchange and rolled his eyes, "Tch."

"Is there something that you would like to share, Natsume?" said the teacher. Wait, did he actually hear him? I thought shocked. That guy must have ultra hearing or something. Natsume glared at Narumi before saying, "Nothing."

After that, Narumi looked at me for a bit and winked. Huh? I thought puzzled.

…

…

…

English Literature had gone by fast. It was like, blink and you'll miss everything. Seriously. While walking, I looked at the sheet of paper that was my schedule.

2nd Period: Art

I smiled. Since a while back I always liked art, and I was good at making my own too. Natsume walked next to me and looked over my shoulder. "Art?" he mumbled. I nodded.

"Hn."

"Huh?" I blurted, curious. His eyes met mine. "We're in the same class, you dope," he replied. I groaned. How many classes exactly? I thought exasperated. And as if he read my mind Natsume said, "Just most of them."

I stopped dead on my tracks. Most of them? "What?" I exclaimed. Nobody else heard me, though, because the hall was so loud. He kept walking.

Without hesitation, I followed along. Natsume surly knew where the classroom was, unlike me. A few quick turns here and there, and then we faced a deserted hall. Only one door was there, to the left. No lockers surrounded it. A chill crept up to the back of my neck, causing the hairs to stand still. "That's the class?" I asked. He smirked, "You scared, Polka?"

I raised a brow and shook my head, "Pfft. As if." He then ushered me towards the door. "Then open it."

I gulped and reached for the knob slowly, only to see it moving by itself. I screamed. Natsume couldn't help but chuckle. Bastard. If only I didn't fall for his little trick. The door opened, revealing non other than Narumi.

"Umm… Hey, I thought you said this was Art!" I whispered to Natsume.

"It is, Stupid."

"Heh, he's actually right, Mikan," Narumi scratched the back of his head, putting on a silly grin. "I teach random classes."

I glanced at him, dumbfounded. Without further ado Natsume pushed me from behind, and we both entered the class. Everyone was already there, including Hotaru. The two seats next to her were vacant. As if on cue, both of us took our seats on either side of her. "You're late, Idiots."

I smiled, "It was his fault." Natsume gave me an irritated look, "Was not."

"Was to!" I said. Hotaru, with her not-so-happy expression gave us a warning glare, "Shut up." We stopped bickering.

"Okay, class. For your first assignment, I want you to pick up your drawing pad and follow me outside," said Narumi. With his word of command we headed out. When we stopped, the scenery was spectacular. Narumi guided us to a prairie with only a Sakura tree in the middle. The grass was pretty long and the tree was in full bloom.

"Sit down, people, you have an hour to sketch whatever is in front of you," was his last instructions. The class surrounded the tree in a loose circle. Natsume and Hotaru were in either sides of me when I started.

Whoosh… Whoosh… Whoosh… the wind was really blowing, so I pulled my hair back to my ear.

"Done!" I exclaimed. I had to admit, the sketch turned out to be pretty good. I wasn't professional but good enough for something like this. Narumi came over. One glance at my drawing and he smiled. "Well done, Mikan." I beamed at the compliment. Natsume looked at me. "What?" I asked. He just kept glancing at me like a maniac. Natsume ignored the question. I inched closer to see his drawing. He pulled the pad to his chest and frowned at me. "I just wanted to see it," I said pouting, "What about yours, Hotaru?" The pixie haired girl gazed at me an undefined expression on her face as always. I put my hands up in the air as a sign of defeat, "Never mind."

"Tch," he mumbled. I glanced at him and that's when I saw Narumi standing behind. "It's very nice," Narumi murmured his eyes on the tree. What did he mean? The tree? I guess so..

The bell rang signaling lunch. Lunch! I thought rubbing my stomach. I wonder what they serve here? I stood up and walked towards the building. Looking back, Hotaru was the only one that followed me. Narumi and Natsume were talking. Well, it was more of a one sided conversation, because Natsume never replied. That cocky Hyuuga. He should respect the teacher, at least! I thought, but then shrugged the thought. It wasn't my problem (this time) anyways.

[Normal POV]

As Mikan and Hotaru went away to get lunch, Narumi held Natsume back. "What?" asked the very annoyed student. Just because he didn't draw a stupid tree didn't mean the teacher had to punish him.

"Natsume, your drawing is impeccable. It's… good, for a lack of a better word. You have talent," commented the teacher.

He scoffed, "Okay, so is that it? I need to get lunch, you know?"

Narumi nodded still looking at the sketch, "You are dismissed." Natsume grunted and walked away. A waste of time, he thought. Narumi only shook his head; Natsume really had something in him.

Besides, how could he have drawn such a beautiful sketch of Mikan? He thought. Whatever inspired Natsume to draw like this, Narumi really needed to get it out more often.

A/N: heh. ^_^ did this actually make sense? Well, you tell me! Thanks for reading this, since you know.. I'm very much a novice. :b But I'm working on it! Don't worry! :)

Read and Review please! I need the constructive criticism. Seriously. Oh~ and if you want me to pair anyone else up? You know, so it won't always be NxM ALL THE TIME. Just tell me who you would like to see. I haven't even introduced all the characters =_= I'm sorry! Gahh... So yesh, please review!

~ Bolajv ~