Chapter Two: Ready, Aim, Misfire

Christian Hellsend wasn't doing much. Just casually standing by his locker, putting away his spiral bound notebooks. His face had changed since the previous year. The cocky smirk he'd always worn had disappeared; instead a grimace haunted the visage. He was nearly hunched at his locker, as though trying to climb into it and disappear to whatever world was behind the locker.

And though he was trying to avoid the feeling, he could feel eyes burning his back. He kept trying, trying not to turn around because there was only one person in all of Toronto that could put that much heat in a glare, and that was Cacie Cameron. He really didn't want to deal with his ex-girlfriend, the only girl he'd ever loved (and still did much to his dismay), on his first day back at Degrassi. It was bad enough that he had to retake his senior year. Dealing with the feisty blonde would make it way too much.

But of course, Christian's thoughts weren't heard by whatever power the common people believed in. Before he even had a chance to check to see if it really was the glare of Cacie Cameron burning twin holes into his dark blue jersey, he felt fingers tap him on the shoulder and the very distinct tone of Cacie's voice. "You do know when most people graduate, they clean their lockers out at the end of the school year, not the beginning of the next one. Or are you decorating Caridee's locker?"

Christian couldn't help but look up and see her, glare and all. "Actually, I didn't graduate."

Cacie felt her heart fall to the floor in a combination of disgust that she'd have to put up with Christian Hellsend for another year and also disappointment that she didn't know that. She actually felt disappointed in herself for not keeping up with the sordid adventures of the boy she claimed to hate despite the constant butterflies in her stomach whenever he was near to her. Yes because butterflies make you nauseous. More like hammerhead sharks eating away at my sanity through my intestinal track. "You didn't graduate? What happen? Not get to screw enough teachers for them to overlook your subhuman intelligence?"

"Nah, just turns out drinking and partying doesn't help in high school. Who knew?" And there it was, the Christian Hellsend smirk. He couldn't help but give it to her when she started her normal griping. He couldn't help but deliver that smirk to the cold eyes and colder heart of Cacie Cameron. Just to get a reaction. "Plus, couldn't leave you behind Cacie."

Cacie heard his words and shook her head. "First part I'd believe. It's the second about not leaving me behind that sends my inner lie detector into a crazy fit." Cacie looked at the locker she was standing at. Of course, she'd be stuck next to Christian for an entire year. If she'd had her way, she wouldn't be anywhere near him. She'd rather be sharing a locker with Caridee Jones and Mackenzie Stone than being even in the same hall as Christian Hellsend.

"Can't you try to be civil, Acacia?" Now he was tormenting her. Tormenting her by using her full first name, tormenting her with his very presence.

Two can play that game. Cacie's thoughts didn't really surprise her. She was always down for a game of torture Christian Hellsend, always had been down for that game. She pasted on her normal smile, one that no one could tell was fake; no one sans Cameron Michalchuk and Christian Hellsend anyway. "Okay, we'll try civil. How was your summer?"

"Spent it in California with my dad. Did some thinking—" Christian had started to fill in the shorter girl on his summer before being cut off by her laughter.

"Wait, you did thinking? Doesn't that require a brain?" Cacie couldn't help it. She really couldn't help but make fun of him in some way. It was how she operated, how they operated.

"I have a brain. Smart enough to get you into bed not once, but countless times," Christian reverted back to the guy that Cacie had known for years. Leaving behind the slight pod person he'd become in the last few minutes. Christian was always the first to start the snap-fest, always the first to find a new way to torture Cacie, to keep her close without her knowledge. After all, he knew that Cacie would never allow him her heart; she didn't give that to anyone. But he knew that if he could keep her coming back, keep her guessing, then he would always have her. The heart he could work on later. Because in the end, it always came back to Cacie Cameron and Christian Hellsend.

Cacie slammed her locker in response to that statement. She looked over at him, amber eyes narrowed. "Excuse me? You did not just say—"

"Yes I did."

Cacie heard him cut her off and smiled. No. This is not how that works. She lightly bit her bottom lip, careful not to draw blood the way she had earlier in the day. She smiled at Christian and pushed him lightly against the locker. She savored the flinch she got from him, delighted in the feeling of joy she always got from making him cower just a little.

Christian didn't know what was going on when he felt the small girl push him against the locker. She would either storm off or slap him. But what happened was completely unexpected. He felt her lips up against his. He wasn't going to complain. He couldn't really complain because hell, he'd dreamt of kissing Cacie Cameron all summer. He dreamt of it nearly every night. He couldn't help it. He was undeniably and irrevocably in love with Cacie. The only bad part was, Cacie did not feel the same way about him, and if she did, she did a pretty good job at hiding it. So he'd take the physical.

Cacie knew what would come next. Christian would try to undress her in the halls, than one of them would pant out something about my house or yours. It happened like this every time. Every time they started this game, every time he ended up slaughtering her heart. She could time it. Time it down to the second. His hand started to move a little and she was ready, ready for his hand to try to make its way up her shirt in the crowded hallway of Degrassi. But that wasn't what happened. His hand didn't find her slender body, instead it found her hand. He laced their fingers together and Cacie's mind started to race.

Christian had caught her off guard and he knew it. He knew that Cacie wouldn't be able to deny that he'd changed just a little bit, especially when he broke the kiss to look deep into her eyes. He smiled. "Like I was saying about my summer, did some thinking and I changed."

Cacie stepped back. "I'll believe that you changed when it actually happens Christian. You always say you changed and then you always end up in bed with someone else. Its pretty weird honestly, since you 'love' me so much." Air quotes surrounded the word love and her eyes rolled towards the ceiling of the school.

She noticed numerous people staring at the two exes, watching to see what would happen next. They were nearly a celebrity couple, the on-again-off-again of Degrassi. She'd heard students take bets on if they'd be together by different dances, when she'd find out that he was sleeping with such-and-such girl, and how hard he'd get slapped the next time. Cacie never got into the bets, because she knew each one would happen. She knew that she'd start to fall for him again (something none of the bookies knew), that he'd end up screwing things over, and that her hand would find its familiar niche on the side of his face. It had only happened twice, but it was a routine. One she would not be falling into again.

The bell rang and the hallways started to clear. "If you've changed, which I doubt, then prove it to me." With a flip of her hair, Cacie was on her way to her first class. On her way to History. Ironic. I get through thinking about my history with Ass Hat and then I get to go review the history of the world.