Ryan looked around, jumped from one foot to another, doing what he could come up with to look as athletic as his teammates. He knew it was pointless, but he figured the attempt might get him a slightly better grade. Volleyball; why did they even teach this in schools? When would he ever need to know this game in the adult world? If he wanted to learn he could just Google it, or ask Calleigh or Natalia - they were athletic. He still couldn't believe how lucky he was to have Natalia as his girlfriend. She was smart, and beautiful and she didn't mind if he forgot to close his mouth sometimes when he looked at her. He used to have a crush on Calleigh when he first met her. It eventually passed as he learned that she could be quite the handful though. Besides, Delko had kind of already marked his territory. Ryan was taken back to reality when the volleyball hit his head. Hard. "Heads up, pretty boy", Tamara Iglesias, a Latina girl he knew from elementary school, yelled from the other side of the net. He chose to ignore her; he never really knew how to deal with those sorts of comments.

"Volleyball isn't your game, huh? Not mine either", a girl he had never seen before in his life said to him. She had brown hair, and she smiled.

"No game is my game" Ryan smiled back at her, she laughed. He wasn't sure if she'd taken it as a joke or if she actually believed him.

"I'm Sara. I don't believe we've met before" she said. He extended his hand for her to shake, but she just chuckled. "You don't just shake hands with new people in the middle of a volleyball game, even I know that." She returned her eyes to the opponent, reading the games as best as she could. She wasn't bad at sports, she was just as good as she needed to be but she just lacked the interest.

"You're new, aren't you?" Ryan asked, and failed his attempt to hit the volleyball as it went flying right over his head.

"Nicely played, and yes I'm new", she replied.

"You should eat with us some day, unless you've already made a ton of new friends by then", Ryan said. He instantly liked Sara. She seemed nice and calm. Normal. Their group needed more people like that anyway, people who wouldn't constantly get them in trouble.

"I… Highly doubt that, who are "us"?"

"Me and my friends."

"Yeah, I got that, but who are your friends?"

"You doubt I have friends?"

Sara laughed again, "I wouldn't if you told me who they were."

"Eric, Calleigh, Maxine, Catherine, and Natalia. My girlfriend" he proclaimed proudly.

"Natalia BoaVista? Good job, I'm impressed. I never would have guessed", Sara said.

"Me neither." It was the most honest answer he could possibly give.

"I might take you up on your offer, but judging from the fact that I know the names of all those people after just three weeks here, and I'm not good with names, I know I won't fit in. I'm not that girl."

"Me neither, but it works for me." He knew as soon as the words left his mouth that sounded wrong. "I mean…uhm.."

Sara laughed. "I know what you mean, and I know you're not that kind of girl."

He laughed as well, "Seriously, just come sit with us. They're harmless."

"No, they're not."

"Come on, Calleigh and Natalia are great, Catherine and Maxine doesn't think before they speak, but they're not bad people, and Eric only picks on me. Don't tell me you're scared of them."

"Absolutely not, I just stated the facts. They're not harmless, no people are."
"Okay, Sara, whatever you say." He smiled at her, and after losing the volleyball game they went to their separate wardrobes.

Meanwhile, Catherine and Calleigh were in science together. The class was divided into groups of two people and they were trying to see who would figure out the task first.

"What will you be wearing this weekend?" Catherine asked with her eyes focusing only on the task. Science was a class she actually took some interest in, because she knew she was good. She somehow figured things out.

"I don't know", Calleigh answered. "I was thinking maybe you, Nat, Max and I could take a trip to the mall on Friday, I want to look my best on Saturday."

"Why? Someone special you're dressing up for?" Catherine teased.

"No, but…you know…it's the first party since school started, and…you know.."

"What do you know about this Lou?" Catherine asked, abruptly changing the subject.

"Just as much as you do, why, you interested?" Calleigh teased and gave her a playful push.

"Well, if he's from Vegas you'd think I'd have seen him around somewhere, but I haven't."

"Maybe he's not the partying type."

"I doubt that", Catherine answered. "Anyway, I'm very much up for the mall on Friday."

"Great!"

It didn't take the girls very long to figure out the task at hand and they were the first to finish. "Yes! Suck on that!" Catherine cheered to the rest of the class. Calleigh laughed at her, she knew Catherine hated when people believed her to be stupid just because she was beautiful.

"Miss Flynn, watch the language", their teacher calmly said. He was a nice, older man whom most students actually liked very much.

Meanwhile, in history class…

"Hey Eric, how well do you know Catherine?" Lou asked Eric while pretending to work really hard on their presentation about the Spanish Inquisition.

"Well enough to know that you're in for a wild ride" he chuckled. He had only known Lou for the past week, since they were put on this project together, but he liked him already.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lou asked, apparently intrigued.

"It means that Catherine is not all that easy to tie down, a lot of guys have tried already. No one have had any luck so far" Eric replied matter-of-factly. He had seen one guy after the other try their luck with Catherine Flynn, only to back empty-handed.

"Who said anything about tying her down? I just find her… interesting."

"Right. Interesting."

Focusing at their task at hand seemed impossible. There was after all a party coming up, demanding their full attention. The Spanish would simply have to wait, Eric thought to himself. He was about to say something, but Lou beat him to it.

"Hey, you´re really good friends with the blonde girl right?"

"Calleigh? Yeah, I've known her a long time. Why?" Eric quickly answered; somewhat worried his description of Catherine had scared him off, leaving him to take an interest in Calleigh instead. He didn't like it. He couldn't really pinpoint why, but he didn't like it. A lot of guys came to him and asked about how to get Calleigh to go out with them. He couldn't blame them though; she was southern, blonde and simply drop dead gorgeous. He used to just laugh when guys looked at her like that, now there was a voice inside his head telling him to punch them all straight in the face.

"Calleigh, that's it. I just wondered if I remembered the right name, because I overheard a guy in the hall say that he was totally going to bed Calleigh on Saturday."

Eric felt anger rise in his body, as well as relief because Lou wasn't into her. He knew how guy talk worked, so he wasn't one to judge really, but Calleigh was just way too awesome for some guy to 'totally going to bed her'. It made his stomach twist the same way as when he called her his best friend out loud. "Who said that?"

"I don't know, I've never seen him before."

"What did he look like?"

"I don't know, man. Why, are you guys…." Lou stopped mid sentence, beginning to think he might have hit a sore subject.

"Are we what? Dating?" Eric barked, sounding a lot angrier than he intended to. He had no reason to be mad at Lou he told himself, and took a deep breath before he continued. "No, no. We're just friends. I just…. Care about her, that's all."

"Okay… you guys sound close." Lou wanted to go for a witty comment, but figured he better save it to when Eric was in the mood for it. After all, he didn't know the guy all that well yet.

"We are." Eric was short in his answer. He wasn't angry or anything, but he couldn't quite explain his relationship with Calleigh to Lou. He couldn't explain it to anyone, actually. One of the things Calleigh hated the most was when people felt bad for her. She was by far the toughest person he knew in the entire world, and he had tried to tell her that feeling vulnerable didn't make her weak. She, of course, had to be the most stubborn person on planet earth to date. Instead, Eric had learned to just be there for her instead of trying to make her talk about it whenever something would come up.

"How long have you known each other?"

"Since she moved to Miami five years ago." Eric still remembered the first time he saw her. A lot had changed since then, but her piercing green eyes and long, blonde locks remained the same. Her southern accent was way more prominent back then. Sometimes, when he said something that made her blush for example, it made a surprise appearance. He snapped himself out of his little daydream and made the decision to change the subject before he had to answer any more questions. "So… do you know how to dress for a Miami party or do you need some expert help before Saturday?"

"What makes a party in Miami different from anywhere else?" Lou asked. He was from Las Vegas after all, and in Vegas things happened that in no way could have or would have happened anywhere else. The word party is universal, he thought. It means the same everywhere.

"Nothing, except Miami is hot and Peter's parties are even hotter. He rarely throws them, but when he does… Man, you're in for the time of your life. His parties are legendary." The best part was that he wasn't even exaggerating. Last time it made the local news.

"In that case I chose you to be my personal advisor."

"Great! We'll have you in Miami-mode in no time. We'll take Ryan too, and head out to the mall on Friday." He was getting really stoked about this now; a night out with music, girls and alcohol. Just what he needed, he'd been feeling a little off lately. This was the night he would get back in the game.

"I guess it's settled then. Friday." As on command, the bell sounded and put a natural end to their conversation as they went their separate ways.