(A/N: Thank you all so much for all the wonderful feedback. I'm glad you guys enjoy this and barring any unforeseen circumstances *sudden and often painful bouts of writer's block* I will update regularly. Enjoy. PS-what is up with the shitty FF server?)

Disclaimer: Hmm, no…still poor.

Chapter One

Procession

Gwen couldn't keep the smirk back as she sat through the boring introductions in First Period, she was just too excited. After leaving TDA, she purposely hadn't kept in touch with anyone since they were convinced she made Trent throw the challenges and when she threw one as a favor. As Geoff had so fondly put it, she "didn't leave many friends behind." Even after it was all said and done, she still didn't want to associate with people who would be so quick to jump to conclusions. The only one who hadn't held anything against her was Duncan, but she hadn't bothered to contact him because she was pretty sure Courtney would flip and sue for harassment. Plus, she kind of expected him to forget about her, like she had tried to forget everyone else. She never imagined that they would see one another again, let alone end up at the same school.

In Duncan's case, having an entire family in law enforcement worked out pretty well and they were able to persuade the judge to shorten his sentence. Or so he had told her during their brief exchange before class. Since his grandparents lived in Ontario and he had no reputation here, it was a logical move. Although he assured her he was making one…apparently the Seven Eleven vandal had been no other than yours truly. He hadn't changed a bit and that far away grin grew thinking back to snacking on stolen cookies and watching a cheap slasher flick. Right after Trent had been voted off for cheating, she had been feeling sort of bad until a certain delinquent showed up with the perfect pick-me-up. Nothing perked this girl up more than cookies, blood and guts…the added company was also nice.

Wow, I can't believe I forgot about that. Completely ignoring the current assignment to interact with the others in a comparison scavenger hunt, she began to doodle on the parent signature form handed out earlier. It's been a year though, I wonder if we're still even really friends. Kinda a lousy person for not wanting anything to do with anyone, including Duncan. I wonder if we have any classes together…that wou-

"How's your scavenger hunt coming along Gwen?"

The teen startled accidently tossing her pen to the floor. She glanced up to meet the gaze of the plump English teacher. The woman stared at her intently waiting for an answer, her straggly brown hair sticking up in a static frenzy. "Um, good. Already done, Ms. Fry." She quickly tired to shuffle the paper out of sight, failing miserably.

Ms. Fry didn't look very convinced with the display. "Oh really? Would you like to share it with the class?" The student hesitated and didn't answer. "That's what I thought, get moving girlie."

Gwen silently groaned and grabbed the first sheet of paper off the desk, not even sure if it was the right one. She made her way to a corner and inspected some of her fellow peers, while keeping an eye on the teacher. Drawing all over the kindergarten level questionnaire (Who has the most pets in the class? What's the answer to number twelve's favorite color?) to make it look like she was doing something. Nobody bothered her and the teacher didn't come back for seconds. Eventually she found her way back to her desk and continued her doodle until the bell rang. As usual, she was the last one out the door in no particular hurry to get to second period.

By now, the rest of the school's population was starting their day and the halls were packed. Freshmen stood out as they lugged useless backpacks through the crowd. She shoulder her way through the jumbled mess and trudged up a flight of stairs. Passing by the restrooms she noticed a, for lack of a better word, different smell and even stopped for a moment. Brows furrowing questionably. Was someone…on the first day of school?! They'd just better hope the security guards aren't lurking around. Sweeping her eyes over the immediate crowd she realized she wasn't the only one who noticed. A group of freshmen giggled as they passed and whispered to each other about that time in eight grade…blah. The girl just shook her head and continued down the hall, reaching class as the minute warning bell signaled.

The classroom had ten rows of desks with ten to each row set up facing the entrance and the teacher's desk. Four large windows flanked the square room with a white board positioned closest to the door. The other wall had a felt board with various football promotions pinned up and desks pushed against it. She decided that would be the farthest away from everyone and took a seat at the front of the row. Settling sideways in a very comfortable fashion, she leaned her back against the wall and crossed her legs well prepared to be bored, but grateful all the same for having been placed in Mr. Webster's class again. This teacher had also been her history teacher last year and she knew that he could care less where everyone sat and would just make a seating chart as it was now.

An older man with an uncanny resemblance to an American President by the name of Harry Truman walked in once the final bell sounded. The heavy door clicked loudly behind him as he greeted the class with a hearty hello, taking time to mess with the resident varsity football players. He finished joking after a few minutes and introduced himself. Gwen took this opportunity to study the class, looking for a certain green mohawk among the many heads.

"Let's see, Rick, Bobby," Mr. Webster began taking roll call, checking off on a sheet as he looked up with every name he called to see if a hand raised. "Gwen, Rubin, Sarah, Dun-"

The door swung open, thudding against the wall and all eyes instantly fell on the new arrival who stood in a stupor, staring at nothing and everything. Gwen looked up from fiddling with the hem of her skirt to see what the interruption had been and her heart leapt to her throat at the familiar sight. A pair of red rimmed blue eyes noticed this and traveled to her side of the room.

"So nice of you to join us," the teacher interjected. "Let me see your schedule and what's the excuse for being late on the first day?" He approached the awkward teen, hand outstretched.

After a delayed reaction the newcomer handed the man his schedule and in a calm voice offered, "I'm new, got lost." He shrugged laxly with his comment.

The Government teacher quirked an eyebrow and studied the paper for a bit before handing it back with a sigh. "Alright, have a seat where ever Duncan, and consider this your first warning and take it easy with the body spray, huh?" He turned away from the student and continued roll call.

Duncan ignored the man and unceremoniously plopped down in the desk behind Gwen, poking her playfully wearing a stupid grin. "Hey'a Sunshine. You gonna take notes for me, right?"

She choked on the stench of his body spray, he smelled like he dumped a whole bottle of Axe on himself! Before she had a chance to inform him of this, some kid in the seat next to them turned to Duncan in awe, as if the second coming had revealed itself to her.

"Hey!" she exclaimed in a hushed whisper. "You're Duncan!" Both he and Gwen were confused by this and neither answered, waiting to see if there was more to the outburst. Unfortunately, there was. "You were on that show and, and cheated on your girlfriend with," and it was like she just noticed the girl with dyed hair and steel toed boots, "No way!"

"Something you'd like to share?" The teacher snapped.

"That's Duncan from the Total Drama Series and-"

"That's nice, talk about it on your time which is in," he looked to the clock, "Thirty minutes."

"But-"

"I'm letting you pick where you want to sit, if these seating arrangements don't work out I will move you, that goes for everyone. Understand?"

That quieted the girl for a blessed five short minutes. By then, Duncan had his head resting in the crook of his arm staring aimlessly at a random point in space. It seemed he was about to fall asleep when the annoying girl's voice brought him back to reality.

"How could you cheat on Courtney with her?" There was no missing the note of disgust in her whiny voice.

Gwen rolled her eyes and Duncan grinned. He inhaled deeply, gaze still on the wall and replied very sternly, "It's not cheating if you don't bury your bone." He poked his blue haired friend again, taking way too much delight in seeing her squirm. "Gwen hasn't let me get that far." He paused for a second, picking his head up to wink at her. "Yet."

She was 96% sure that the heat creeping across her cheeks was a blush. "Keep dreaming, criminal."

"Please, no one can resist this." He pointed to himself, still with a broad grin.

"Well I can." She drew her attention away from him and tried to focus on what their teacher was saying.

The punk shrugged, getting bored of the game and for the first time turned toward the girl who had started the conversation. "How 'bout you?"

"Huh?" She seemed surprised at the sudden interest.

He suggestively wiggled his eyebrows. "You know what I mean Sweetheart."

At first it didn't seem like she did and when it finally clicked, her face twisted in horror which quickly turned to anger. "I'm not gonna be your sloppy second."

The hormonal male flashed another shit eating grin. "I don't think it matters what order you suck m-"

"Ha ha, okay Duncan I think that might be a bit much," Gwen interjected, cheeks deeply flushed. Honestly, what was it with teenage boys and sex? How did they function when that was all they ever seemed to think about?

"Jealous much? Don't worry, there's plenty to go around."

"Oh geez," she mumbled, rubbing her temples. There was no doubt this was going to be quite a year. "Better watch that ego, I don't think there's enough room for the both of you here."

He hummed pleasantly and laid his head back down, spiky green hair tickling the side of her pale arm sending an involuntarily shiver down her spine. The forgotten girl from earlier noticed this and sneered at Gwen, mouthing silent words the other teen couldn't decipher. The blue haired girl simply flipped her off and turned her attention back to the teacher.

She listened intently for about three seconds before something-or rather someone-gently tapped her boot. Looking down she saw that Duncan's leg stretched over into her personal space and the tip of his Converse was touching her foot. She kicked his foot away but he moved it back, and nuzzled deeper into his arm rubbing stiff hair against her arm. Brown eyes shifted to look at him and she was positive he was smiling.

"I know you're not asleep," she quietly whispered turning back to the lecture. He didn't answer and she actually forgot about him.

Government dragged, something about the morning classes always made them seem longer than the others. Even the attentive, eager-to-learn Gwen was having trouble staying interested. Unlike her first period teacher who put emphasis on team building, this guy was already handing out assignments and writing notes on the board. Behind her, Duncan snored softly and she was having thoughts about doing the same.

"Alright guys, the bell's about to ring, be sure to have your parents' sign that form and return it tomorrow for a pass on the quiz."

"A quiz on the second day?" a groggy voice questioned.

"Here," Gwen handed him the signature form. The punk took it and stuffed it in a pocket without a second glance. "That's a nice place to put things," she playfully joked as the bell sounded.

He shrugged as he got to his feet. "I think I'm gonna ditch tomorrow."

"What?" she asked, gathering her binder and walking with him to the door. "Why? Like you said, it's only the second day."

There was a twinkle in his eye when he responded. "I have my reasons. Where ya headed to?" He accidently bumped into a freshman with an oversized backpack, causing the boy to fight for balance.

"Um, I have to go to the Technology Building."

"Oh." He continued walking beside her. "I think that's where I have to go too."

They squeezed through a door and managed to make it outside, passing briefly through a shaded walkway and entering the Technology Building. The building was smaller and sat off from the rest of the school to house the louder, out of the usual electives such as welding, automotive and FFA. Though it did suck having to walk through snow in the winter…twice last year Gwen had almost slipped on the slick floor, and once she did the splits.

She stopped outside her classroom and eyed him. "You didn't have to walk me to class, you know."

He chuckled lightly but stopped when he caught sight of the proudly displaced engines inside the class. "You're in auto?" She nodded somewhat embarrassed. "That is so hot."

"Um…"

Duncan swung his arm her shoulders in an uncomfortable side hug and escorted her into the room. "Now we've got two classes together!"

***

Turned out they had two classes and lunch together. After a fast two hours in Auto, the pair headed back to the main building and parted ways. At North Ridge High fifth period and homeroom were the same and where the student was during that time determined what lunch they had. There were four lunches at the school, each lasting roughly thirty minutes. So there was a twenty-five percent chance that she'd have the same lunch as him.

Unbeknownst to Gwen, she obviously had some sort of homing device implanted at an early age because once she settled down at an empty picnic table with a burnt slice of pizza, who else had shown up with a plate of chili cheese fries, a bag of cheetos and slice of pizza? He sat opposite her at the table and began to go to town on his food.

"My Sunshine," he asked through a mouthful of pizza and fries, "what you been up to? You never wrote me like you promised."

She sighed, picking off the pepperoni with sudden interest. "Sorry about that. I just figured you'd forgotten about me."

He snorted, sounding insulted. "Please, I have reoccurring nightmares about that damn show and everyone on it."

"Nice, so you have nightmares about me?"

"Hey you were the one who didn't write."

"Ouch."

Duncan gently kicked her foot. "You know I'm just kidding right?" She nodded, still not looking up from inspecting the pepperoni. "And I don't have nightmares about you, you gave me wet dreams for a year." He watched happily as she turned pink, it was so fun to make her blush.

"You're so gross. No naughty dreams about Princess?"

His smirk grew. "Who?"

That got her attention. "What?" She searched his blue eyes for a hint of tomfoolery but found none. "You serious?"

"You're a smart girl, but I thought you would've figured it out sooner."

Her face contorted in confusion. "I don't get it, you were crazy for her." She pushed aside the uneaten pizza and leaned on her elbows.

Opening the cheetos, he shoved a handful down his throat and raised an eyebrow. "I was crazy for one thing and once I got it she wasn't all that interesting anymore."

"She dumped you, didn't she?"

"No, I dump girls not the other way around."

She swopped a soggy fry and chewed carefully. "Uh huh, so she dumped you."

"Didn't you hear what I said? She two timed me for Justin and I dumped her." He finished off the cheetos and tossed the bag to the ground.

Gwen held back a grin, relieved Courtney was out of the picture. Not that she had a problem with the CIT, but damn she was just so overbearing. "Kinda ironic huh, she gave you shit for our relationship and look what she did." She giggled gently but stopped, noticing her friend's downcast expression. "Hey," she touched his wrist and met his eyes, "it's her loss."

Duncan took hold of her small hand in his large one, rolling a thumb over her knuckles in an unbelievably tender gesture. Her complexion darkened and her brown eyes drifted to the digit moving along her hand. "Yeah, ain't it the truth." He released her hand. "So, what you doing after school?"

Stunned, she limply pulled her hand back more than aware of how loud her heart was pounding. "Nothing." The bell dinged, sounding the start of third lunch.

"Sounds fun." She didn't respond. "Want to watch a scary movie?"

Her ears perked, forgetting his unusual actions. "Hell yeah, what is it?"

"I've got a few in my truck…sort of procured them the other night." His eyes gleamed mischievously at that statement. "Satan's Spawn and The Night My Guts Got Sucked Out, are just a few of them."

"Yes!" she exclaimed loudly, startling both Duncan and herself. "Ahem, I mean…that would be great." She flipped open her binder to a clean white sheet and scribbled down an address. "Here," she tore the paper loose and handed it to him. "Don't lose it and I put my number just in case you get lost."

Unlike with the parental signature form, he took a few moments to look it over. "Alright." He grinned. "You're off after fifth huh?" She nodded. "See you at one-thirty then and have some popcorn ready." He slammed his hands on the table and pushed himself up.

"Gonna walk me to class again Duncan?" she asked as she stood and started heading to the building.

He laughed briskly and pulled her closer, already getting use to the feel of his arm over her. "Anything for my Sunshine."

She elbowed the green haired teen's side. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you're flirting with me."

Blue eyes dropped to her level and he peaked down her shirt, enjoying the view before looking into her brown orbs. How red would she turn if I kissed her? A part of him wanted to, he had thought about her constantly for the past year but at the same time another part insisted it was too early and he should take it slow. "What can I say?" he breathed out airily. "I just can't help it around pretty ladies." He squeezed her tightly outside her class, enjoying the pink tint to her cheeks. "See ya in a bit." His arm dropped from her shoulders.

"Yeah, later Duncan."

Gwen stepped into the class after watching him disappear down the hall. She sat heavily in an empty chair, not seeing much outside the fact that she was getting herself into no good. Duncan was her friend, a good friend and that's all she wanted him to be, but she had this nagging feeling that by graduation they would be much more. She buried her head in her hands, what was she getting into?

(A/N: Hope this chapter lived up to the anticipation. And once again, I want to thank everyone for the wonderful comments. Till next time!)