A/N: First off, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed so far (and answered my questions - that was really very helpful). Well then... I suppose without further ado, I give you chapter 2... and, with it, Blaine :) (I guess I could've stalled his arrival for a bit longer, but it's not like I'm planning for this to have 50 chapters or so...) (oh, just to make it clear: I'm going with the suggestion that not all students have all their classes together, but the students vary per class)
Hopefully you'll like it, and please leave a review at the bottom!
With a heavy heart, Lucy sat down for her second period class – American History. There seemed to be less chairs in this room than in the last, so other students had to sit closer to her. Seeing their disgusted faces when they realised this, Lucy just stared down at her desk. She was already sitting in the front row, completely to the left – a spot she didn't like either, but it was one of the safest ones in a room, as there were less people surrounding her. Her classmates' faces only made it much worse.
Right before the bell rang and the teacher, Mr Gentry, stood up to close the door, a short figure came sprinting in and came to a halt mere inches from where said teacher stood. He smiled impishly at Mr Gentry, who just rolled his eyes at the boy.
"Take a seat, Blaine," Mr Gentry told the boy, who looked like he'd just run a marathon. A couple of students in the class chuckled, but the boy just rolled his eyes at them.
Lucy surveyed the classroom out of the corner of her eye. It was really full, she noticed. And the only two seats left were, predictably, the ones behind and beside her.
The class winced in sympathy as Blaine Anderson sat down in the seat next to Lucy, but the boy himself didn't seem to be too bothered. After a small nod in her direction, he turned to the boy at his other side, who muttered something at him. The exchange didn't last too long, as Mr Gentry started the class.
Lucy tried to absorb all the information as well as she could, trying to ignore the girls a few seats behind her. It was more than obvious that they weren't interested in the overview of the American history Mr Gentry was giving them – rather, they seemed to prefer making remarks behind Lucy's back – literally, this time, not figuratively. They weren't exactly being silent.
Actually, now that Lucy's attention drifted away from what their teacher was telling them, it sounded like a lot of the kids here didn't give a damn about what was taught. Mr Gentry, however, either didn't want to give them the pleasure of interrupting his class for them, or had learned to ignore rebelling students a long time ago.
The only student, apart from her – although, Lucy wasn't paying attention at this moment either – who seemed interested in hearing what their teacher had to say was right next to her. Then again, Blaine Anderson was able to stand out in pretty much every company you put him in. It may not always be a conscious decision, and at times, he didn't stand out at all, but the fact remained that he had the ability to do so.
Other students thought he was a bit odd, even Lucy knew that much. However, he wasn't odd enough to pick on, and Blaine had some friends, at least. True, nobody had any clue as to why those people all chose to hang out together, but they did, and in their own way, they had some sort of weird influence at the school. They weren't bullied or picked on – in a way, you could almost say they were generally ignored by the rest of the school. Or maybe ignored wasn't the right word, Lucy figured. They were left alone. Whenever they needed something from another clique, or vice versa, the situation was dealt with, and after that, there were no lasting… relations with each other.
It was odd indeed, but if it worked for them, who was she to question it?
Other than the fact that she really wanted to know how they'd gotten the rest of the school to leave them alone, that was.
Quickly, Lucy looked back at the teacher, attempting to follow what he was talking about now. As she scribbled down some notes, she heard the giggling of the girls behind her. Sighing as quietly as she could, she closed her eyes. Why didn't they just stop? How was bullying her even funny?
Five minutes before the bell rang, the teacher announced the one thing Lucy had been dreading since she'd gotten out of bed that morning – the thing she had tried to avoid for the past few years.
"Group work," Mr Gentry said, smiling widely. He chattered on about how this group work would affect their marks and what was expected of them, but Lucy tuned out. There was a stack of papers lying on the teacher's desk, most likely filled with detailed information about this project. She'd read it when she got home.
"So choose a partner to work with, and let me know the groups you'll be working in tomorrow," Mr Gentry finished, and Lucy barely stifled a groan. She couldn't wait for – oh wait. There is was already.
"But Mr Gentry," one of the girls sitting behind Lucy (she thought it was Nathalie Gilsdorf, but couldn't be completely sure). "Look at our class. We're with an even number of people!"
Mr Gentry didn't appear to understand the problem, but the class did. Lucy was no exception.
"That means someone has to work alone," a guy on the opposite side of the classroom explained. Lucy wasn't going to give him the pleasure of her turning around to face him.
"There's an even number of students in this class," Mr Gentry said, as if speaking to a group of toddlers. "Which means that there's a partner here for everybody."
"No, it's not," Nathalie countered, sounding a bit annoyed now. "See, Mr Gentry… none of us here likes Lucy Caboosey. She always works alone. Which means that someone else needs to work alone too, seeing as there's an even number of students in this class."
Mr Gentry looked surprised at this, but Lucy honestly wasn't. She was used to this kind of treatment. "I repeat, there's a partner here for everyone," their teacher said. "Nobody's going to be working alone. In fact, Nathalie, why don't you work with Lucy Fabray on this project?"
This comment caused an uproar in the class – everyone started protesting, sticking up for the other girl (because how could their teacher even think of inflicting such a horror on poor Nathalie?), and, unsurprisingly, blaming Lucy for the entire situation. "You can't do that!" Nathalie shrieked dramatically. "You can't – I'll be stuck with her the entire year!"
Oh. Lucy had obviously missed the part where it had been said that this group work lasted the entire school year. Suddenly, she began to wonder if maybe, she should say something too. After all, she didn't want to have to put up with someone like Nathalie, who would bully her the entire time and let her do all the work anyway. Someone else, however, spoke up before she had the chance.
"I'll do it," a partly shocked, partly bored voice came from Lucy's right, and the entire classroom fell silent.
"W-What?" Nathalie asked in shock.
Everyone was staring at Blaine in shock, while the boy himself didn't seem to realise what he'd just said – which was probably just a farce, because he'd been at this school for the past two years as well. "I'll work with her," he clarified, smiling briefly at Lucy – so briefly that she wondered if perhaps she'd missed it. "I hear she's one of the smartest people in our grade."
Which was true, of course. Her brain was one of the only things Lucy liked about herself. But even so, no matter what the reason was, one simply did not voluntarily agree to work with her. Then again, Blaine was one of those students who never picked on her.
"Well then," Mr Gentry said after a short pause. "Looks like we've got one group already." Right at that moment, the bell rang, and everyone left swiftly, shooting Blaine incredulous glances as they went. Lucy knew it would be too good to be true if he'd say anything to her now, but still, she couldn't help but be slightly disappointed when Blaine walked out as well, on his way to his next class.
A/N: So, what do you think? :) Let me know if you have any questions/comments (or if there's something here that's not right...) - please review! :D