Hey! Sorry once more. I think this chapter is more interesting than the others, and it is longer than even the first chapter. So I hope it has been worth the wait :) Also, can you guys please tell me if you want me to put a preface in? I have it already written, but I dont know if I should put it in... tell me what you want, then Ill see if I can put it in somehow :P :) Okay, enough of my jabbering... enjoy!

-darkvampire

Chp 3: More New Arrivals

My eyes started to crack open just as the morning sun began to filter in through my window. And at that moment, I realized how stiff, how sore I was. Ugh. This wouldn't be one of my better days. It seemed that something prevented me to be free of bruises for any length of time.

It was Monday, I realized. I'd woken up Saturday worse than I was today, which was a good thing. I was over most of the intense pains now. I would only really start hurting if I attempted any sudden movements… or any movements in the wrong direction. Stretching hurt the worst, so I avoided that, obviously. Even though I felt compelled to do it, since I was so stiff.

Cynthia and I did end up having a talk. I was only left with a warning, or more like a threat, and nothing else… which was also a good thing. Maybe she actually took pity on me for just this once. I mean, I had been beat pretty much half to death, and I don't think Cynthia really wanted to finish me off. So, when I did something 'bad' later, when I was healed, she would just give me back the bruises. That was a fairly simple routine for her.

As I'd predicted the night of my attack, I did have some severe bruises. Nothing worse than I'd had before, but still. They were almost faded enough to be completely covered by make-up, but not quite yet. That would take probably another week. I didn't know why I bothered to conceal them. No one noticed me anyway, let alone the ink splotches that covered almost my entire body. The worst regions would have to be my whole torso.

I sighed, and let out a sharp breath at the pain that that caused. It was time to get up, and face the world. The only way I would survive today is if I looked like I had absolutely nothing to do with Damian. I couldn't talk to him, walk by him, even glance at him, or even possibly glare at him when he stared at me. It seemed hopeless that he would break that habit anytime soon. But, that had been only his first week at Salmo Secondary School, so his second week could turn out different. Who knew? I would only pray that it would turn out in favour of me.

I got up carefully, trying to mind my sensitive areas but not succeeding very well. Showering was less enjoyable as before. The hot water was relaxing, true enough, but that didn't matter when every movement pained you. After I was done with my morning preparations, I still had about an hour to kill. That hour had been normally spent at my tree every morning that I'd start to wake up at six or five. After that incident at the little clearing, there was definitely no question of my going back.

Even though I didn't have a nightmare today, surprisingly enough, my body had gotten used to it.

True, I was thankful that I didn't have a nightmare, but I also wondered why I didn't. Maybe the pain kept me sleeping dreamless like a baby like it did that first night, but I don't know. There really was no real explanation, I suppose.

I don't' know when it would be wise to return back to my special spot… or if it was even wise to ever go back again. I didn't really want to chance going back too soon, so I guess my extra time would be spent on pondering these things. I had nothing else to do… my homework was done; finished long ago, the house was spotless; I'd also done my chores awhile ago… So there was absolutely nothing to do except think about how to avoid Damian and other various things till I thought it was an appropriate enough time to drive to school.

And that time came soon enough, sadly and happily. I was not too thrilled about going to school today, and trying to avoid a person just for my own life's sake. But I was happy that I didn't have to sit around at the kitchen table, doing absolutely nothing, any longer. Hours spent like that were sometimes good, but most of the time they were agonizing.

I jumped into my car, or rather, edged gently into the seat and took off at a comfortable speed down the road. I had plenty of time to get there, and then some. I kept reminding myself the whole way there that the only thing I had to do was avoid anything to have to do with Damian. My resistant side had died out awhile ago, or else I would have given more trouble than I had. My resistant side wouldn't have backed down as easily as I did now. But, through many beatings I guess, my spirit had broken and I was just compliant with everything. So, if Janet told me to do something like this, though I didn't like the fact very much that I was going along with her commands, I would do it.

I made it to the school parking lot in do time, and parked, wincing as I got out.

Janet got out of her new, flashier car, a Mazda 3 I think it was, and sneered at me. I looked down, not able to be angry. I was only ashamed that I couldn't take care of myself. This would probably continue until the end of high school, and I hoped not any longer. And there was nothing I could do to stop it.

That's when I heard the gasp from Janet's direction. My eyes instantly shot up to her face, her aghast, horrified face.

My eyes traveled to the spot where her eyes were glued, and I almost let out a gasp also. I tried not to let any emotion show on my face as I looked at Damian, and the goddess-of-a-woman who clung to his arm.

She had almost the same shade of hair as Damian, except lighter, and it waved gently to the middle of her back. She was statuesque, with perfect angular features, and chalky-white skin, also like Damian. And, she looked more beautiful than any girl had a right to be.

This girl seemed to be more worthy than any girl here of Damian. They looked like they belonged together.

She had a dainty smile on her pale lips, while Damian had more or less of a grimace on his face. But I'm sure no one else could tell. Everyone was staring at the new girl. Even Janet, who I was sure was just getting over her shock and becoming jealous, was still after Damian. She wasn't even looking at him. It appeared, only I was. I had to get my eyes off him before Janet noticed.

I continued with my routine, the first one snapped out of their trance, grabbing my bag out of the backseat and locking up. I wouldn't let this bother me… it was none my business anyway. Why was it bothering me? I couldn't find a reason. The only thing I knew was there was an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach. I tried to dislodge the feeling as I walked towards the school.

Everyone had started moving again, the almost hypnotic spell broken. The new girl and Damian were already inside, and out of everyone's view. The people inside were the next people to be astonished by the two beauties together, I suspected.

I was at the door when I noticed Janet looking as if she were about to cry in between all of her 'friends'. They were all comforting her as tears dewed in her eyes. I couldn't bring myself to laugh as I might have before. I was also in too gloomy a mood, and if sighing hurt me I didn't want to think about what laughing would do to me. Suppressing and shudder, I opened the door and entered the school. Now it was time to only focus on work. That would help me get by the day faster. And then I was off to english.

But as hard as I tried, I couldn't bring myself to pay attention. My mind wandered… and I was thankful that the teachers were too scared of me, or either didn't care enough, to call on me for an answer to a question I would not know. I didn't even know what we were talking about today, or what assignment we would be doing. I was too engrossed in my thoughts.

Because of that, it seemed like only seconds later when everyone was getting out of their seats, leaving me behind to scramble and gather up everything to run.

And then I realized this was my first class with Damian, and that left me to worry. Would the new girl, who was obviously with Damian, be put into all his classes? Or, at least, just some of them? I didn't particularly want to be in the classes that girl was in. Unlike most people, that girl gave me a weird feeling…

This time, I was one of the last people to enter the classroom. And luck was apparently with me, because Damian was alone; the new girl was not with him.

But he sat one desk closer, so only one desk separated us. I mentally groaned and searched the room for a different spot. The front of the room was mostly empty; it seemed everyone had moved back to get closer to Damian. Everyone was staring at him as if he were the lord. I rolled my eyes and walked to a desk at a desk in the front left, farthest from the door and the crowded people in the back. I heard an angered sigh come from the back of the room, and I noticed everyone's head turn in Damian's direction. I turned my eyes back to the teacher immediately, not bothering to ask myself why Damian was upset. Anything that had to do with him was not my business… anything that had to do with him was not my business…

Class didn't pass as quickly as english had –as quickly as I wanted it to pass. This was mainly because every passing second, I wished it would end. But, since I was attentive o the time this time, I was the first one out of their seat, already having packed up all my stuff a few minutes earlier. I pretty much sprinted out the door.

In between my silent hopes that the torture would end, I had also been contemplating skipping lunch. It really couldn't hurt. I would just go out onto the school yard picnic tables or something. Or find a tree around the property to hang out in. I would only be saving myself experiencing some unwanted looks and emotions emanating from certain people. I walked at a steady pace through the hall, squirming and squeezing my way through the crowd of oncoming people on their way to the cafeteria. I'd just pushed past the last person and broken free from the throng of people when I heard my name being called.

"Marie! Wait." It was Damian; I recognized that silky smooth voice. But I ignored it. I kept my course, not turning or giving him any reactions that would make him believe I'd heard him.

The only sounds I heard then were the retreating footsteps of the horde of students, and a frustrated sigh. I only realized Damian was behind me when he grabbed my shoulder to stop me. I flinched back violently, letting out a little squeak. That had really hurt. Either he had gripped too hard, or I had a bruise there that was worse than I had thought. It was probably the last option –Damian didn't look that strong.

I felt us both freeze at the same time. I was still facing the doorway, looking at it desperately now, only a few meters away. But I probably wouldn't be able to escape him now. He turned me half-way around. I was still looking down. I really didn't want him to see my bruises for some reason. If he asked me for an explanation, which I was hoping he wouldn't, I don't know what I would say.

"Marie?" He raised a hand, and brought it up to my chin. I was frozen in shock; I couldn't move a muscle, although I felt my heart rate speed up ten fold. He lifted my face up so he could look at me properly.

But then his eyes widened in surprise, and his hand dropped slightly, so he wasn't touching me anymore. It almost felt like I was going to cry, but then I became like a rock. All emotion disappeared for a moment and I looked at him coldly.

"What happened?" He was still staring at my face in disbelief. It was a good thing I was wearing a sweater and jeans; he would be in even more astonished if he saw the rest of my worse bruises.

Suddenly I heard the squeak of sneakers as someone ran down the hallway.

"Damian! I'm glad I found you. I wanted to talk to you about…"

Janet stopped in mid sentence, probably because she saw me, with Damian's hand still hanging in the air, half-way towards my face. My eyes hardened as I laid eyes on her, and I knew then that Damian knew what had happened to me, because he let out an angry noise under his breath. He could probably tell from the way I looked at her; a colder, harsher stare then usual.

Janet's eyes also narrowed as she glared furiously at me. Her fists tightened, and it looked like she started vibrating with anger. Her face turned to almost a cherry colour, and she looked like one of those cartoons that should start fuming from the ears anytime soon. I'd never seen her more livid.

"Marie. What did I tell you before?" Her words were clipped short and seethed acidly.

I gave her no response. I just stared at her blankly as she walked towards us, shortening the distance quickly.

I stepped away from Damian, though his eyes told me desperately to stay. I met Janet, and she and I were probably only a few metres away from him. I kept my poker face on again. I could tell that only made her angrier.

"I thought I made my point clear enough before. Do I need to make it clearer?" Her words were whispered in the same tone as before, and I knew she only meant for me to hear them. But I think Damian might've heard, because I heard him grind his teeth behind us. Why was he getting so upset over this? This was my problem not his. He didn't need to be concerned.

When I didn't answer, Janet slapped me hard across my cheek. But I didn't recoil. I kept my ground; my face now only turned to the side and set into a pained grimace, and my eyes squeezed shut. I grinded my teeth together, trying as hard as I could to not to make an indignant sound.

This time I didn't hear a thing from Janet or Damian. It seemed like everything had frozen again.

"Get out of here, Marie. I don't want to see you around him again." She kept whispering, oblivious to the fact that Damian could hear everything. I still remained motionless and said nothing. Janet finally snapped then.

"I said get out of here! If I need to make my point again, it will only be worse, and you know that. So why won't you just give up?"

Janet pushed me back when I wouldn't move. The first time it was almost lightly, but when I didn't budge she went at it harder. The third time she pushed me, she managed only to move me a few centimetres. That's when she let out a muffled scream and shoved the fourth and final time. I was falling to the ground.

But suddenly I stopped. There was no impact of my body hitting the floor. With my eyes closed, it seemed as if I were floating in mid-air.

Forcing my eyes open, I realized everything all at once. Janet was staring at me with astonishment and disgust. And as I looked up to see what held me up, I realized that Damian had caught me. He had his arm wrapped around my back, and he supported all my weight as if I weighed nothing. And his eyes were not the dazzling green I had come to know. They were a flat black. He stared at her blankly, yet somehow his stare was still terrifying. It was obviously like that for Janet, anyway. As soon as she saw his eyes, and the way they gazed at her, her own eyes widened and she started to back away.

"Umm… uh, umm…" She muttered, more dumbfounded than I was at the moment. He continued staring at her, and she kept backing away.

"Wait," He commanded. She stopped immediately, but I could tell she didn't want to willingly. She fidgeted, and looked extremely agitated as she stood there, waiting for him to speak. I couldn't feel remorseful though. I still couldn't feel anything. Everything passed in a blur now –almost too quick for me to take in.

"Don't ever mess with Marie or me again. I've never had an interest in you, and it's a good time for you to realize that. Give up. And if I catch you hurting her…" He trailed off ominously, leaving an open-ended threat. Janet's eyes looked like they were about to bug out of their sockets.

She nodded quickly, a nervous, jerky movement before she fled. I listened to her retreat till the sound of her squeaking sneakers faded and disappeared. Then I looked up at Damian's face.

He was still supporting me in midair, and it took me a minute to realize how uncomfortable and extremely awkward this was. Shouldn't I have been standing up by now? I think I'd rather have fallen than be in this situation… this was possibly the most humiliating moment in my life, and that was saying something.

I felt a warm flush spread on my cheeks, something that was uncommon in me, even if I had had an embarrassing moment. I was usually not prone to blushing.

"Umm…" I mumbled, looking away from his face. He still wore the same expression as before, but it was less intense… softer and definitely less terrifying. It was a gentle, appraising expression. That made my cheeks a tomato red.

"Are you okay?" His voice was concerned. Suddenly, he pulled me up and away from himself in one swift movement. I felt relief, and sighed, closing my eyes.

"Yes, I feel fine. But you really didn't have to do that. I would have been fine on my own…"

At my words, he raised one brow in disbelief. All I was capable of now was staring at the floor.

"Oh yes, I could see that. She already did this to you." He tapped one of the bigger bruises on my face lightly, so it didn't cause any pain.

"What else do you think she would have done if I hadn't told her off?" I didn't say anything. I wished he hadn't told her off. I would definitely pay for this big time the next time I was alone… which would probably be today, after school. This time, I probably would be beaten half to death.

"So… when did she do that to you?" I shook my head, and let out a frustrated sigh. He did not need to know that, and he shouldn't know that. What he didn't know was only for his own benefit… and mine.

"Never mind. Thank-you from saving me from that fall. See ya."

"Wait! I want to talk to you,"

"Catch you later." I didn't give him a choice as I fled out the door. Even if he did run after me, which I think he wasn't, I would not wait for him. I'd just keep running till I got away.

As my original plan was, I immediately scanned the area for a tree to sit in. As soon as I had found a suitable, climbable looking tree, I went to it and started to scramble up. I plunked down onto a strong limb of the tree as soon as I was up high enough and started t marvel on what had happened.

I could not believe what had happened. That was my first thought. Why had he done that? Everyone else would have just let me fall… but he had saved me. It didn't make sense. I knew he was the courteous, polite type of person, but I would've only fallen onto the ground. True, it would've hurt like hell, but it wouldn't have killed me.

At that moment, I was really glad he didn't follow me. I really did need this time to wonder and think. And that led me to ask myself about what he had said before I left. Why had he wanted to talk to me? It was probably just to ask me about what Janet had did to me last week, but I couldn't be too sure. I didn't know him all that well yet, but I still knew him a bit. So why did he want to know these things? It wouldn't help him do anything, or it wouldn't help me at all. And how could he be so concerned about me? I mean, he did have a girlfriend now, and he shouldn't, without a doubt be trying to talk to me, or stare at me anymore. It was a good thing for me that he wasn't going to stare anymore, but why was he so involved in my problems…?

There was a sudden rustle of leaves that pulled me out of my reveries. And then suddenly a breathtaking boy with amber-blonde hair was on the same branch I was on, sitting cross-legged I the middle of it with perfect balance with his hands folded and relaxed on his lap. I flinched back into the trunk with wide eyes. At first, I thought the boy was Damian, except he had blonde hair. Everything about this boy was almost exactly the same as Damian, except Damian had dark hair, and green eyes. And this boy had black eyes, like the new girl.

A smirk on his face lifted his lips at the corners, and he stared at me with a calm stare. I kept pressed back into the trunk; too surprised to move yet. After a minute of us just watching each other, he was the first one too crack. He burst out laughing all of a sudden.

"Hey, don't look so stunned. It's almost insulting,"

I finally moved, but only raised one eyebrow to give him a look. He just smiled wider, exposing a set of perfect, pearly white teeth.

"So… why are you up in a tree?"

Wow. What a very odd, ironic question to ask.

"I could ask the same of you." I was surprised by how confident I sounded in my words. I didn't feel all that brave. I felt like curling back into my shell. It was a relief, though, that I wasn't stumbling over my words like I would've normally been.

He laughed lightly, and nodded.

"True enough. So, you are…?"

I rolled my eyes.

"Marie. And you are…?"

"I'm Christopher Forrester." It seemed his grin couldn't get any bigger as he saw the way my eyes popped open again in surprise. So he did have a connection with Damian –he was his brother.

"Why do you look so surprised –again?" He laughed, and kept watching my expressions. It looked like he was having fun pointing out my embarrassing moments.

"Are you… Damian's brother?" At the mention of Damian, his mouth fell slightly, but he kept his smile in tact.

"How'd you guess?"

His voice was sarcastic, yet the sarcasm was marred a bit by… resentment. Why was that?

"So, are you at this school now, too?"

"Yes, in fact, I am. But nobody knows because people here were too astounded to see my sister with Damian to notice me walking behind them this morning."

A million questions instantly shot through my head. His sister…? Which would be Damian's sister too? How many brothers and sisters did they have? If there was more, would they come to this school too? And how had Damian been with his sister this morning? He had been with that new girl… I came to a realization with a jolt. The new girl had been Damian's sister.

"That girl was your and Damian's sister?"

"Yes. It's hard to tell, though, isn't it?"

I nodded, still stunned. Chris had lost his grin, and was now smiling with dark humour, shaking his head.

"Damian told her that he was having trouble with some girls at school, and Josie volunteered to act as his 'girlfriend' to keep them away."

He winked at me, and started laughing again. I looked at him quizzically, trying to find humour in what he had just said.

"Oh how he makes me laugh. He can't even handle keeping the girls away. I guess he's just too polite to shut them down immediately –what a sad sight to see. I'm glad I wasn't here to see him struggling to get away from them."

Chris was chuckling the whole time he explained, finding it very humorous. But I felt bad for Damian. I wouldn't like it either, if I was constantly hounded by admirers. I was instantly thankful that that wasn't the case for me.

The bell suddenly began to ring, announcing that lunch was over. Chris smiled at me, and held out his hand as he got up.

"Want help down? I wouldn't want you to t? fall out." My eyes narrowed on him icily, and shook my head. How had he known that I was so clumsy? He'd only known me for a few minutes or so now. He snickered under his breath and shrugged his shoulders. Then he proceeded to the end of the branch and jumped off without hesitation. I had to admit, I was surprised as I leaned over to see he had landed on both feet, and had not broken anything. He gave me an impish grin before he loped off, faster than I'd seen anyone run before.

It took me a minute before I could actually climb down the tree myself. I was too amazed and astounded with my new knowledge.

But I eventually made it down the tree, and ran as fast as I was capable of back to the school. Even though I was known for my clumsiness, I was a fairly good runner. It seemed like I finally found balance there.

I was into the building quickly enough, and I flew to my locker, and grabbed my bag without having to dig through anything like I'd seen a lot of kids doing here before. I only had the one bag in there, so I didn't need to worry about digging through a mess when I needed something.

And then I was off to art… I wondered if the new girl –Josie, apparently- would be there along with Janet and Damian. What a class that would be, if indeed they were all there.

I ran the rest of the way, and made it, being one of the last people in the class who the teacher glared at.

I immediately scanned the room to see who was there. Damian was staring at me intently, in his normal spot but the desk beside him was empty. Janet was on the far left side of the room, looking as if she were in mourning. Which she probably was. Her ego had been bruised, and she was taking it hard. But she deserved to be knocked down a peg; she acted as if she ran this place.

Looking back to him, I saw him gesture for me to come sit with him. My eyes widened slightly, not used to that, but I managed to shake my head. He frowned, and waved me over more evidently. Janet started to watch him, and I knew I was fighting a losing battle for some reason. I sighed heavily as I went to sit by him. His posture looked like it relaxed a bit as I sat down reluctantly.

I set my bag down, and I waited silently for him to start speaking. I don't think he would want to sit beside me if he didn't want to talk about something. But I began to doubt myself as the silence lasted –between us anyway. The teacher started jabbering, and I only concentrated on waiting for him to start speaking. I was going to be way behind if I didn't get help form someone on what we were supposed to be doing. We were a good part into the hour, and I had started to sketch a landscape –an activity she had told us to do that I had picked up eventually in the teacher's lesson- when Damian started to talk.

"So are you okay? I mean, Janet slapped you pretty hard and you have a lot of bruises on your face…"

"No, I'm fine. You don't need to be so concerned." He looked at me incredulously, and shook his head.

"What happened though? You never answered me before, and I really am curious. How did she hurt you so badly?" Well, I had to admit curiosity could be sparked. Janet didn't look strong enough to do some of the numbers that were done to my face. I sighed, and shook my head.

"Where were you? Everyone could probably here the commotion in the back – they were screaming and laughing, having a grand ol' time."

My voice was dripping with sarcasm by the end. He raised one eyebrow and his eyes glinted anger.

"They?" His voice was flat, and no emotion came through. He just sat there, watching me, waiting for me to continue. But I shook my head.

"Enough. I don't think you need to hear about my life's petty problems. This is my problem and I can deal with it."

"No, I want to hear." The command in his tone made me turn me turn to look at him. It seemed like he would not give up –even when I wouldn't tell him. And then I made the mistake of looking into his eyes. They looked like solid emerald –frozen in his abrupt intensity. I couldn't look away then, and I was compelled to tell him the truth.

"Janet and her 'friends' pretty much swarmed me after school last week." I stated. He turned his face away, so I couldn't see his expression. I cocked my head to the side, and stared at him curiously.

"Damian?"

"What?" He muttered in a hard voice. I frowned, not understanding what mood he was going through.

"What's the matter?"

He turned himself back to face me, and looked at me.

"Oh, I just dislike Janet very much." I burst out laughing, disturbing over half the class. I saw the teacher at the front glare at me. Damian looked at me as if I were crazy.

"What are you laughing about?" I kept giggling until I could finally control myself.

"Well that makes two of us, and probably others, though they'd never admit it. Yes, I guess you wouldn't like Janet –she's been hounding you since day one, hasn't she?" I laughed again, and this time he joined me. I saw Janet glowering at us as we did so. Yes, I could tell from the look in her eyes that I was going to get it big time tonight. I might as well live it out right now.

And Damian and I said no more on the matter –or anything at all really. I could tell we were both not very big talkers, and the silence was calm rather than awkward.

Class passed quickly, and I managed to pick up on what I had missed. We were supposed to be sketching a rough landscape this period so the next time we could paint it. Oh what fun that will be –or would be. I still didn't know how tonight would turn out, but I had a basic idea…

Damian and I said a short goodbye and then we were off to our separate classes. I really wished that Janet would not be my lab partner again like she was last week. But I don't think she would. The last time she was, she needed to threaten me to stay away from Damian. But there was no need for words now. She knew that I knew that I was in a heap of trouble.

I entered the biology room and stopped dead as soon as I saw the new girl. She was standing at my lab table –my partner nowhere to be found- with a ever-present smile on her face. Her smile broadened a bit when she saw me, and she extended a finger and pointed to me and signalled that I come over to her. I saw my little partner at the back of the room now –without a partner now, but looking so happy I couldn't bother to go over and sit by him. With a sigh, I walked slowly over to my old spot and sat by my new partner. She seemed happy that I was there with her.

"Hello, my name is Josie Cartwright." I gave her a look, and she looked at me confusedly. I decided to just let her know, so she didn't have to keep the charade up with me.

"I know that you're Chris's and Damian's sister." She looked shocked for a moment, but then she grinned evilly.

"Of course Chris told you. Damn it. Well, I guess your smart enough to know that Damian doesn't want everyone to know that," I took the warning, nodding and sighing.

"No, I would never dream of telling. If I were him, I wouldn't want that to happen to me, either." She pursed her lips, and narrowed her eyes calculatingly on me. I frowned back.

"What?" She shook her head as if she were clearing it and smiled angelically.

"Nothing, hon. Now why don't we get started, eh?" And without another word the class proceeded.

Well, Josie came off as a nice person. We chit-chatted for only a few more minutes spread out across the span of an hour. She asked my name, what subjects I preferred… even my favourite colour. It was kind of a random question, but she seemed like a random girl, so I answered her questions with only sometimes a weird look. She would laugh at me, and pat me on the back lightly. To tell the truth, I'd never really experienced anything like that before. I'd never fit in anywhere, or had been really connected to anything, so this was new for me.

When class was over, we got up out of our seats, and she took my hand and shook it. I thought that was just a bit awkward, though it didn't seem like it for Josie. It looked as if it were normal to her, though teenagers these days didn't usually shake hands. Especially girls.

"Bye Marie. See ya tomorrow." She let go of me and winked before leaving the room. I shrugged my shoulders, dismissing her weird way of saying good-bye and gathered up my things. I thought I'd better do it quick, too, because I wanted to get a head start on Janet. Even though I knew it was inevitable, I still wanted to avoid it.

I got everything fairly quickly, and then pretty much ran out of the room. I ran all the way through the halls to the exit out into the parking lot area… until I saw who was waiting there. Damian was lounging against the wall, looking perfectly at ease until he saw me and my expression. A smirk pulled up the corners of his lips, and he pushed himself off the wall. It was so obvious that he had been waiting for me, and I don't know what I felt like doing. There were a lot of things I wanted to do…

He walked up to me, a smile still on his lips as he looked at me.

"Don't look so upset." He said, and put an arm around my back to guide me. It didn't quite touch me, but it was close enough to help him guide me. He turned us around and walked to the door.

"What are you doing?" I asked, almost seething. He actually laughed at me this time, but then turned serious.

"Helping you." He stated; his voice firm. I looked at him with a confused expression for a moment until we were outside, and I spotted Janet leaning against a tree. At that exact moment, Josie came bounding up to us, and curled Damian's other arm around her own back. She then leaned up and pecked Damian on the cheek, which he immediately grimaced at. He worked hard to get a smile on his face, I could tell, but he eventually got it.

"You know, Damian, you aren't a very convincing actor. You have to work on it." Josie whispered jokingly in his ear. I could barely contain my snickering. We stopped, and he gave Josie a serious look. Josie smiled wider, and then whispered again, "She knows."

He shot me a look.

"How?" He hissed back frustratingly. She held her hands up in surrender.

"Hey, I didn't tell her. She told me that she knew, and I basically connected the pieces. Chris told her." She breathed something else in his ear that I could not make out, and Damian cursed under his breath. When he had controlled his anger, presumably towards Chris, he looked at me.

"You can understand why though, right?" He asked. I nodded.

"Yah, I can guess. Don't worry, I won't spill the beans." He laughed at me, and I actually cracked a genuine smile for the first time in a while. It was good to see him laugh –he always seemed concentrated or worrying about something. You barely ever saw him smile; only the occasional time. He was always so serious…

He stared at my smile, and it immediately disappeared off my face.

"Umm… yah, thank you. I would've been a Janet chew toy again if it weren't for…" I couldn't say it, I felt too embarrassed. Why was he so set on keeping me safe? No one else had showed that concern before. I didn't understand it, and I definitely couldn't say I liked it. Today seemed like a whole different experience for me.

He smiled widely, exposing the same set of pearly whites as Chris. They were so much alike it was astonishing.

"No problem." I nodded, and stepped out of the perimeter of his arm. We had stopped at my car, and I could see Janet watching from in front of the school with a look of pure loathing on her face. She would have definitely gotten me if Damian hadn't first. I got in, and shut the door. Josie began to wave as I backed up, and I waved quickly back. She leaned into him, and he had his hand set lightly on her waist. It really did look like they were a couple when she wasn't kissing him.

Josie continued waving to me till I was out of sight.