Hey there again! So... I'm basically awesome. Haha just kidding, but yeah! Another chapter just a day after! OH MY GOSH THAT RHYMED *_* ... I'm tired. Anyhowsers, before ya go on readin' this story, I'd like a take a minute, just sit right there, I'll tell you how this person Ballet wrote a story... BelAire. That's all I got. ANYWAY, back on topic! Do any of you like the Mortal Instruments series? If so, I've got the story for you! It's written by Ballet Shinigami, who you can go ahead and type into the search box-do it, people!- or click on her name in front of the lovely reviews she's given me :) The story is called Misguided Feelings, and I urge you to check it out! Go ahead, do it! ...well, after you read this of course ;) Alright then... That's enough talking for one day. ON TO THE STORY!

Enjoy!

Dil strutted down the hallway smiling, a slight, literal hop in his step. He'd had a surprisingly good time yesterday, and for some reason he was more excited to get to first period than he usually was. He thought of Barnard and grinned. Even though he didn't talk a lot, he was entertaining in his own, quiet way, and he was the first one not to immediately call him weird and walk away when Dil tried to talk to him.

Dil was almost to class when someone popped up beside him and bumped into his shoulder.

"Hey there, Dil!" Dil flinched a bit at the sudden yell in his ear before turning to the girl beside him. She was a girl in his grade that he barely remembered, with short brown hair in pigtails and big brown eyes. Dil smiled a little.

"Oh, hey there, uh…"

"Mari," she answered for him, grinning. Dil returned it.

"Right, right! You're in my…"

"Math," she giggled. Dil rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh yeah! I remember now!"

"Yeah," she giggled again, before twirling a piece of her hair, "So… um… where are you going?" Dil shrugged.

"Just to first period. I think it's History, but I can never remember." Mari giggled.

"You're so silly, Dil!"

"Oh, ha ha, that's me!" Dil reached the door way of his class and halted, turning to Mari with a polite smile.

"Well, this is my class, so… uh, bye." Mari waved, a large grin on her face.

"Bye Dil!" Said red head flinched, and rubbed his ear as she disappeared into the crowded hallway.

"Man, that girl has lungs," he muttered a bit as he slowly pivoted into the class. Dil grinned to see Barnard already in his seat, head buried in his book. He skipped over and tossed his bag down, tossing himself into his seat facing Barnard.

"Hey there, Barnie! How's it going?" Barnie lifted his head from his book, placing a piece of paper in it and closing it.

"Fine, I guess. Who was that?" Dil blinked in confusion, before suddenly remembering.

"Oh, you mean that girl?" Barnie nodded, and Dil scratched the back of his neck, "Well, I'm not really sure. Her name's Mari, and she's in one of my classes, but I've never talked to her before. She just suddenly… popped up." Barnie raised an eyebrow.

"So you don't like her?" Dil blinked again before grinning.

"Well, I don't really know her, so I'd say I like you a lot better!" Dil laughed at this, oblivious to what he just said, while Barnie observed him before half-smiling. Dil couldn't exactly determine what it meant before the teacher gave him an appointed glare for talking, and Dil bid the teacher to continue, earning several snickers from the class and yet another glare from the teacher.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Barnie give another half smile and shake his head, and Dil allowed himself a proud smile before turning to the front to pretend he was paying the slightest bit attention.

At lunch, Dil grabbed his food and immediately headed towards the table he remembered Barnie sitting at yesterday. Halfway to his destination, though, he was intercepted by none other than Mari, who smiled brightly.

"Hey Dil! Where're you going?"

"Uh, just to my lunch table," he said, carefully moving around her.

"Oh… alright then. Well, I should go. Bye!"

"Ok, bye…" The girl disappeared once again, and Dil shook his head. How weird…

Lily suddenly gasped and grabbed Tommy's arm. He jumped and turned, giving her the opportunity to point in the direction she was looking.

"Look, Tommy! Dil's talking to someone!" Tommy snorted a bit.

"He talks to a lot of people Lil. He's probably explaining some alien spacecraft he saw or something." Phil followed Lil's finger and his eyes widened.

"No dude… it's a girl." Tommy's eyebrows shot up and he immediately turned. A few tables away, Dil stood in front of a pretty girl with brown hair, who was speaking to him. Dil answered with a shrug and began to walk past her, and she said something before walking off, Dil continuing on as if nothing had happened. Tommy turned to his friends, who all looked as surprised and confused as he felt.

"Dude… I think you're little brother just blew that girl off," Phil spoke. Tommy frowned.

"No, Dil wouldn't do something like that… He's too nice."

"Then why'd he just walk away?" Kimi probed, "She seemed pretty interested in him." Tommy shrugged.

"I don't know, Dil's kind of oblivious to that kind of stuff."

"Or maybe she's just not his type," Lil said meaningfully, only Tommy, Phil, and Chuckie hearing the underlying meaning. Tommy simply shook his head and the conversation moved on, and he only gave one glance over his shoulder before deciding to shove it to the back of his mind. Until later, that was.

"Greetings, Barnie-Earthling!" Barnie quirked an eyebrow, his book closing slowly. He pushed it to the side as Dil plopped down across from him, immediately digging into… whatever was on his plate.

"What is that? Barnard asked. Dil paused for a second, contemplating.

"Well… I don't really know…" Barnard scrunched up his nose a tiny bit, and Dil watched the small wrinkles on his nose for a moment before they disappeared.

"Maybe you should figure out what you get before you eat it, so you don't end up eating something radioactive." Dil laughed at this.

"Aww, but if I did that, I might not get superpowers!" An eyebrow lift, quirk of the lips. He had really full lips… They were light pink, Dil noted, and looked extremely soft. He wondered what they'd feel like…

"…thinking about aliens again?" Dil jolted from his thoughts, meeting those pretty, somehow knowing eyes, and away from the small smirk in his lips.

"Actually, I was trying to figure out some strategies for tonight," he lied easily with a grin. He wasn't sure why; he just knew he didn't want to tell Barnard that he'd been staring at his lips.

"For?" Dil grinned.

"Laser tag! I'm on a league, but tonight it's gonna be me, my brother, and his friends just having fun. Hey!" he almost shouted, gathering a few nearby people's attention before they dismissed it as "just being Dil", "You should come with us!" Barnard shrugged.

"I don't know. I've never played laser tag before." Dil's eyes widened so much, he almost looked like an alien himself.

"You… what?" Barnard raised an eyebrow a tiny bit.

"I've… never played laser tag?" Dil gaped at him before cackling, placing his hands on the table and leaning forward.

"Dude, what have you been doing with your life? That's it, I've decided! You're totally coming! Hey, and you can be on my team so I can teach you how it's done!" Barnard half smiled at the cocky grin on Dil's face.

"Alright. It's a deal." He held out his hand and Dil grasped it, once again noticing the other boy's rough fingers as he had the first time, though he still didn't know why.

"Awesome!"

Tommy sighed a bit, digging through his closet frivolously.

"Mom, have you seen my tennis shoe?" he called. His mother's voice came wading up the stairs.

"No, honey. Did you check your closet?"

"I am right now!" Tommy let out a frustrated huff before something collided with his head.

"Ouch!" He straightened, rubbing his head, and saw his shoe lying on the floor beside him. Dil chuckled a bit as his brother picked up the shoe, and Tommy sent him a light-hearted glare.

"Didn't have to throw it at me. Where'd you find it?" Dil shrugged, crossing his arms and leaning on the frame of the doorway.

"In the bathtub. You know, you leave your clothes in the weirdest places." Tommy scoffed.

"Yeah, right. What about you? One time Mom found a sleeping bag, a cassette player, and a bag full of your clothes on the roof."

"Hey, I was staging a stakeout on the full moon in case the aliens wanted to come down and listen to some music or take me up in their ship to dissect me!" Dil protested as Tommy rolled his eyes, smiling.

"So," Tommy started a bit more seriously as he bent down to tie his shoe, "Are you sure you don't want to invite anyone of your friends? You know it's just gonna be me and the crew. What about that girl you were talking with at lunch today?" Dil made a face.

"Oh, you saw that? Well, I don't really know her."

"Well, she seemed to want to know you," Tommy teased a bit with a smile. It went completely over Dil's head.

"What do you mean?" Tommy chuckled and shook his head.

"Oh nothing." Dil grinned.

"Besides, I already invited Barnie. He's never played laser tag before—can you believe that? The insanity—so he agreed to go. It's gonna be awesome!" Tommy's eyes widened as Dil wandered away, muttering something about his shoulder pads. That Barnard guy was coming? Tommy frowned a bit. Dil hadn't invited the girl… But then again, Tommy reasoned, he said he barely knew her. Still… Tommy shook his head, trying to get his friend's words out of his head; they really weren't helping. But there was some part of him that still—

"Hey! You comin' to get your butt kicked or do we have to leave ya here?" Tommy jumped at the shout from downstairs and raced out of his room.

"Yeah right, you're gonna eat laser!" There was a laugh in response, and as Tommy joked with his brother, he decided that for one night, he'd leave his thoughts behind him.

He didn't know then how hard it would be.

Sooooooooooooooooo? Hope you liked it e'rybody! So Barnard and the gang are going to laser tag... Fun fun! :D Who is that Mari girl? Why does she keep talking to Dil? Uhh... too tired to think of more questions than that... so go ahead and hit that down there review button, an' go check out Ballet Shinigami's Mortal Instruments fanfic Misguided Feelings! Go on, do it! See ya laterssssssssssss!