"Deanna, don't forget Mr. Oliver."

Great. So that's where he's been hiding. Maybe –just maybe—this mysterious fellow might be Oliver.

Nah. Oliver hardly ever smiled, she thought.


"Follow me Ol—Adin. Next class is English," she said bitterly, but this time, more towards English than at the fellow.

She abhors English. For some unknown reason, the school districts decide to torture kids by making them read two Shakespeare plays a year, and the teacher assigned to her is rumored to start the year with Shakespeare. Othello, she thinks, and then straight to Taming of the Shrew. Do they want her to fail first semester English?

"You don't like English?" Adin guessed. So, he's perceptive. God, why does he look like Oliver? It pained her to see that someone she loved was not here, and yet this constant reminded was told to follow her every step. What could be worse than this?

"No, I don't," she said curtly.

"I don't get why. English is a very interesting class." Ugh. I spoke too soon.

"Not when we're reading Shakespeare for an entire semester," she told him, obviously thinking she won the fight.

He smiled, looked down, and said, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Romeo and Juliet," he told her.

She almost stopped walking, shocked at his choice of quotes.

She studied Romeo and Juliet freshman year, and her teacher told her that that quote meant that names mean nothing, but rather the person. What is happening here? Why is he telling her the right things?

"Is something wrong?" Adin asked her, worriedly. He put a hand on her shoulder, but she automatically tensed her muscles. He continued to hold his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm alright. It's just…I forgot if we had any homework for the class. Not that you would have to turn anything in, but my not completing it would be completely unacceptable, and I would fail English on the very first day, and that in itself is un—…" she wandered off, realizing she was babbling.

Adin smiled. "I would get worried to. Let's get you to class. We don't want you accidentally hurting yourself."

This is quite creepy, she thought, remembering Leonard, when he tried to court her.

He held the door open for her, and her friends had not missed it. She had to go introduce him to the teacher, and he was greeted warmly.

"Welcome to Honors English Adin. I hope you enjoy your stay here. Sit, sit. Class will begin shortly."

"Is there a seating chart?" Deanna asked, somewhat hopefully, though she managed to keep it out of her voice. No need to have Romeo sit next to her, and confuse her even more, ya know?

"No, but Ms. Bennoi called and told me the administration chose a student at random to assist Mr. Oliver. You were the only one who had the same chosen classes as him," said Mr. Alice, "Naturally, you guys will want to sit together for when Mr. Oliver has any questions."

No, he did not hear the pleading in her voice. She had him last year for normal English, and he encouraged her to join honors junior year. She agreed because she felt he understood her, when she was being subtle, when she was being polite.

Well, no matter, she told herself.

"Come on Oli—" she caught herself too late, but whatever, "Sorry, come on Adin." Adin gave her a nod. They sat somewhat close to her friends, but not close enough that they could talk to her and obviously inquire about Adin, but not too far that they would suspect something that simply is not there…or something that Deanna refused to let be there.

"Do you normally talk to people by their last names? I do not mind you know. I move around a lot because my father is in the military. I'm used to going by Oliver by now," he told her absentmindedly by the end. He wanted to comfort her, she knew. He knew she knew. She could not help smiling a small smile.

"Thanks. And no, I don't usually call people by last names," she told him solemnly, and then tried to pass it as a joke, "Of course, there is always a first, right?"

He looked at her, really looked at her. Trying to evaluate her, she was guessing. Of course, she could hold any human stare now. Only one could make her look…

Darn. She looked away. She tried to console herself by saying that it was only because he was a constant reminder of Oliver, and that they both looked away at the same time, looking at each other one second, blinking and looking away the next.

"Class is now in session," Mr. Alice told the class seconds later. Everyone turned his or her attention to him. He is a very nice and amazing teacher, but at first, he is ever so intimidating.

"I would like to start off class by introducing a new student to our school. Mr. Oliver, will you stand up?" Adin looked at her horrified for an instant, but composed himself, and stood up. He looked at the teacher, expectedly.

"Tell us your name and some interesting facts about yourself."

"Well, I am Adin Oliver. I am a military brat. I just came from France. Uhmm… I've been to most of Europe?" he shrugged, and shook his head, thinking of stuff to say. When he didn't, he just sat back down.

"Very brave Mr. Oliver. Now, we will start from you…Ms. Shwein. Introduce yourself."

Deanna's best friend blushed a little. She did not like her last name, but got up nonetheless. "I am Linda Shwein, and I am not even remotely close to interesting as Adin Oliver," she said, as she sat down. Of course, just because she blushed, it did not mean she was outspoken.

Mr. Alice half smirked, and raised his eyebrows. "I sense wit, Ms. Shwein. Next."

Slowly, her friends introduced themselves. Deanna noticed with lack of pleasure that she was going next, after Sue. Great. What do I say?

"Next."

Deanna slowly got up. She did not feel herself getting warm, but she knew that she would eventually.

"I am Deanna Beaux…uhmm," she was waiting to turn beet red, so she can just say you don't pronounce the x and sit, but she didn't. Maybe she was blushing, and she couldn't feel it? No matter. She would say something about…she couldn't come up with anything, so she said the same thing she said every year when people were forced to present themselves: "The 'x' is not pronounced in my last name," and sat down.

She could hear people laughing their polite laugh.

"From my whole high school career, she always says the same thing," she heard Gary say. The hottest guy of her class was actually talking about her. God, how she wished he would not comment on her speeches.

"Class, please take out your summer assignments. This is very crucial for the survival of my class."

Deanna freaked. She had lied to Adin about any summer assignment, but here she was, close to hyperventilating.

She felt someone tap her shoulder, and she looked at the general direction.

"The summer assignment was to just get the book, remember?" Gary told her, looking at her worriedly. "Don't worry, we didn't have to read it," he told her, wondering why she was just staring at him. He raised his eyebrows, and Deanna muttered thanks, and turned back around, getting an old battered copy of Taming of the Shrew.

Of course, her copy would be battered, Gary thought. She probably vents her anger on poor Shakespeare.

Deanna saw Adin from a sidelong glance, and noticed he was thinking too hard about something.

What could he possibly be thinking? She wondered. She knew she was drawn to him at the beginning. But why is he still drawing her in, when she can only suffer so much?

Oliver…is that really you? she allowed herself to ask herself, knowing that she would plant a seed of hope that needed no water or tending to grow the minute she asked herself.


I noticed Vivian Vande Velde never gave Deanna a last name! :O

So I went to Google, and looked up a last name that would mean beautiful. Beaux is so old-fashioned...or at least, it sounds old fashioned to me.

But I like it.

Yea, I decided to give this Adin fellow some competition.

You know, for parallels? I hope you enjoy.