But she refused to let him see her cry, so instead she parked where she always did and moved to get her things. The only difference this morning was that he pulled up beside her. She looked up, she knew it was him before she did. And there he was, with another girl. The tears that threatened to spill over were fought back momentarily, and everything was forgotten but the pain.

She stared for a moment before readjusting the strap on her bag and moved into the throng of students headed for the front doors. She wanted to think that it wasn't what she thought it was. But she knew, somewhere deep inside that it was. She got to class without any further mishaps and sat in her normal seat. She didn't look up when he entered the room ten minutes late, she tried not to let herself think about why he was late. She shook her head to clear those thoughts and started trying to refocus on her work. And then the weirdest thing happened, she felt a tug on her hair.

She closed her eyes momentarily. He hadn't sat behind her in ages. Now he was acting… She was not going to allow him to get a reaction out of her, because that's exactly what he wanted. The teacher, who was now droning on and on about the Red Blood Cell to White Blood Cell ration in the blood made her want to scream. As if remaining monotone the whole time wasn't enough, he wasn't even teaching outdated information. No wonder so many people fail his stupid class. He puts the right information on his tests. She shook her head in disgust for that man and returned to her work, momentarily forgetting about the pest behind her until another tug on her hair came, harder this time. Again, she closed her eyes, but she allowed her hands to still for a moment. She felt the muscles in her neck and shoulders tense, and then his hot breath on her neck, evoking feelings she'd rather not analyze at school.

And then, she felt two strong, large hands on her shoulders, massaging gently. Almost instantly, her pen dropped, forgetting her work and herself momentarily, allowing him to let her relax. She couldn't help the sigh of appreciation that slipped from her lips, she hadn't felt this good in ages. She leaned back into her seat some more, giving him better reach to her shoulders. After a minute or two had passed, he moved up to her neck where his hot breath had just been, touching all the rights spots as usually. She leaned her head forward slightly giving him better access to her tense and aching muscles. She was able to tune out the so called lecture, the whispering of the other students, the fluttering of papers and notes being passed, and allowed herself to focus on only one thing- the way she felt right now.

Finally, he removed his hands from her completely, making her whimper in protest before she could stop herself. As soon as she'd done it, she felt her face heat up and her once relaxed muscles re-tensed. She swore she could feel him smirking at her. "Don't worry, Mary. There's more where that came from." She almost wished for a moment he was right. The bell rang, shaking Rory from her stupor. As he walked past her, he allowed his hand to graze over her neck, shoulders, and down her Chilton blazer, causing her to involuntarily shiver.

It was going to be a very long day.