A/N: Thank you for your feedback everyone! Special thank you to the Anon for pointing out that error! I didn't see that! Please enjoy this chapter!


IV


Avery didn't sit in her regular spot during lunch the next Monday. She sat off to the side of the school, in a secluded, unfinished hallway. No one who saw her paid any mind to her. She was the crazy girl, after all, and after Wednesday's events, no one wanted anything to do with her.

The people who had normally tried to talk to her made no sign that they had even seen her. Bill, however, had suddenly become popular. Everyone wanted to talk to him, and had sometimes stopped him in the halls to do so. Avery left him behind.

She abruptly stopped tearing open her packaged peanut butter crackers when she heard footsteps. She didn't look up when the footsteps stopped in front of her. "Hey, Eaves." She still didn't look up. "What are you doing here all by yourself?"

"Eating lunch." Avery joked. "What does it look like I'm doing?" She gave a half-hearted laugh. "What are you doing here? Aren't you the popular new kid?"

"I didn't want to sit with anyone today." Bill knelt down in front of her. "Mind if I stay with you?"

"I won't stop you." Avery leaned against the half-painted wall. Bill sat next to her. They sat in silence. Avery didn't even touch her crackers. "Didn't anyone see you coming over here?"

"Some people did."

"Why didn't they stop you?"

"Who knows." Bill pretended not to know, but he did. He had calmly explained to them that he was going to see Avery, and they looked at him as though he were insane. They tried to convince him to sit with them, but… Well, that's not important. "Why didn't anyone stop you?"

"I'm the crazy girl, remember?" Avery reminded grimly. "No one wants to associate with me."

"I do." Bill said quickly.

"I know." Avery said after a minute of silence. The bell rang and Avery stood. "I gotta go. I'll see you later… I hope." Bill only watched her leave.


About a day later, Avery and Bill were walking to the only class they had together. Avery glared at an obvious couple out of the corner of her eye. "Something wrong?" Bill asked.

"Hell yeah, there's something wrong." Avery grumbled. "I'm freaking sick of all the damn couples in the hallways!" The couple stopped making out and looked in her direction. The boy comforted the girl, saying it was just the crazy girl again. "It's like, dear god! Stop blocking the hallway for everyone else and get your asses to class! You're here to learn not eat each other's faces!" Bill chuckled.

"You don't like couples, do you?" Avery rolled her eyes.

"It's not that I hate couples." She explained, a little bit calmer. "I just hate the ones that are up in everyone's faces about it. I guess I just hate all couples unless I'm in one." She laughed. "Yeah, like that's gonna happen!"

"Don't think like that!" Bill tried to reassure her. "You'll find someone who thinks you're cute!"

"Get real." Avery sighed. "Have you even seen my face? Good god, I'm hideous!"

"No you're not." Bill smiled. "I think you're cute." Avery stiffened and some girls who had overheard the conversation stopped dead. Someone actually thought the crazy girl was cute?

"You…" Avery wanted to yell at him. She sighed. The girls who had eavesdropped walked over to them.

"Hey, Bill!" They grabbed Bill's arms. "We need to talk to you!" They dragged him away before he could protest. Avery only shook her head as the bell that signaled they had five minutes left to get to class rang. She continued on to their classroom, clenching her teeth to try to hold back tears.

Avery had her head held in her left hand as Miss Shanahan rambled on about feudalism. She looked to her right and saw Bill, who looked equally bored, if not more so. Being a demon in a school for humans has to be annoying. Bill glanced over at her and gave a smirk. Avery waved back, lazily flashing a peace sign. She perked up slightly when Miss Shanahan said they could listen to music during the next assignment. Her spirits fells again when Miss Shanahan said that they could also work with a partner and when she saw Bill looking at her. As expected, Bill leaned over to her. No words needed to be said for Avery to understand the message. "I'll get some markers." She stood, going to the bin, then stopped once she saw people crowding around the marker bin. "On second thought, I think I'll wait a bit for the crowd to clear."

"Good idea." Bill nodded. About half an hour later, Avery had done almost all the work; Bill just sat there and watched her.

"Can you at least pretend to be helping?" Avery sighed, standing up straight. She stretched, for she had been bent over for about ten minutes.

"Why?" Bill asked smugly. "You seem to have everything under control."

"Why did you want to be partners with me in the first place?" Avery just shook her head and returned to the poster-board. Avery put in her ear buds and selected a song to listen to, since it seemed that Bill wasn't going to be interacting with her much today.

"What'cha listening too?" Bill asked, suddenly taking one of the ear buds and listening to the song. Avery frowned that the only working bud in that pair was taken.

"Shepherd of Fire." Avery explained. "Now give it back. That's the only working one." She snatched the bud from Bill and put it back in.

"Why'd you use a broken pair?" Bill asked, now being annoying.

"I could untangle my other pair in time." Avery shrugged. "Desperate times call for desperate measures." Bill laughed. Avery rolled her eyes.

"You're interesting." He said simply before going back to saying nothing. Avery muttered thanks as she finished the board.

Avery walked to her next class after Bill had split from her in the hallway. As she walked, a girl, Katelyn, or whatever her name was, walked with her. "Hey, you're Avery, right?"

"Yeah." Avery confirmed. She recognized the girl's voice. Katelyn was one of Erika's friends. "What of it?"

"I overheard that new kid call you cute." Katelyn smirked. "What was his name again, Bull or something?"

"It's Bill." Avery glared. Katelyn laughed.

"If that isn't the most generic name I've ever heard!" She mocked. "What do you think you're even doing? You're just an attention whore!"

"So what if I am?" Avery spat. "At least I'm more subtle about it!"

"At least I didn't make out with Bob the first day he was here!" Katelyn retorted.

"For the last fucking time," Avery spoke low and dangerously, making the crowd around them feel scared. No one liked the crazy girl when she was angry. "His name is Bill. B-I-L-L. And for the last time I'll say this. I did nothing, but show the guy around school." Avery clenched her fist. "So you know what, you damn she-hound? You can go screw yourself and stick those rumors right up your ass!" Avery wasted no time in punching Katelyn. Avery tried to remember all the boxing moves that Miss Hewins taught her in Phys Ed about two years ago. Everyone in the crowd stood in shock. This was the first time the crazy girl actually injured someone without a mathematical tool as a weapon, and she was damn good at it.

"Avery!" Bill called, pulling Avery to her senses. "Avery! Knock it off!" Bill grabbed her arms, restraining her. "She gets it, okay?" Avery was out of breath. Why did she get so angry whenever the rumors about her and Bill were brought up? Katelyn stumbled backwards, blood dripping from her nose and small bruise forming on her left cheek.

"You… You are crazy!" Katelyn cried, holding her nose.

"Someone get the nurse!" A boy in the crowd called as Bill led Avery away from the crowd. Avery growled.

"So everyone gets all worried when one of the popular girls gets her ass handed to her, but no one gives a damn when the crazy girl gets shoved down the stairs." Bill raised an eyebrow. "Someone pushed me down the stairs a month ago. My legs still ache from it." Bill sighed, pulling Avery into a secluded section of the hallway. Surprisingly enough, he didn't say anything. "I know, I know. I messed up really badly." He still remained silent. Avery gave a half-hearted chuckle. "Giving me the silent treatment now, eh?" Avery had her head down, teeth clenched as tears mocked her by blurring her vision.

Bill suddenly surprised Avery by pulling her quickly into a hug. Avery was stiff, what the frick was he doing? He held her tight, as if the world would end when he let go. Eventually, Avery threw her arms around him, unable to contain all the feelings that she had pent up. She whimpered into his chest, tears slowly falling down her face.

"I'm sorry." She muttered in a shaky voice. "I'm so freaking sorry."

"It's alright."

She hadn't heard those words in a while.


A/N: Sorry for the late update! Hope you all enjoyed anyways! Let me know what you think should happen next!