For those of you who saw the little sparks that were created between Angel and Collins at the end of the last chapter, you guys have good eyes! And this story is still dedicated to AngelxCollins for just bein' plain awesome! WHOOOOOO!

I own nothing. The Almighty Larson owns it all.

"Hello class. As some of you already know, my name is Mrs. Heredia and I am your English teacher," Mrs. Heredia said as she wrote her name on the board. "Please copy from the board everything under the words "The Rules of Writing" as well as your homework assignment while I take attendance to see who's here and who's not."

Homework on the first day? Man! Mark thought. As Mrs. Heredia made her way to her desk, Angel leaned over to Mark.

"Psst. Mark," he whispered. Mark looked up from his paper.

"Yeah?" he whispered back.

"How do make a lowercase 'E?'"

"You mean, you don't know how to write in English?"

"I know how to write in English. 'E's' are just tricky for me." Mark nodded and helped Angel write a lowercase 'E.' "Thanks." Angel and Mark started writing again. It wasn't long before Angel whispered Mark's name a second time. "Mark." Mark looked up from his paper again.

"What?" he said.

"Um . . . does Tom have a girlfriend?"

"No. I don't think so." There was a moment of silence before Angel spoke again.

"Boyfriend?" This caught Mark off guard.

"What?"

"Nothing. Never mind."

Why would he ask me if Tom has a boyfriend? Mark wondered. I understand girlfriend, but boyfriend? Well . . . he might like boys. Should I ask? Mark pondered over this for a few more seconds.

"Angel, do you like girls or boys?" he asked finally. Angel was silent for a moment and let the question sink in.

If I tell him I like boys, he might get grossed out and he won't be my friend anymore. But if I say I like girls, then I'll be lying to him and myself. I better tell him the truth.

"Boys." Before Mark could respond, Mrs. Heredia stood up and walked back to the front of the class.

"Alright class. Time to . . ." Mrs. Heredia was interrupted by the phone on her desk. She groaned and made her way to the phone. "Hello? Yes sir." As Mrs. Heredia carried on her conversation with the person on the phone, Mark tried to get Angel's attention.

"Psst. Angel," he whispered, receiving no answer. "Angel." Still no answer. "Psst." Mrs. Heredia at this point had hung up the phone.

"Class, I'll be right back. Talk amongst yourselves," she said. She left the room and students began to move to other seats to sit by friends.

"Angel," Mark said in a normal voice. Angel didn't answer. "Come on Angel. Why aren't you talking to me? Are you mad at me or something?" Angel shook his head. "Then what's up?"

"I just don't want you to judge me, that's all," Angel said.

"Judge you? I'm not gonna judge you. I just wanted to know if you like girls or boys."

"I told you I like boys."

"Is that why you asked me if Tom had a boyfriend?"

"I said 'girlfriend' first!"

"Yeah, but 'boyfriend' is the word that stuck in my head."

"You're judging me!"

"No I'm not." There was a silence between the two boys. "Do you like Tom?" Angel blushed slightly. "Well, do you?"

"Yeah," Angel said, turning an even darker shade of red. "But you can't tell him! He'll think I'm a freak!"

"No he won't. He's really nice. He might even like you back."

"That'll be the day." The classroom door suddenly opened and Mrs. Heredia, pulling Tom by his arm, walked in.

"Do you remember what I said to you on the last day of school last year?" Mrs. Heredia asked Tom.

"Can I have a hint?" Tom asked. Mrs. Heredia rolled her eyes.

"I told you to stay out of trouble this year."

"How am I supposed to stay outta trouble if Mr. Smee's out to get me?"

"He is not out to get you."

"Yes he is. I bet he kills people and stuffs their bodies in the back of his truck."

"Thomas Collins, don't ever say anything like that again!"

"You know you think the same thing!"

"Am I going to have to send you back to Mr. Smee's office?"

"NO! That's cruel and unusual punishment! Let me stay here with you! I'll behave! I promise!"

"Why would you want to stay in a classroom filled with 6th graders?"

"Cause you're my favorite teacher even though you're not gonna teach me this year." Tom looked around the room. His eyes landed on Angel and he smiled. " Please can I stay?"

"That depends on what you have this period," Mrs. Heredia said.

"Study hall. I find that really stupid since it's the first day and I have nothing to do except for cause mas chaos. And we don't want that, do we?" Mrs. Heredia sighed.

"Fine. You can stay."

"YES!"

"ONLY if you promise to behave and not distract the other students."

"I promise." Mrs. Heredia released Tom's arm and let him take an empty seat in the back of the class. He chose the one conveniently behind Angel's desk. "'Sup Mark?"

"Not much," Mark replied.

"Hey Angel," Tom said with the widest of smiles on his face. His smile made Angel melt. Why was he falling for this boy so quickly?

"Um . . . hi," Angel said.

"Hey Tom. This is just a random question, but would you be interested in Angel?" Mark asked. Angel turned brick red as Tom thought about his answer. His answer didn't come fast enough because Mrs. Heredia started speaking.

"Now that I'm sure there will be no more interruptions, class can begin," she said. For the entire period Angel could barely pay attention. He kept turning around to look at Tom, who would look up from either drawing or writing and smile at him each time. Time seemed to stand still no matter how few times Angel glanced at the clock. He couldn't stand it any longer. He needed to know what Tom's answer and he needed to know now.

In the hallway after class, Mark walked with Angel to his locker, which was right next to Tom's and two away from Mark's.

"So, Tom. What do you have next?" Mark asked.

"Math. Algebra to be exact," Tom replied.

"I thought Algebra was for high school students."

"It is, but apparently I can handle it." Tom looked over at Angel and smiled once again. It was just something about him that made Tom smile, but he didn't know what. "Angel, you, Mark, and Maureen wanna sit with me and my friends at lunch?"

Angel looked up at Tom. "Uh . . . I . . . I . . . um . . .we . . ." Angel couldn't seem to find the words he wanted to say. Who was he kidding? He could barely form a sentence around Tom.

"I think that translates into: Sure," Mark said.

"Cool," Tom replied. "By the way Angel, I'm very interested." Tom bent down and, not caring who saw, gave Angel a small kiss on his cheek before waving goodbye and heading to his next class. As Angel watched him leave, he smiled and leaned against a wall.

"Didn't I tell you he'd like you?" Mark asked. Angel's smile widened.

"Yeah and I'm glad you were right," he said.

Yay for little Angel and Collins! Mistakeys and left out wordies are all apologized for. Now, you must review! Please?