Connor felt like throwing up, which was rarely a good thing.

He had never changed schools in his life. Going with his father to enroll was one thing, but actually attending was a different story.

He stuffed another binder in his backpack, grumbling about the darn things. He'd never had a use for them before, but his father insisted that Connor bring along the supplies Haytham had bought. His phone buzzed for a text message, and he couldn't stop a cheeky grin from taking over his face when he saw it was from Ellie. He opened the message and read it quickly.

"Need a ride?"

Connor almost jumped with joy. His father wouldn't have to go out of his way to take Connor to school.

Connor slung his backpack over his shoulder, hurrying down the stairs. He walked into the kitchen, grabbing some toast and a banana.

Haytham looked up from his own phone, brow furrowing. "Are you leaving now?" he asked, moving to stand up.

"Ellie offered to give me a ride. You don't need to drop me off." Connor said around a mouthful of toast, hurrying away before Haytham could chide him.

"I thought I told you to not speak with your mouth full, you hog!" Haytham called after him.

Connor couldn't help but grin at his father's sarcasm. The past week had been great for his relationship with his father. Connor was finally learning Haytham's boundaries and what not to do around him. He also loved the hand to hand combat lessons he had received from Haytham. He learned so much and it was only a week.

Connor didn't know what he would do with what his father was teaching him, but he didn't care.

He walked out of the house, seeing Ellie walking out to her car. Connor almost rolled his eyes at it. It was a red Volkswagen Beetle from 1963. It fit Ellie's personality perfectly. He couldn't picture her driving anything from the last 30 years.

He loped over to her, whistling in fake admiration. "Wow."

"Shut up, it's awesome."

"I didn't say anything." He held his hands up and smirked.

Ellie pointed at him over the car as he approached the passenger side. "You were thinking it."

"Girls really can read minds."

"Yup. So don't go thinking stuff like that. We'll know." She grinned.

Connor rolled his eyes, getting in. He honestly liked the car. It wasn't one that people usually saw driving around.

Ellie plopped herself behind the wheel, tossing her book bag in the back. She pulled the seatbelt over her and gave him a threatening look when he didn't follow suit. He surrendered and put is backpack with hers, pulling the belt over himself.

She finally started the car and pulled out, heading down the street. A song by Mumford & Sons softly played through the speakers.

Connor opened his window, letting his arm stick out. He started to peel the banana.

"What's on your arm?" Ellie asked, alarmed, glancing at him quickly before looking back at the road.

Connor looked at his arm. A purple bruise was forming near his elbow on his upper arm. He winced, remembering how his father taught him how to disarm someone a few days ago. Haytham wasn't kind during his lessons, which was a good and bad thing at the same time. Connor learned quickly with the tough lessons, but the bruises and the aching muscles were the downside.

"I think I hit it against something," he replied, pulling the sleeve of his t-shirt down. He bit into the banana.

They sat in comfortable silence for a bit.

"Nervous?" Ellie suddenly asked, peeking over at him.

Connor shrugged, trying for nonchalance. The toast was churning in his stomach. He was debating whether to finish the banana or not.

"Don't be. There are a lot of cool people there. Just watch out for Hickey and his crew."

"Who?" Connor asked around a mouthful of banana.

"Ew, swallow first. I hate it when people do that," Ellie said, scrunching her nose.

Connor rolled his eyes, swallowing. He was reminded of his father. "Who?" he asked again.

"Thomas Hickey and his friends. They're your stereotypical troubled teens that cause trouble. Just lie low and they won't bother you," she explained, frowning.

"Uh…Okay." This sounds like a bad teen sitcom.

The Cave by Mumford & Sons started to play on the radio. Ellie smiled. "Heck yes!"

She cranked the knob, blasting the song now. Connor almost laughed at her enthusiasm.

"But IIIIIIIIII will hold on hope; And IIIIIIII won't let you choke; On the noose around your neeeeeeck!" Ellie sang out loudly, tapping the beat on her steering wheel.

Connor tossed his banana peel out of the window, joining in on the next part of the refrain.

His stomach wasn't churning nearly as much now.

Ellie plopped down in her seat and sighed loudly. It was College English, the third class of the day, and she already had multiple assignments. "Stupid homework," she grumbled, resting her head on her book bag.

"Ciao!"

Ellie looked up to see Claudia smiling down at her. She took a seat next to Ellie's, turning towards her.

Claudia flicked her curly hair over her shoulder. "Guess what! We finally have a legit Native American going here now! And he's a Senior too! It's going to be so cool," she said, pulling her binder out of her backpack.

Ellie almost rolled her eyes. "I know. He's my neighbor."

Claudia's eyes widened. "What? Someone moved into that piece of crap?"

Ellie shook her head. Claudia was referring to the smaller house that was next to hers, not Mr. Kenway's.

"No…he lives with Mr. Kenway."

Claudia scooted forward, leaning close. Ellie almost laughed at her sudden interest. "Why is he living with him?"

Ellie opened her mouth to answer, but an obnoxious voice stopped her. She glanced toward the door to see Connor trying to walk in, but a clingy girl in front of him was making it impossible.

"I can show you around later if you want," the girl cooed, touching Connor's arm and flicking her hair.

Connor looked like he was about to internally combust. "Uh… I already was shown around, thanks."

"Oh have you? By who?"

"Uh…"

Ellie tried to not laugh aloud. She decided to end his suffering. "Connor! I have a question!" she said, holding up her AP American History book.

Connor was by her desk faster than anything. "Thank you," he muttered, sitting in front of her.

Claudia looked at her with wide eyes. Ellie shrugged, opening her book to where she put a sticky note. "Something seems off about this picture. I thought you would know about it," she said, turning the book around to face him.

The book had a picture of a reenactment of a Mohawk marriage ceremony. "Well?"

"Wrong. They aren't holding baskets and the man's clothes are incorrect."

Ellie grinned smugly, jotting it down on the sticky note. "Thought so," she said, putting the book away.

Claudia coughed.

Ellie pointed to her. "This is Claudia," she said, smirking.

Connor's eyes widened as he looked at Claudia. He obviously remembered what they had discussed previously about her. "Uh…Hello."

Ellie could see his cheeks slowly turning pink.

"So, you live with Mr. Kenway?" Claudia asked, smiling at him, scooting closer.

Connor nodded reluctantly. "Yeah. He's my dad."

"What?!" Claudia asked, jaw dropping. She leaned forward, getting a better look at Connor's face. His face was bright red. Ellie felt bad for the poor guy.

"Yup, I can see it. Definitely related to him," Claudia said, nodding.

Connor's face looked as if it were going to burst into flames.

"Sit down, you buffoons," a slow, caustic British voice said.

Ellie looked up at the front to see Mr. Lee. She really wished he would take care of himself more. She was going to be distracted the whole time because of how…unkempt he looked.

"All right you all get up here and get your books. Hurry up now!"

Ellie rolled her eyes at Connor, getting up.

It was time to see if all the rumors about Mr. Lee were true.

Connor wearily opened his locker at the end of the day, stuffing the books and things he didn't need in it. He closed it, slinging his bag over his shoulder, and started off down the hall. He was just grateful that the day was over.

"Where you goin', runt?"

Connor stopped, searching for the owner of the voice. He was alone in the hallway, but the taunting continued. He followed the voice and took a right, frowning deeply A group of guys was shoving what looked like a Freshman up against the wall. One of the guys spotted him and smirked arrogantly.

"What you lookin' at, Injun?"

Connor's frown deepened. Sure, he'd got crap for his heritage before, but that word pissed him off more than anything else.

One boy stood up straight, looking at Connor. His close cropped, dark hair was covered by a ball cap. He still had his fist bunched in the kid's shirt.

"I suggest walking away, New Guy," he said, giving him a threatening smile.

Connor stepped toward them. "Why? So I won't see you ganging up on this poor kid's ass?"

The boy with the cap, the leader, pushed the kid against the locker, letting go of his shirt. "I see tha' the New Guy is brave," he said to his friends haughtily, stepping toward Connor.

The others started to stalk forward too. Connor tensed up. He could take a hit; the Freshman didn't look like he could've. Connor would gladly take it if it meant someone else didn't have to.

"Get him Tom!" one of the guys whooped, laughing.

"Show the Injun whose boss!"

Connor felt his blood boil, but breathed deeply and tried to calm himself. He didn't want to get into a fight on the first day of school, even if the guys deserved it. He looked to see if the kid who was getting bullied first left.

He was gone.

Connor turned his back on them and stalked away, trying to cool his blood. These, he thought, are probably the guys Ellie warned me of.

"Hoo hoo! The Injun isn't going to scalp us after all," Hickey crowed.

Connor halted and gripped the strap of his backpack so hard that his knuckles turned white. He took a deep breath and clenched his other fist. His mother had raised him on the rule that one should never make a decision when angry. His father had given him the same advice while they learned to fight.

"Never act in anger, Ratonhnhaké:ton," his mother's words echoed in his head.

Connor took a deep breath and took another step. Soon enough, he found the restraint to simply continue walking. The boys hooted and hollered other slurs, but Connor blocked them out. He needed to leave before he lost his temper. He finally got to the door, quickly making his way toward the student parking lot.

"Hello."

Connor stopped, looking around for the owner of the voice. The kid he helped was standing behind him, wringing what looked like a Yankees hat in his hands.

"Thank you…for back there. I thought I was going to get it. Again," he said, looking up at Connor's broad figure shyly.

Connor nodded with a small smile. "It's fine. I'm glad I could help," he said, turning to walk away. He saw Ellie waiting by her car. His blood temperature was almost back to normal.

"Not everyone thinks that about you…just saying."

Connor froze, looking at him again. "Thanks…I'm-uh-glad to know that."

"I'm Kadar," he said, holding out his hand.

Connor took it, giving it a firm shake. "Connor."

"I know. Everyone was talking about you," Kadar replied with a little smile.

Connor's stomach started to churn. Everyone was talking about him?

"Well, you're the cool guy in my book! Thanks again!" Kadar said, jogging toward a black car that pulled up to the front of the school.

Connor saw another dark haired man sitting behind the wheel. Kadar waved one more time before getting in. Connor waved back, finally starting to walk toward Ellie's car again.

"Sorry," he said, getting in.

"No prob. Who were you talking to?" Ellie asked, getting in as well.

"His name is Kadar."

Ellie shrugged. "Cool. So, how was your first day besides the interrogation Mr. Lee pulled?"

Connor inwardly groaned. Lee wouldn't stop picking on him the whole class period. Connor had officially decided that he didn't like the guy.

"It was fine."

"No it wasn't. What's wrong?" Ellie asked, pulling out of the parking lot.

"Nothing."

"Bull. Any idiot knows only liars say they're fine. Now, what's wrong?" Ellie said, frowning at him.

Connor sighed, resting his arm on the window. He didn't want to talk about it, but he knew that Ellie would keep bothering him until he did. "I ran into Hickey and Company while they were picking on Kadar. They said some…thing."

Ellie pursed her lips as her look soured. "What did those yahoos say?"

"Stuff I've heard before. It's not a big deal."

"It is a big deal! They've got no right to say stuff they have no right to say! I would love to give them a piece of my mind," Ellie grumbled.

Connor almost laughed as she kept muttering about it as she drove. "Losers," she gritched, "As if putting others down is going to make you feel good."

Connor grinned, letting his arm hang out the window. "It's okay. I'm used to it," he said as she pulled into her driveway.

She sighed, unbuckling. She grabbed his sleeve to keep him from getting out. "Don't let what they said get to you. You're awesome," she said with a smile.

Connor grinned back. "Thanks."

Ellie beamed at him. "Come inside. We can read that stuff Mr. Lee assigned us together."

Connor nodded, following her to the door.

He opened the door for her, letting her walk in before him.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Ellie paused in the foyer, cocking her head as she studied him. Connor started to feel uncomfortable. "What?" he asked.

"I can't believe I never asked you, but can you speak Mohawk?" she asked, kicking her tennis shoes off.

Connor kicked his off too. "Yeah, I spoke Mohawk before I spoke English."

"That is so cool! How would you say…Hi?"

Connor followed her as she walked into the living room. "Khwe."

"Bye?"

"Ó:nen ki' wáhi."

She sat down on the couch, putting a finger to her lip as she thought of another one. "Do you have a Mohawk name?"

"It's Ratonhnhaké:ton."

Ellie's eyes widened. "That's a mouthful. Teach me how to say it," she said, pulling her legs up on the couch, grinning enthusiastically.

"Ra-"

"Ra-"

"Doon-"

"Doon-"

"If I read one more page of this, I'm going to throw up," Ellie groaned, letting her head fall to the back of the couch.

"Please don't," Connor replied, scrunching his nose. He was quite sick of his own copy of the English textbook.

"The 'Wife of Bath' is an idiot. I can't read any more of this crap," Ellie replied, ditching the book and hopping off the couch.

She heard Connor get up, following her to the kitchen. "Do you have any other homework besides that?" he asked.

Ellie leaned against the counter, pouting. "Yeah, I have an APUSH worksheet to do, but other than that I'm golden."

"I only have Physics."

"I'm just glad I finished that before College English," Ellie said, walking toward the fridge.

She then remembered who Connor talked to at school for the first time. "So, what did you think of Claudia?"

"I didn't know whether to be creeped out or plain scared that she could see the similarities. She knows exactly what his face looks like?" he replied, rubbing the back of his head.

Ellie started to laugh. "Yeah, she's pretty obsessed with him. I was as surprised as you were at first."

"Surprised is an understatement."

Ellie thought about his other meetings on his first day and grinned evilly. "Speaking of crazy girls, who was talking to you before English started?"

"I think her name was Anna. She's in my first two classes too. She and some of her friends wouldn't stop bugging me," he said, resting his arms on the counter.

Ellie held back a laugh. "I wonder why," she said sarcastically, giving him a teasing look.

"I really don't though. I'm not that interesting, to tell the truth."

Ellie rolled her eyes, tossing him an apple out of the fruit bowl. "It's because you're the new, Native American Giant that walks down the hallways. Girls dig that," she said, mocking the flirty girls as the pair bit into their apples.

Connor spluttered around his mouthful of apple. He finally managed to swallow it without choking, staring at a giggling Ellie. "Why would they like that?"

Ellie shrugged. "It's the Protector Syndrome."

Connor arched a brow, looking confused.

Ellie grinned. "It's a nickname Claudia and I have posted on the warm feeling you get when you're around someone who makes you feel short. I get it whenever I get a hug from someone I appreciate that's taller than me…like Peter, for example. The feeling doesn't have to be romantic," she rambled, leaning back against the counter.

"So…girls like it when a guy bigger than them hugs them?"

"Yup."

Ellie turned to throw her core in the trashcan. "So, do you have to go home soon or are you free?"

"I should be good. Dad doesn't come home from work until 6ish anyway."

Ellie looked up at the clock, wondering when her foster parents would get home from Bingo. It was only 5:30.

She saw the bruise on his arm again as he threw his own core away. "That doesn't look like you just hit it against something."

"I was helping Dad fix something the other day and I got hit. No big deal."

Ellie arched a brow, giving him a skeptical look. "Yeah right."

Connor rolled his eyes.

"Just be careful. That looks like it hurts," she chided, walking back toward the living room.

He grabbed his books, heading for the door. Ellie opened it up for him. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow mor-"

She was cut off when he wrapped his arms around her, giving her a huge hug. Ellie felt her cheeks tingle and her lungs tighten. "Connor… Can't…. Breathe…"

He pulled away and apologized. She waved off the apology with a laugh. "Uh…thanks?" she said, feeling confused.

Connor stared down at his feet. She saw a light blush grow on his face. "You've been a great friend these past couple weeks. I can't tell you how much that means to me."

Ellie smiled, stepping forward. She wrapped her arms around his thick torso this time. "And I'm glad I have an awesome friend," she replied, stepping away.

Connor grinned bashfully, heading out the door.

"See ya!" Ellie called after him, waving.

He waved back, loping over to his front door.

Ellie closed the door, leaning back against it. She smiled. She loved the after effects of the Protector Syndrome.