Mello arrived to classroom extra early, too nervous to either eat or sleep. Part of it was the fact they were writing another science test in about half an hour- but there was also the fact he couldn't find Matt.

Last night, after he kicked his best friend out of their room, it took him about an hour to calm down and realize he might've overreacted. He searched the hall, and all of Matt's smoking places he knew of, and after failing to find any trace of the redhead, he went to sleep, hoping Matt found himself a place comfortable enough to spend the night at.

Anyways, Matt was going to appear sooner or later- probably not at the first class, since now he had no one to wake him up in time, but at one point in the day, and then Mello will apologize for acting so recklessly, and Matt will explain what's going on between him and the new girl, and then, with a bit of luck, they'll get over that, and he'll be able to focus on his studies again.

He pulled out his science notes, reviewing the facts he already knew by heart. This was his chance to get his place on the list back, and he knew he'll never be more ready than he was now. He just couldn't wait for the rest of the class to arrive, so he can write the test, and then…he wondered what will the results be like. He was certain he can score 100% on the test- will it be enough to beat both the new girl and Near?

He smiled to himself. It'd be great. He just needs to do this test, and…

Doors opened. He looked up, for the first time not annoyed by the sight of white boy walking in.

Hey, Near. He thought to himself, pulling out a bar of chocolate out of his pocket- emergency stress reliever, as he liked to call it. Are you ready for today? I sure am.

Near's gaze met his, and self satisfied smirk crossed albino's face, never reaching his eyes.

"Hello, Mello." He said in his robotic voice. "I bet it was calm in your room tonight, having it all for yourself."
Sarcastic reply froze on Mello's lips, and he stared at the white-haired boy in front of him, his eyes wide in shock.

"W-what did you just say, you little creep?" He asked, unable to keep the rage out of his voice.

"I believe you heard me quite well, Mello." Mello hated the way Near pronounced his name- there was something disturbing in the way faint British accent could be heard in his usually robotic voice.

"How do you know Matt wasn't in our room?" Mello asked, barely keeping himself from punching the kid, who was now standing just a few feet away. Calm down. He probably saw him in the hall or something. He's probably not sleeping at all, just walking around Wammy's…

Near's reply stopped his inner blabbering. "Matt spent the night in the female dorm."

Mello was just about to ask why did he know that, when he realized it actually made sense.

"New girl was kind to take him in. I think it's very nice from her. Don't you agree, Mello?" Near headed towards his table now, his robot toy pressed tight against his chest. Mello continued staring at the boy, his breath increasing. No- Near must've been lying. There was no way he could've known what was going on in the female dorm- he wasn't that much of a pervert, was he? This was all just a game, another of his games, he was just playing with Mello's head, to distract him from the test.

Yes, that had to be it. Taking a deep breath, Mello pushed all thoughts of his talk with Near aside, focusing on the notes in front of him. He had to do his best at the test- he'll deal with Matt later.

"So, are you ready for the big test, random science genius?" Ali asked that morning, sliding her breakfast tray next to me.

"Of course she is." Charlie said, his mouth full. He gulped. "She probably studied all night."

I blushed, thinking of what actually had happened that night. "Shut up. I actually had a good sleep, and now am ready to keep you out of the top 10 list for rest of your lifetime."

Charlie rolled his eyes- he didn't really care about the fact he wasn't on the top list.

"I've never been there, and I don't really want to be next L. Too much pressure, you know?" He explained once. "It's cool being number 13. Although I'll probably be 14, now that you become new number one."

That was the thing- everyone acted like I already was number one, when actually, for another three weeks, in L's eyes, I didn't even exist. He didn't get the daily test results- he politely asked Roger to stop sending them to him, since they were spamming his inbox, or something like that.

"Good morning." Theta slid her tray next to Charlie and took a bit of her toast. "Did you hear that Mello kicked Matt out?"

I almost choked on my food. "Wow, really?"

"Yeah. No one knows where Matt spent the night- probably attic or something- but they say it's because of you."
She looked at me, and I took a put my hands up in defense. "Hey, I did nothing."
"Told you so." Ali sad. "Well, guess Matt took the blow- you're really lucky, you know- but Mello will still give you trouble if you get in his way."

"Which will happen as soon as test results come out." Charlie noted.

"It won't!" I protested. "Mello's been studying for lot longer than I did. Stop having such big expectations. I'll feel horrible once I break them."

"Honey, but you won't." Ali said. "You've been saying this same thing for the entire week, and you're rocking every subject."

"Except, you know, the poor third place in two subjects." Charlie rolled his eyes. "One day, when you become L, we'll join our brilliant minds and find your top secret apartment and break in and rub it in your face."

"Can't wait." I shook my head, chuckling.

"It'll happen." Charlie assured me.

"I know."

Lunch break just started, and I was about to head for cafeteria when I remembered the results of the science test were just hung on the doors of the classroom. Well, I might as well check out whether Mello got one more reason to behead me.

There was already a line in front of the list. I stopped the first person I saw- sweet brunette with pigtails- and asked her who's number one.

"It's a tie." She said, staring at me in excitement. "Triple tie. Near, Mello, and Alexx- the new girl." Her eyes went wide as she recognized me. "Oh, it's you!"

I smiled and thanked her, ignoring her last statement. Cafeteria was almost empty- guess people were still looking at lists. Only four persons were in, including me, and I could recognize all of them.

First one was Near- he somehow always managed to be everywhere, and still arrive early- he was playing with his toy robot, not even touching his meal. Second one was Mello- he looked pretty annoyed, chewing on his chocolate bar- and the third one was Matt, who just got his tray, and was eyeing Mello with caution, obviously wondering whether he can approach him or not. I guessed me going over to him wouldn't help him a lot, so I took my time picking a tray and walking over to the food line.

When I reached my table, I noticed Matt was sitting with Mello. I smiled to myself- it was nice to see I didn't cause any permanent damage to their friendship- and started eating, waiting patiently for rest of my table to appear.

"A tie? I'm very disappointed." Ali grinned, sitting next to me. "Only one hundred percent? Didn't you study at all?"

I elbowed her and chuckled. "It seems like Matt and Mello bromance is back on track."

She looked to their table and smiled. "Aw."

"Now you can stop spreading gossips."

"I did not!" She looked at me, her eyes wide. I rolled my eyes and grinned. "Okay, maybe I shared some info, but I told nothing but truth!"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

That evening, I was sitting in my bedroom, staring aimlessly through my window. I got all my homework done and felt pretty confident about tomorrow, and now, I had no idea what to do. Sun was just setting, and I pulled my notebook out, thinking of maybe going out and doing some sketches. I shot a quick glance through the window, just to check if my bench was empty. It was. I grinned and pulled on my hoodie, rushing out.

I arrived there in less than a minute, breathing heavily from the run (why did I run again?), opening the blank page of my notebook and finding a comfortable position. I stared out into the distance, searching for inspiration. I knew what I wanted to draw- who, more accurately- but my reason worked against me and I settled for doing the view. It wouldn't be much without colors, but I'd do my best.

I was so focused on the drawing I didn't even realize someone was standing behind me. It wasn't until I felt the smoke of cigarette that I turned around.

"Nice." Matt murmured, gesturing at the paper.

"Thank you." I looked down awkwardly. "Um, so I see you and Mello sorted your problems out."

"Yeah." Matt nodded.

"So I guess he doesn't know where you spent the night?"

"No." Matt said, sitting next to me. "He was curious, but I think he believes I have a secret smoking place."

"Don't you think he'd get mad over this?" I asked. "You know, us, talking."

"He probably would." Matt agreed.

"But you don't care?"

He bit his lips, thinking. "I do. But…"

"You hope he won't find out?"

"Exactly." He nodded. "Do you mind? I mean, if you do-"

"No, no." I said, cutting him off. "I mean, it bothers me a bit your best friend hates me just because I do better at him in school, but I can handle it."

He breathed a sigh of relief- and smoke- and grinned. "Thank you."

"For what?" I asked, looking up at him.

"For dealing with me." He looked down at me, smile still on his lips.

"Um, no problem." I blushed, looking down. I'm so awkward, it's pathetic. "I am a lot to deal with too. You witnessed it the last night."

"You lost your family not so long ago. Crying is normal." Matt said. "Just stop holding it in. It won't do you any good."

"Someone's been paying attention at psychology." I noted, smiling up at him.

"Don't I always pay attention?" He smirked.

"No."

He shrugged, turning his cigarette off. "Guess you're right."