Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight

I'm sorry I'm starting to slack :( I have the end of the year assignments for school all piling up on me and my siblings keep stealing the computer and not letting me on.

But anyway here's a chapter for you :)

Chapter Ten: The Trials of High Schools and Cheshire Cats

Karen's Point of View

I looked around the room again. Where could Karen be?

I had just finished outlining one of the beautiful purple flowers in my drawing before I stretched and shook out the cramps in my hands. One glance at my watch told me I had about a minute before fourth period ended. I packed up my books and walked back along the little path. I took one last look over the secret garden and with a smile, promising myself I would come back, I slipped out the door.

I walked up to the librarian's desk where the woman was sitting reading a book, her reading glasses perched on her nose with the gold chains attached dangling down to wrap around her neck. She must have heard me approach because she looked up and gave me a smile.

"Did you enjoy it my dear?" she asked. I nodded my head.

"Yes, very much. Thank you again."

"You're very welcome. I'm just glad you enjoyed it." She put her book down and reached out her hand. "I'm Mrs. Mason by the way." I grasped her hand feeling her cool, dry fingers.

"Karen," I replied with a smile.

"It was nice to meet you Karen. I hope you'll come back."

"Oh, I will," I promised with a smile.

"Good. Now you better get to class before you're late," she warned. I smiled and after telling her thanks one more time I left the safety of the library and entered the bustling hallway.

After the quiet of the garden my ears felt assaulted by all the noise. Quickly, and with my head down, I made my way to my Economics class.

With a sigh of relief that I hadn't gotten lost this time I walked up to the teacher's desk where a nice looking woman sat writing on a sheet of paper. At my approach she looked up.

"Oh you must be the new girl, Karen Morella?" She asked with a kind smile.

"Yes ma'am," I said politely. She gave me a sympathetic smile.

"You must be tired of all the questions so I won't put you through that." The relief must have shown on my face because her smile widened. "Here are your books for the year and you can sit in the back seat all the way to the right," She said pointing to the far corner. "That way the kids will have a harder time staring at you," she told me with a wink. I hoped she could see the gratitude in my face. She nodded her head. "I'm Ms. Willow by the way."

"Thank you Ms. Willow."

"If you need anything dear you can come to me," she told me kindly.

"Thank you." I told her again with a smile before going over to my desk. As I walked I glanced around the classroom and saw a guy with short cropped hair looking at me as if he was evaluating me. He was big and I don't mean fat I mean tall and with muscles in the right places. A light bulb turned on in my head as I realized he was one of the guys from earlier in the hallway.

I quickly lowered my eyes and started to make my way over to my seat. Unfortunately for me he sat in the last row, only a few seats over from mine. I could feel his gaze on me the entire time.

What is with you? I asked myself. You told yourself that you weren't going to be shy and reserved; you were going to look confident and collected. I took a breath and straightened my shoulders subtly. Putting on a mask of indifference I raised my eyes to his, seeing that he was still staring, I raised an eyebrow at him saying, Do you mind? It's rude to stare.

The guy just broke out into a smile before looking back down at his books. I saw he had his cell phone out and seemed to be typing something in it. I just mentally shrugged and sat down at my seat and opened up my book to look through it quickly before class started.

Thankfully nothing else out of the ordinary happened during Economics although I thought I saw that guy look at me a couple of times before looking back down at his books and shaking his head. More than a little confused I tried to brush it off and walk with confidence to my next class.

I think I'm getting the hang of this thing. I said to myself as I once again found my room without getting lost. World History Honors. I loved history and was actually looking forward to the class. Until of course I walked in and spotted another guy from earlier in the hallway. This time though I remembered him right away. It wasn't just the cropped hair and muscles that made me remember him, I remembered him because he was the guy trying to get Seth's attention before turning to me and grinning like the Cheshire cat. Speaking of that grin…

The guy walked up to me looking like the Cheshire cat himself. I half hoped he'd disappear. Unfortunately luck was not on my side and he stayed visible.

"So you're the new girl Seth's been talking about," He said with a smile that gave me the feeling he knew something I didn't. I didn't like that feeling.

Pushing away those thoughts I gave him a polite smile and nodded.

"I'm Embry," he introduced himself holding out his hand. I shook it realizing his hand was just as warm as Seth's and not like everyone else's hands that had been colder.

"I'm Karen."

"Oh, I know who you are," Embry said with a laugh like there was an inside joke. I didn't get it. I just gave him an uncomfortable smile. "Here, let's get you your books." He said as he pulled me to the teacher's desk.

The teacher himself was a dour man. He had a white shirt tinged grey and a limp black tie slightly loosened giving him an overall rumpled look. He peered up at me as Embry and I approached. His mouth was set in a grimace as he seemed to realize who I was.

"You must be the new girl." He said in a monotone voice. I tried not to grimace myself as I gave him a polite nod. "Well," he said looking me up and down giving the air that I was just a stupid child. "you're a sophomore right?" he didn't let me answer before he was already talking again. "I usually only teach juniors and seniors, but the office said you were qualified for this class." His tone of disbelief told me he didn't think I would do well in the class at all. If I had hackles they would be raised in annoyance. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Embry glance over at me almost assessing me. I just kept silent as I waited for the teacher to just give me my book.

He just sighed, "You may call me Mr. Greary, not Mr. G, Mr. Grear, or Greary."

"How about Mr. Dreary," I whispered under my breath so he wouldn't hear me. Beside me Embry coughed.

"Did you say something Ms. Morella?" Mr. Greary asked.

"I was just wondering if you spelled that with two "e's" or an "e" and an "a"?" I asked politely.

Embry coughed again this time a little louder causing me to look up at him questioningly.

"Sorry, tickle in my throat." He explained but I thought I saw him smiling. Could he have heard what I said? I thought to myself. No that's not possible I was too quiet.

"That's with an "e" and an "a" Ms. Morella," Mr. Greary informed me. I nodded my head. He finally handed me my book. "Here's your book. You can find an open seat and try to pay attention in my class. I have a demanding curriculum that will tolerate no slackers. I also have a policy that those who are late to my class are marked absent and you can explain it to the attendance office." He told me his monotone voice setting my nerves on edge.

"Yes Mr. Greary." He waved his hand dismissing me. I'm sure my eyes must have flashed in anger at his rudeness but thankfully he had already turned back to whatever other important business he had. I looked over at Embry as we walked back and rolled my eyes. Embry chuckled.

"Yeah you get used to him,"

"Really?" I asked skeptically.

"No you don't actually," Embry said his grin widening at his own little joke. "Here there's an empty seat by me." Embry pointed to the adjoining seat that he was currently settling in to. With his long legs it looked almost impossible, but he made it look easy. Setting my books down, I took the empty seat.

"So what are you doing in this class if I might ask?"

"I was taking a history class at my old school that was above the normal curriculum for the average history class here. So they put me in the honors class." I explained shrugging my shoulders.

"Well you'll need all the luck you can get in this class." Embry told me seriously. "Greary is a hard ass."

"Oh, I won't need luck." I told him sending a glare towards a certain desk at the front of the room. I saw Embry look a question at me. "He doesn't think I'll do well in this class, he expects me to fail in fact. Well I'm going to show him just how wrong he is. If there's one thing you shouldn't tell me it's that I can't do something," I informed him giving a devilish smile.

Throughout World History I took notes while most of the class doodled or zoned out. I had resolved myself to having the best grade in the class and if that was low I was going to get even higher. Actually I was just going to shoot for nothing less than an A.

I hope you liked it :) Please review! :)