Her eyes fixed onto the red-eyed RowdyRuff boy. A smile was spread across his face as he picked up his pencil case and put it into his school bag.

"Brick," Buttercup managed to get out, "What do you want now?"

"Heh, just wanted my best friend to walk to class with me, too much to ask for?" His smile turned into a big grin; Buttercup wasn't sure whether or not he was joking but she wanted and did accept his offer.

"Whatever..." She replied, crossing her arms. The two walked side-by-side, a sense of awkwardness filling the air. Buttercup wanted to start a conversation with him but she couldn't just bring herself to do it... she didn't know what this was but she really wished that a sound would escape her lips. They silently walked past a couple of teachers, who glared at them as if they were the chavs you'd catch smoking in underpasses. Well, they could've been but both Buttercup and Brick weren't sure if the other one smoked and hung out in those dodgy areas of Townsville.

They both caught the end of their Maths class's line and took their seats. Buttercup leaned back on her chair carelessly, chewing away at her pencil like she was a beaver. She was in deep thought. This was a very rare occasion for Buttercup but when it did happen, she was thinking about something important to her. Brick. Her eyes glanced over at her class mate, who seemed to have been staring at her for ages. He blinked then turned away, blushing slightly.

The next half an hour felt like forever for Buttercup, she felt uncomfortable and she had no idea what she had to do to solve the equations everyone was working on. The only thing that knocked her out of her little trance was a pinch she felt on the back of her neck, she rubbed it and found a paper aeroplane that someone had just thrown at her. Curiously, she opened it with widened eyes. It read inside...

Hey tramp, I like the clothes you pulled out of your mother's grave.

Buttercup winced for a minute then remembered that she was a lab kid so she didn't exactly have a mother. Only a perverted father. A very perverted father at that. She turned back to see all the students with their heads down, scribbling away at their work. It was impossible to work out who threw it, all she knew was that it had been thrown from behind. She grumbled at the fact that she didn't know which idiot threw the stupid note. Quickly, she tore out a page from her maths book and wrote something back.

Leave me alone, you pathetic fool.

She scrunched the piece of paper up and threw it backwards, hoping that whoever sent the first one would read it. She occasionally glanced backwards to try work out who had sent the message until whoever it was answered her when she was off guard by throwing a folded piece of paper under her chair.

Whatever, I bet you got your horse hair from your mum's chest.

By the time Buttercup had thought of a comeback, the bell rang. She sighed and left the classroom. Brick didn't bother to wait for her after class, instead he walked off with a blond boy, Buttercup assumed was his brother Boomer.

The next lesson was history and surprisingly, it went quite quickly for Buttercup. They learned about the war and how Hitler came into power, which Buttercup found very interesting for some reason. Then break time hit, Buttercup sat by herself in the canteen with her hands pulling up her cheeks slightly, bored and lonely until someone caught her attention.

"Hey Buttercup, what's up?" Liam's voice spoke from behind her cheerfully. Buttercup turned around and shuddered, she supposed that Liam's company was better than no one's.

"Why aren't you with Princess? You two newbies should stick together," Buttercup asked miserably.

"Princess is kind of annoying, she goes on too much about stuff you don't care about so when she wasn't looking... I kind of legged it," Liam explained as he stretched one of his arms behind his head nervously.

"Oh right, she obviously hasn't changed," Buttercup said with a fake laugh, "Where are you off to now?"

"The library, I need to get a book for form time," he replied. Buttercup blinked. Was this really the same boy who had been a complete weirdo the day before? He was acting... different. She nodded her head and watched him walk away; he was being a lot more 'manly' than he had the last time they had met. Almost likeable.

Break time neared its end and Buttercup went to her form room. Her eyes almost popped out when she saw her sister, Bubbles talking to Liam and Brick. Anger burned up inside of her. What did she think she was doing?!

"Yeah, when we were younger Buttercup was always the tough one. Now look at her, she don't even lift," Buttercup overheard from Bubbles' laughed.

"She used to kick our butts good though, remember that time she gave me a black eye?! It lasted weeks and weeks!" Brick chuckled before catching sight of Buttercup, where his face turned into a frown. Buttercup ignored the trio and took her seat at the back of the classroom quietly. She knew all three pairs of eyes watched her as she sat down; many questions filled her mind, why was her sister Bubbles taking interest in those two all of a sudden? Or maybe she was only talking to them because they started talking to her. Either way, Buttercup didn't like it.

Mr Cluck babbled on about a school disco that would be held at the end of the month, on the last day of term. Anyone could go to the disco as long as they had a date. Buttercup pretended not to take any interest in it to the people around her though, after her last date with Butch had been a fail. She couldn't let anything else get out. It was an embarrassment to think that those two went out for dinner together but she certainly did listen in to what Mr Cluck was saying. The disco would last two hours and it would be in two weeks time for Buttercup, on the dot. She thought that the whole disco idea would be a great opportunity to try win Brick's heart for. Her reputation could go up for one thing.

The rest of the day flew by even though it felt like one of Buttercup's worst. When she finally stepped into her own garden, she felt so relieved. She twisted the handle on her front door to find it locked. Normally, after school, everyone would keep the door unlocked until the last person had come in so this meant she was the first one in for once. This change felt good. She unlocked the door and went into the house to hear the house phone ringing. Eagerly, she answered it.

"Hello there. Is Blossom Utonium in?" An unfamiliar voice from the other side of the line spoke.

"I'm her sister, Buttercup. She's out at the moment. Would you like me to pass on a message to her?" Buttercup said, trying to work out who this stranger was.

"Oh that would be nice. Around a week ago, your sister stayed at our hotel for a night with someone else and she still hasn't paid us our money. And she left quite a nasty mess on the bed, if you know what I mean. Could you please tell her to pay as soon as possible?" The voice explained to Buttercup.

"Who was this other person?" Buttercup asked after a minute's pause.

"I don't know his name but I do remember he was a red head with these red eyes, pretty scary, eh? Now when she comes home, please remind her about the money," The voice chuckled. Buttercup's eyes widened... could it be... who she thought it was.

"Thank you. I will sure pass on your message a.s.a.p" Buttercup said with a frown before hanging up. When her sister came back, she would sure have a lot of questions to answer.

After that, she took out her mobile phone and played Angry Birds. It was the easiest way to wait for Blossom, after all she could lock herself in her room or something then Buttercup wouldn't be able to get to her. It wasn't easy to wait for something like this. A few minutes later, Bubbles walked past talking to one of her friends. Buttercup waved at her sister but she got completely ignored. Then her father came home with Buttercup could've sworn was Miss Keen, her play group teacher. Her hands were hanging around his waist but she didn't bother to try question what was going on. They looked like two drunkies coming home from a pub, maybe they were. Buttercup figured it was best not to wonder about them two.

And then. At last, she came home.

"I've been expecting you, Miss Blossom Utonium," Buttercup spat through the howls of the wind.