Summary: Another day in the life of a teenager. Joan tries to juggle a "suggestion" from God, her friends, and attempts at accepting Iris in Adam's life.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone from Joan of Arcadia or any songs that appear in this fic. I wouldn't mind having Christopher Marquette, though. .

Ratings: PG – just in case of swearing

Author's Note: Please R&R – because I love it, and you just love giving it to me. :0D

KateM: Thanks. I'm assuming that 'spot on' means something good. . I'm glad you like my story idea.

Admiral Lily: I'm actually glad we've never had to see them liplock as well. I don't think my poor stomach could handle such a sight. :0D Glad you're enjoying the A/J moments as much as I am writing them.

sar(): Because you asked nicely. . And because I love luring new people in, I've dedicated this chapter to you. I hope you like it.

Jane and Adam: I can just picture that happening if Joan was to help him with his art. Hahaha. It was actually just a thought that popped into my mind at the last moment, but I could envision it all. lol

Joan hopped out of bed as her alarm shrieked through the otherwise quiet room. She had barely gotten any sleep, her thoughts swirling around in her mind each demanding an answer. She wasn't looking forward to today. It was the day she was going to defy God and she had no idea how he was going to take it. Would he turn her into stone? Burn her where she stood? She sighed, heading for the showers. Maybe it would wake her up and help her think things clearly.

She emerged fifteen minutes later and headed downstairs towards the kitchen to grab her backpack. The kitchen was empty, which was surprising considering everyone pretty much left at the same time. Joan frowned in confusion before glancing at the clock. She gasped to realize that she was an hour late in leaving. But her clock had said it was 6:30 when she woke up…. Why didn't her family wake her up? She would have to hurry in order to make it to school in time to meet up with her friends and for the first bell.

She grabbed her backpack, halting when she saw Adam's pack next to it. She remembered that they had left abruptly the previous night and he must not have picked it up on his way through. She slung it over her shoulder and rushed out to get into the car. She squealed out of the driveway, hoping that she wouldn't get caught speeding on her way to Arcadia High.

She made it in record time with no consequences of a ticket. She jumped out of the car, the two bags in tow, as she spotted Adam and Grace walking up the school steps. She called out to them as she hurried over, bumping into people as she went. She gave a hasty apology until she finally made it to the waiting duo.

"Yo, Jane, you brought my pack. Thanks."

"Yeah. You left it in my kitchen last night…. What?" She stopped at Grace's quirked brow. "Nothing happened."

"Guilty conscience, Girardi?"

"Not about that…" Joan gave a furtive look around, wondering if the Almighty was going to strike her down with lightning. When she remained standing and in one piece, she gave a silent sigh of relief, but knew that it was only a matter of time. She stopped in mid-thought, her eyes landing on Angela just inside the doorway. She reached out to nudge Adam and pointed to where the young girl was. He looked over to Angela before nodding to Joan. Without a word to Grace, the two approached Angela.

She was searching through her bag, not paying attention to the other students around her. Her movements slowed when she felt eyes on her, and she turned to look over her shoulder to Adam and Joan. She gave them a narrow-eyed look, waiting for some comment from the two. She blinked in surprise when they both apologized for her and seemed sincere about it.

"It's okay… I wasn't much better, and I did start it…"

"Yeah, but that doesn't excuse us. We honestly didn't know about your mom, and we're sorry about that, too."

"Thanks. I'll forgive you if you forgive me?"

"It's a deal."

The three of them shared a small smile of agreement before Angela walked over to her group of friends. They looked from her to the two before asking her questions. She just shrugged her shoulders and didn't comment on the conversation that they had. Joan and Adam watched the display then turned towards Grace. She was leaning against the doorway scowling at her friends. Inwardly, she was glad that they had apologized. She did feel bad about that time in the cafeteria, but she would never admit to it. She opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Luke, Joan's brother. He walked over to the group, talking a mile a minute before even reaching them.

Grace watched him approach, and tried not to admire the way he moved. She growled under her breathe, thinking she spent too much time in the Girardi house. Or perhaps it was the virus – Minnie Mouse. Her nauseating attitude around Adam must be affecting her brain patterns. She couldn't possibly think that Luke looked good. Of course not… She shoved herself off the wall and began leading the group towards the line of lockers, trying not to look over as Luke joined her and began asking her opinions of some scientific breakthrough he had read in a magazine of Glynis'.

"Listen, Geek, I get enough education inside this institution. Why would I want to pursue it further outside of it? That's my time to rid my mind of all the brainwash that they subject us to with their notes scattered with subliminal messages to- "

"S-sorry… I thought you would be interested." Luke stuttered, shifting on his feet as they were stopped in front of her and Joan's locker. She arched a brow at his nervous gestures, feeling a twinge of regret. Sure, she was interested in what he had to say, but she was Grace. She wasn't supposed to admit to them. That would go against everything she believed in, what she stood for… But then again, if she did admit to them, she would go against everyone's preconceived notions about her. She would break out of her norm and shock people.

"I read over it, but I don't approve of their theory. It doesn't add up."

Joan and Adam shared a look as the two science lovers debated on some article that Luke had brought up. They hadn't much paid attention to the conversation, both lost in the same thought, although they didn't know about it… Last night. Joan looked down at Adam's hand and noticed that the swelling had gone down, leaving a bruise in its wake. She looked up to find him watching her, all of his emotions there in his eyes for her to see. She stopped breathing in that instant, seeing something there that she had no hope of seeing again. Before she could comment on it, the group was interrupted as a clumsy girl tripped and scattered her books and papers all over the floor. Joan, being the closest one to her, bent down to help her pick them up.

"You've been avoiding me, Joan." The girl didn't even look up as she put her mess to order. Joan gave a quick glance up to see if her friends heard God's comment. She was relieved to see Adam being dragged into the arguing conversation before he could help Joan gather the papers. With a sigh, she whispered to God.

"I haven't been avoiding you. This was the first time I saw you today. And how am I supposed to know it's You? You don't have a sign around your neck saying 'Hi, my name is God.'"

"You've been avoiding me in your thoughts. Or have you forgotten I'm all knowing and all seeing?"

"How could I forget? You remind me everytime I see you."

"I want you to be in that Pageant this Saturday."

"How can I do this? If I don't go to the lab after school, I'll fail the exam, have my parents mad at me, get grounded for the rest of my life, have my friends hate me. But if I don't go to the meeting, I probably won't be allowed to enter the Pageant at all. So are you telling me I should ditch out on school for this Pageant? Do you want me to live in Hell for the rest of my life on Earth? Because that's what my friends and parents will make it feel."

"Now Joan, Hell is a state of the mind. Besides, I'm not telling you to ditch out on school."

"You're not telling me anything. You never do."

The girl stood up and smiled at Joan before walking away. "I think you're wrong about the state of mind!"

Her friends stopped their debate to look over at her. She made a face at them before standing up and spinning the dial on her locker to her combination. She felt their eyes on her as she tried to act normal. They were slowly getting used to her yelling at complete strangers, but they still were fascinated by her outbursts.

"What?" She asked her friends as the bell rang. They just shook their heads and departed for their various classes. Joan was one of a kind, and they were sort of glad for that.

The morning went by uneventfully, leaving Joan with dread as she got ready for her AP Chem class. She stood by her locker, looking for her friend Grace to come up the hall to her own locker next to hers. She spotted her a few seconds later, with her usual glum look on her face. She stopped and gave Price, who happened to be wandering the halls in search of his next victim, a big grin.

"Miss Polk, you are looking unusually chipper. What have you done now to warrant such an upbeat mood? Slash a teacher's tires? Made a little child cry?"

"Not at all, Pricey… Just thinking about last night, and what a great time I had with you. Brings tears to my eyes… Oh wait, I think it's just your over-priced cologne."

"Cute, Miss Polk. If you enjoyed it so much, perhaps you won't mind another repeat… Perhaps a months worth of time in my office?"

"Unfortunately, I have a prior engagement this afternoon. I was so looking forward to it."

Price narrowed his eyes, finally giving in and letting Grace win this round. He shook his head and warned her not to be late before stalking down the hall. Joan's draw dropped, meeting Grace's triumphant gaze.

"I can't believe you said that to him. And that he didn't say you were in detention again. Maybe you got out of it…"

"I think the ol' boy likes the harassment. He lives for it. It gives his otherwise non-existent, monotonous life meaning. Besides, the day is still young. I'm sure we'll clash again by the end of the day."

"With you, I have no doubts. Well, let's go meet up with Adam and get this over with…"

"Lead on, Girardi."

They headed down the hall towards Adam's locker, finding him standing there while Iris complained about something or other. They weren't close enough to hear the particulars, but whatever it was had the short girl furious. Adam just stood there with his hands in his pocket, not speaking up to her tirade. Iris gave him one last look before walking away from and up the stairs to the second floor. Grace and Joan shared an interested look then closed the distance between them and Adam, wishing they had been closer to have heard more of the conversation.

"Hey, Rove. You okay?"

"Huh? Yeah… Let's get to class…"

"What happened with Squeaky?"

"Nothing… I don't want to talk about it." He shoved his hands further in his pockets and walked a few steps in front of the girls, ending any conversation that Grace tried to start. She grumbled in frustration, wanting the dirt, and followed him to Lischak's class.