A/N: Yay! I'm having so much fun with this story! However, I hate to have to do this every time... I do not own CSI or any of its characters. Now replies:

Ambient Flames: Thanks for the spelling correction!

Gossamerwings7: I suppose that I don't really know what High School is like quite yet, but I'm going in soon, so I think I have the general idea of what it's like. I wrote the first part at my mom's house, which has spell check, and the second part at my dad's, which doesn't. From now on, though, for the sake of the readers, I'll send all chapters home to my mom's to be spell checked before I post, and sorry about that! No sex in this story, mostly because I don't support sex in high school, especially in the freshman year! Thanks for all the constructive criticism; it really helps build the story!

Berta101: Thanks a lot!

IIth-mistress: I'm writing as fast as I can! Lol

EllowynTinuviel: Thanks. Thanks for the place to find challenges, too!

Missusmesser: Sara and Greg are cute together, but I just can't see them together for a long-term relationship! I may have them date later, but don't count on it, because I'm a SERIOUS Grissom/ Sara shipper and I don't think I could put my heart into Sara/Greg. Maybe I'll write a different Sara/Greg story just for you!

Leothelion04: Thanks, and they're in freshman. I decided I'm safest there since I'm almost a freshman myself.

Thanks to all my anon. Reviewers, as always. Now, enjoy!

As Grissom walked slowly into Home Economics class, two things were on his mind. One; how did he get signed up for a class like home ec and Two; why was Sara, who he had just met, affecting him like this? He had never felt so clueless in his life. Sara seemed too good to be real. She had befriended him when no one else would, she was smart, and the way she smiled made his heart hammer in his chest. How could she affect him like this? Grissom rubbed his forehead, trying to relieve stress. I have to just close up around her, he decided silently, or I'll make a complete fool of myself and she'll never like me. He closed his eyes to clear his head and ran straight into the door. Shaking his head, Grissom opened the door and walked in.
A cold looking teacher walked briskly up to him. "I'm Miss Cota, what's your name and where will you be sitting?" she asked in one breath, waiting with a poised pencil. Grissom looked around the room. Most people were already seated and Grissom noticed two empty seats. He picked the far one.

"I'm Gil Grissom, and I'll take the far seat over there." Grissom walked to his seat and sat down, looking out the window at the leaves falling off the trees. He felt someone standing next to him and looked up. A blonde girl stood next to him, hands on her hips.
"You're Grissom?" she asked, looking him up and down.
Confused, Grissom responded, "Yes I am." The blonde smiled at him and plunked down into the seat next to him.
"I'm Catherine Willows. So you're Grissom, huh?" Grissom nodded, still confused. "Well, I met your friend, Sara?" Grissom quickly pulled out a book, yanked it open and buried his face in it to hide the red that already covered his face. Catherine spoke from the other side of his book.
"What are you doing?" Her voice sounded skeptical, like Grissom wasn't what she expected.
"I just remembered that I'm at a really great part in this book," Grissom fibbed quickly, not un-covering his face.
"Oh really..." Catherine said, her voice a little sing-song. "Your book's upside down, hot shot." Grissom slammed his book down and Catherine laughed out loud.
"Oh, so it's like THAT with her, is it?" Grissom shot her a cold look.

"Sara is just a friend," he said, careful to keep his voice even. Catherine sighed and stood.

"Hey, can I sit next to you?" She asked, already walking away to grab her books.

Confused as ever, Grissom responded, "Um… sure," and Catherine grabbed her binder. Grissom turned and watched as her friends looked at her questioningly. Catherine bent over and whispered to her friends,

"What!" Grissom heard one of them shriek in alarm. "You're sitting next to that ugly loser?" Grissom looked away, hiding how much this remark hurt him. He felt Catherine sit down next to him, but he didn't look up. She touched his shoulder.

"Sorry about them. They just expect everyone to be perfect," she apologized to Grissom. He turned and looked at her. She looked sincere, so he sighed and forgave her. Class started with the teacher introducing herself, and Grissom saw Catherine's hand slide over to inside of his desk and then pull quickly out. Alarmed, Grissom ducked his head down to see what she had taken. He saw a folded piece of paper inside his desk and he pulled it out.

So Grissom, where do you fit in to the whole school system?

He pulled out a pencil and scribbled;

What do you mean?

He passed it quickly to Catherine. He saw her read it out the corner of his eye. She scoffed and wrote, then slipped it back to him.

Like are you a jock, popular, nerd, smart… what?

Grissom sighed. He barely knew Catherine and already she was asking about sensitive areas of his life. He wrote back;

It's like I don't exist. Is that a category?

Catherine read it and wrote back;

I don't mean to be nosy. And doesn't Sara like you? Don't you have friends?

Grissom smiled gently at the thought of Sara, and then wrote;

I suppose Sara is my friend. I also met a boy named Nick Stokes today, and he's nice. It's just hard to tell what people think of me.

We should pay attention.

Catherine wadded up the paper and crammed it into her desk. Grissom cringed, thinking she was mad, but she turned and smiled at him thoughtfully.

"Gilbert!" The teacher barked. Grissom jumped in his seat and looked up at the teacher. "Please come up to the front and tell us something about yourself!" Grissom stood warily and walked up to the front. He looked at his classmates, who were staring at him. Nervously, Grissom cleared his throat.

"I'm Grissom. I like bugs…" everyone in the class but Catherine snickered.

"And what do you do in your spare time?" The teacher said.

" I help the police with… autopsies and I help at the morgue…" Grissom said, waiting for the cruel comments he was sure were about to come. Sure enough, some boy in the back yelled out, "No wonder you smell like crap. You hang around dead bodies all day!" This brought the class into a fit of laughter. Grissom looked helplessly at Catherine, who stood furiously and turned to face the class.

"What's wrong guys, you jealous? Grissom knows more than you will ever know. In fact, he's so much smarter than you that I'm asking him to the first dance of the year." Grissom took a step back and Catherine turned to face him, her eyes sparkling mischievously. "How about it, Gil? Will you go to the autumn dance with me?" Grissom, caught of guard, mumbled, "Yes," before he could even think about it. Catherine turned, grinned smugly at several boys who looked like their hearts were breaking, and sat back down. Grissom, still flabbergasted, took his seat. Catherine winked at him and he just stared.

Sara walked into Tech, looking around the room for Warrick. He was seated at a circular table with four computers. Sara grinned and walked over to sit next to him. Warrick looked up warily and he smiled when he saw who it was.

"Hey Sara," he said, standing and hugging her briefly. Alarmed, Sara stood for a moment and then hugged him back. Warrick took a seat and so did Sara. Soon Greg walked in and immediately saw Sara sitting with Warrick. His face falling, he walked cautiously towards them.

"Is it alright if I sit here?" he asked, motioning to the chair on the other side of Sara.

"Go ahead, Greg," she said, glad that she was surrounded by people she knew. "Greg, this is Warrick. Warrick, Greg." Warrick nodded coolly and Greg did the same. Sara looked around the room. The teacher was nowhere in sight. Feeling a bit rebellious, Sara logged onto her e-mail. Her inbox had one e-mail in it from her middle-school friend Veronica. She double clicked and read it.

Hey Sara! How's your High School? Mine totally sucks! Not only are the teacher's all jerks, but there must be a hottie shortage here or something! Keep your eyes open for me! Gotta keep this short since I'm writing from school, but I wanted to tell you that I'm going on a road trip to Santa Monica with my brother this weekend, and you just gotta come with! And remember, ask the guys there for me if they wanna hook up. LOL, have a great day sweetie!

VeRoNiCa

Sara laughed at her friends' eagerness to get a boyfriend. Then a thought popped into her mind. She turned to Greg, a wide grin on her face.

"Hey Greg, would you like to meet a friend of mine?" she asked. Greg raised his eyebrows.

"Why?" Sara continued to smile.

"Well, she asked if I knew any smart single cute boys who might want a girlfriend who's a cheerleader. But if you're not interested…" Greg's' expression changed and he nodded quickly at Sara, who laughed, and wrote down her e-mail address for him. Everyone's so eager to fall in love, she thought. Grissom flashed across her mind and she smiled sadly.

"Are you okay?" someone across the table asked. Sara looked up. During her conversation with Greg the last computer at their table had been occupied by a handsome boy who Sara recognized as Nick Stokes. She smiled at him.

"Yeah, sorry, just thinking…" Nick smiled understandingly at Sara. The teacher entered the room and they all turned.

"Please turn on your computers," the teacher droned in a monotone voice. Sara quickly turned off her screen and tried to focus.

Sorry, I'm so sleepy! I promise the next chapter everyone will meet at lunch! Until then, please review! And everyone tell me, will you be disappointed if I leave Brass and Doc Robbins out of the story? Thanks!