Dragon: Okay, I have a surprise for all you people out there who LOVE this ficcies laughs I have a very special announcement and that is that from now on, this ficcies is being co-written by none other than Maresia Eterna! And, no that doesn't mean that this story is going to change or anything. It's still going to be the same only I have another author helping me.

Fiery Kai: Aww…thank you! No, this isn't a one-shot. And thanks a lot for the rating. 9/10, huh? That's really good! Yeah, you know what? I don't like Michael either and don't worry, there might be some more Michael bashing later on.

Sweetpeachies: Wow, is it that hard to believe that she's an original character? Love the fact that you like my story and here's another chappie! She's kinda based on me so that's how I designed her character sketch.

Odango Forever: Thanks! Here's an update!

Twisted Whiskers: Thanks for the review!

Shkibblygrl14Hey, thanks for another review! And here's the update you've been waiting for!

Torri-Chiobi: Your wish is my command! Laughing Here's an update, dude!

Maresia Eterna: Hey girl! Okay, you already know what I'm gonna say about your review because I emailed you and all. And thank you for loving the chapters!

Cynical.life: Wow, buttwads…hm…I like that word. Well you know, Kai and Tala have to be buttwads or it just wouldn't fit. I can't imagine wither of them being nice to a new kid, you know? It's so OOC for them!

KaeAnime: Aww…you gave me 5 'Wows!' I love you too! Here's another update!

Dragon: Well, these are the people who reviewed me. You know how much I LOVE reviews so give them to me! I'll even give you all a cookie for every review Maresia and I get!

-O-

Isha yawned lazily and blinked a couple of times. She had arrived home late last night and had to wake up really early to start training. Just as she was about to drop her head on the desk and fall asleep, a hand clamped on her right shoulder. She turned around and saw Maressa grinning like there's no tomorrow.

"Rough night?" The brown-haired girl asked. Isha nodded sleepily.

"I went to bed at like 11:30 yesterday and then had to wake up at 5:30 in the morning to train," she grumbled. Maressa gave a soft laugh and dropped on the seat next to her partly Asian friend. "Shut up! You have no idea how much of an ass Aryan can be!"

"Ooh, who's Aryan?" Maressa chirped. Isha looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"He is the bane of my existence!"

"Is he cute?" Maressa asked innocently.

"MARESSA!"

"What? I just asked if he's cute or not! Sheesh, no need to kill me!" Maressa said laughing as Isha growled, narrowing her eyes at the girl across her.

"OH GOD! When is lunch gonna start?" Isha whined like a little baby and pouted childishly. Maressa checked her watch and frowned.

"Damn, still an hour to kill," she said and Isha groaned banging her head lightly on the desk. "So tell me more about this Aryan dude." Isha sighed and looked up.

"Aryan is like a cousin of mine but not biologically. I've known him since I was a little baby. He is basically the one who trains me and he enjoys every damn moment of it," Isha said. Maressa laughed out loud.

"Why? And what the hell do you mean "he trains" you?"

"Well, when I was in London, I was involved a LOT in athletics and I did stuff like basketball, volleyball, tennis and track. So, my parents asked Aryan if he could train me 'cuz he trained Chase and they sent me to him ever since I was in 2nd grade. After that, he just makes sure I'm flexible 'cuz everybody who knows me know that I take athletics very seriously," Isha explained.

"Ooh, I am more of an academic person," Maressa said. Isha nodded.

"That's why we click," she said grinning. "I get to make sure you get involved in some kind of a sport and you make sure I pass in my classes," she added grinning. "Ying and Yang," she added again.

"Ah, you mean, practically do your homework for you," Maressa corrected joking.

"Hey, I'm not THAT desperate," Isha said shaking her head.

"So you say," Maressa said and grinned. "Anyways, so you were trained by Aryan since you were in 2nd grade. Tell me more."

"So then when I was in 6th grade, Aryan's mom and dad divorced and the court gave his mom the custody. But then like 4 months later, his mom died 'cuz she was drinking and driving and his father denied the custody so then my mom and dad took him in."

"So, he lives with you now?"

"He used to but when he came to NYC with us, he got his own place," Isha said. "Unfortunately, I still have to go to him and you should see the tortures he puts me through," she added narrowing her eyes and crossing her arms by her chest.

"But you gotta admit though, if it wasn't for him, you might still be slacking off on your training because you would have no one to make sure you do what you're supposed to. Admit it, you're stronger because he trains you," she said pointedly. Isha glared at her.

"Why are you sticking up for him? You didn't even meet the guy! For all you know and care, he could be the reincarnation of the demon child from the underworld and the other demons sent him on Earth because he was too demonic for them!" Isha exclaimed. Maressa stared at her with her eyes wide open and then burst out laughing. Isha looked behind her, around her and then back at the Russian girl. "Do I have an invisible alien behind me that I can't see but you can? And if there is one, is it making faces?"

At this, Maressa even laughed harder. Isha scowled at her and turned away angrily.

"I'm sorry but you—" she said between laughs. "You are just hilarious." She stopped laughing but Isha still didn't look at her. "I'm sorry but I am just not used to people making comments like that." Isha sighed and turned to her.

"It's okay, not your fault," she grumbled. She looked at the desk in front of her and sat quietly for a moment.

"Hey Maressa!" A voice yelled out. Isha looked up behind Maressa and she turned around as well. It was a boy that had orangish-red hair and piercing blue eyes, a bit like Tala Valkov but his eyes were much lighter. He had slightly pale skin but not that much either. The boy looked Russian to her. He wore blue jeans and a tee shirt underneath an unbuttoned white and black striped shirt.

"Suppers Brook?" Maressa greeted back as the boy came near. His face turned from a smile to an annoyed expression when Maressa called him that. Maressa turned back to face Isha who had narrowed her eyes at the Russian teen. He took a random chair, turned it around and the straddled it while resting his arms on it. "Isha, meet my bestest friend in the whole wide world, Brooklyn Kingston. Brooklyn, this is the girl I told you about," Maressa finished.

Brooklyn turned his gaze towards Isha and studied her as she did the same. He allowed a small smile on his face as he extended his right hand out. Isha shook his hand stiffly for a quick second and then let go. "Pleasure to meet you, Isha."

"Same to you too," Isha said with a hint of dislike in her voice that Maressa didn't catch. For some reason, she just didn't trust this guy. For all she knew, he could be one of the Scorpions. Brooklyn opened his mouth to say something but before he could, the bell rung.

"Well, I've got free period so I can stay, you guys?" Maressa asked checking her schedule.

"Me too," Brooklyn said.

"Damn, I got history with Riley," Isha said checking her schedule as well.

"I hate you too," Maressa said glaring at her.

"What did I do now?" Isha asked completely clueless.

"I want Riley, man! He's like the coolest teacher in this school! I had him last year and he was a LOT of fun. I don't have any classes with him this year!" Maressa exclaimed.

"Yes you do, you have Drama and Math with him," Brooklyn pointed out. Maressa blinked for a second.

"Oh yeah! Never mind, I still love ya!" Maressa exclaimed. Isha nodded very slowly and then walked away.

-O-

Isha walked into her history class, Room 121. Only 3 people were there. She took a seat at the back and hoped that nobody would sit beside her as the desks were arranged in pairs. Taking out her doodle book, she flipped through pages and pages of her doodles before coming to a blank one.

Just as she was about to draw something, the second bell rang, telling everybody that you HAD to be in class by now. Now, a swarm of people started coming in and taking their seats. At last, a young man, probably in his early 30s or late 20s entered with a bunch of books and papers in his hands. He walked to the front desk and put the papers and books on them.

She shifted her eyes from the man when she heard a chair shuffling and a person sitting on it. Looking beside her, she saw a Chinese man with LONG hair that was tied to a pony tail. He had amber eyes and wore black pants on a white polo t-shirt. He also had a bandana on his head to keep the bangs out and it had a Ying Yang sign on it.

"Hey, I'm Ray Kon," he said giving her a smile. She turned back to the front.

"Hn."

"Who're you?" He asked. Looking closely at the girl, he realized that it was the girl that Tala told him about.

"Human," was her blunt reply. Feisty, ne?, he thought smiling inwardly. Heh, Kai's gonna have a hard time taking her.

"Okay, quick story before we start for our lesson. I got my first job as a teacher in an elementary school," Mr. Riley said sitting on the edge of his desk. Isha noticed that by this point, everybody had shut up and were listening intently to what the teacher was saying.

"I was supposed to teach a first grade class. So, anyways, one day in the year, this kid, Kevin, comes up to me bawling his eyes out before it was time to recess. And I got so worried! I was thinking like 'Oh my God, someone probably punched him or something' and I asked him what was wrong," Mr. Riley continued doing actions with his hands. "And he says that 'Mr. Riley! Mr. Riley! David butted me in the line!" At this, the whole class burst out laughing. Isha just shook her head and snickered.

"And then," Mr. Riley sighed as if it had happened all over again. "I had to pull out David and ask him to apologize and what not," he finished. But nobody heard the last part as they were too busy laughing. After a few minutes, the laughter died out and everybody shut up once again, waiting for the teacher to go on.

Just as Mr. Riley was about to speak, the door opened again and in came Kai Hiwatari. Isha let out a small groan which Ray heard and silently laughed.

"Late as usual, Kai?" Kai shrugged and walked to his seat which was in front of Ray and across from Isha. He looked at her and smirked before taking his seat. "Today, we will be starting a new project called Historica." He stopped speaking as though waiting for the "awws" and the groans from his class which they did as if on cue.

"Anyways, you'll be doing this project in pairs of twos and you can choose the partners." Again, Mr. Riley stopped talking and waited as the class cheered. "The point of this project is that you learn something about an historical event related to your country. You can choose your own topic and choose how you want to do it but it has to be related to your country. Now, you may ask, 'Mr. Riley, we're working in pairs, how do we EVER choose whose country we will work on?' and stuff like that.

"Well, you can do Rock, Paper, Scissors or whatever you want. You'll get this entire period to choose a topic and then at the end, I'll record your topics down, everybody clear?"

A girl sitting at the very front raised her hand. "Do we have to prepare a report or present our information on a board?"

"Again, that's your choice but I suggest you do a board because you will be presenting this to the class," Mr. Riley answered. "Any more questions?" A couple of people raised their hands. "Yes, Risha?"

"When is it due?"

"It's due in a month and a half. You have six weeks to prepare your project."

"How much is it out of?" A random person shouted. "And does our topic have to be related to our country?"

"It's out of a 100, Travis. And not necessarily but I advise you to because that way you would learn something about to do with your roots. And next time, please raise your hand," Mr. Riley said. "Is that it?" No one answered. "Then, you may begin!"

Isha got up and frowned. She barely knew anyone on this class. How the hell was she supposed to get a partner? As soon as she left, Kai got up and took her seat and started talking to Ray about their topic. She felt someone poke her on the shoulder and she turned around.

It was the same girl that had asked the question about when the project being due.

"Wanna be my partner?" She asked.

"Sure," Isha replied following the girl to her seat. She had brown hair that went up to her waist. She wore blue jeans that had the faded color design and a white Rolling Stones tee. They went to her desk and both took a seat, across from each other.

"My name is Risha Avery. You are the new girl, right?" Isha nodded.

"The name's Isha," she replied. "So, what's the topic?" Risha shrugged.

"You can choose the topic. It doesn't matter to me. What country are you from?"

"I'm a mixed person. My roots are Russia, Ireland and India. You?"

"USA," Risha said. "Wanna do something from Ireland?"

"You got something in mind?" Isha asked raising her eyebrows.

"I was hoping you did."

"Well, I got two things. We can do The Great Famine or the Omagh Bomb."

"The bomb thing sounds interesting. What's it about?"

"I have no clue but hey, that's what internet is all for," she said giving the dark haired girl a small smile. "So it's settled, right?" Risha nodded and took out her book to write their topic and a few questions to start off their research. Having their work finished, they started to talk casually till the end of the period.

"Is everybody ready to tell me their topic?" Mr. Riley asked. Everybody stopped their talking and looked up at the dirty blonde haired teacher. "When I call you name, tell me your partner's name and what your project topic is. We'll start with Trisha Anderson."

"My partner is Ritu Ahmed and our topic is the Caribana," an African-American girl said.

"Risha Avery?"

"My partner is Isha and we're doing it on the Omagh Bomb in Ireland," Risha said confidently. No sooner had she said that, they heard a loud 'WHAT?' from behind. Everybody turned around to find Kai having an enraged expression on his face.

"Is there a problem, Kai?" Mr. Riley asked giving a big sigh.

"Yes, there is, that is what we're going to do our project on," he said as Isha narrowed his eyes at him.

"Well, too bad, because we thought of it first," she retorted standing up and putting her hands on her hips. Seeing this, Kai stood up as well.

"I am not letting go of this topic."

"Tough shit, Hiwatari, because you're gonna have too."

"Isha, no swearing in class," Mr. Riley said but it didn't seen like she heard him. "Kai, you're not even Irish and neither is Ray, so why don't you pick something to do with Russia or China?"

"We already know about our countries so we decided to pick a country that we don't know about," Ray explained.

"Well, there are other countries in this world, Kon, not just Ireland," Isha said spitefully. Risha saw the tension rising between the two enemies.

"Isha," she said worriedly. "It's okay; we'll do the Great Famine." Isha shook her head stubbornly.

"No way, we thought of the Omagh Bomb first so we get to do the project on it," Isha said stubbornly. "They could do their project on the Great Famine."

Mr. Riley sighed. "Okay, you know what? You four meet me after class and we'll discuss this then." Isha glared coldly at Kai before taking a seat beside Risha and giving an angry sigh.

The bell rang shortly after the argument and everybody exited except the two pairs. They remained on the seats and Mr. Riley closed the door softly behind the last person. He had a free period this time so he needn't worry about any class needing to wait. He turned to the four teens.

"Now, I have figured some thing out and if I voice my opinion, you will have to follow it so before I do, I'll ask one more time. Is either one of you willing to let go of the topic?" He asked to Isha and Kai more than Risha and Ray. And by the look of the stubborn faces on both of them, he got his answer. He turned to Risha and Ray.

"Risha and Ray decide on a topic and give it to me tomorrow. You two will be working together. And as for you two, since the both of you won't let go of this topic, you'll be working together, okay?" Mr. Riley said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"WHAT?" Isha's voice rang out. She went up to the teacher and slammed her hands on his desk, glaring at him heatedly. "That's worse than letting go of my topic!" Mr. Riley held up a hand in front of her.

"I told you that if I voice my opinion, you'll have to follow it," he said. "Ray, you and Risha can go seeing as you don't need to be here at the moment."

"Riley, you can't seriously expect me to work with this wench," Kai growled.

"Wench? Look who's talking man-whore!" Isha yelled.

"Guys, no swearing please," Mr. Riley said wearily. "Look, either the both of you work together or both of you get an automatic big fat egg."

"How could you be so evil?" Isha accused pointing a finger at Mr. Riley.

"Get going, you guys, you only have six weeks to finish the project. There will be no extensions."

With a frustrated 'hmph', Isha stormed out of the room with Kai right behind her. He'd been in Riley's class before and knew of his teacher's stubbornness. And if he wanted to pass in history, he would have to work with Lynsgrave—whether he liked it or not.

Aquilius: Well, that's Chapter 3! Don't forget to review!