Title: When Luke Met Grace

Disclaimer: Not mine, blah blah blah, you all know this one upside down and backwards.

Summary: Luke and Grace meet, but of course, its never as simple as that. Set Pre-Series.

A/N: Its written in third person, coz I can't write first person AT ALL, but it is technically in Luke's POV.

Luke checked his schedule for the third time in a row, making sure that the classroom he was about to enter was the right one. The first day at a new school, just when he was first starting high school on top of that, was intimidating. He took in a deep breathe and walked in the room, glancing around briefly at the surroundings.

There was a blonde woman in a white lab coat standing at the front of the room, looking much more excited than he expected any teacher to be on the first day of school. She smiled wide at him and practically sang out to him to pick a seat, being sure to remind him that it would be his lab group for the rest of the year.

No pressure or anything, he thought to himself, walking slowly down the aisle of lab tables, hoping to find a group worth working with. As he approached the second table to the back, he overhead the two students seated there excitedly discussing atomic theory.

Bingo, he thought, someone else who isn't here just for the AP credit.

He stepped up to their table and politely introduced himself. The tall, skinny girl smiled brightly at him and introduced herself as Glynis. The curly haired boy next to her smirked and offered a hand to Luke.

"At last, male companionship," Glynis smacked him in the arm. "Not that current companionship is lacking in any way. You can call me the Friedman. Everyone does."

Glynis rolled her eyes," If by everyone, you mean you, then sure."

Luke laughed, earning twin smiles from his new lab partners, and took the empty seat. Maybe this school wouldn't be so bad after all.

Suddenly, a brown haired boy brushed past, his messenger bag bumping into glassware set out on the table.

"Whoa," Luke said, hand shooting out to steady the beaker before it could fall.

"Sorry," the boy mumbled absently as he continued on towards the table in the back.

"Who's that?" Luke asked Friedman curiously as he glanced back at the boy.

"Who, Space boy?" Friedman asked with a laugh. "Adam Rove. Arcadia High's resident pothead. Spends most of his time in his own personal little drug filled world. It's best just to let him be."

"Oh," Luke said to himself, feeling slightly bad for the isolated boy despite himself. He didn't have time to ponder his sympathy due to another person crashing into the same beaker he had saved moments before. Luke was caught off guard this time and turned to see a glass shard flying at him. Before he could react, it hit him straight in the face. His hands instantly shot up to his face, pulling the small piece of glass out. He watched as it clattered to the table, splattering small spots of blood across the surface.

The teacher's voice rang out across the room, "Miss Polk. I see you're making an entrance as usual."

Luke touched his fingers to his cheek and pulled back when he felt something wet. He stared at his bloodstained fingers with wide eyes.

"Thought I'd be helpful and demonstrate the need for safety goggles," the blonde girl replied without missing a beat, looking back at the older woman defiantly.

The teacher noticed Luke's injury as she came up behind the insolent student. The sarcastic girl was oblivious to the situation and wandered back to sit with the stoner kid.

The teacher took a closer look and declared, "You should go to the nurse. Miss Polk, this is your mess, please take him."

"I have a policy against babysitting," she snarked, making no move to get up.

The teacher looked absolutely exasperated and asked Luke, "Will you be alright going alone?"

"I don't know where it is," Luke answered meekly, embarrassed by all the attention directed at him. "I'm new here."

"Miss Polk, I could just write you a detention for leaving shattered glass lying about," the teacher warned. Luke heard the girl let out a frustrated sigh behind him. She passed by him without looking at him and motioned impatiently for him to follow her.

He hurried to catch up to her, all while trying to keep his still flowing blood under control. His movement caused her to glance towards him and she saw how bloody his hands were getting. She let out an expletive and turned towards him. He could have sworn he saw a flash of guilt pass over her features as she took in the aftermath of her grand entrance into the classroom.

"Here," she said in a slightly less abrasive tone, pulling a couple sheets of tissue paper from her jacket's pocket and putting it up to his bloody cheek.

"Thanks," he said, bringing his hand up to hold the tissue against his cheek. She quickly pulled away, clearly uncomfortable with the physical contact. She hastily spun on her heal and continued to walk down the hallway. He walked silently beside her for a moment before clearing his throat.

"I-I'm Luke," he told her, wincing slightly as his voice cut awkwardly through the silence. "Luke Girardi."

"Good for you," she replied, uninterested. Luke blinked, taken aback by the rude comment. What had happened to the girl who was nearly concerned about him from just a minute ago?

"Is Polk your last name?" he prodded. She stopped short in front of a door and spun to face him.

"Look, Girardi, I'm not looking to make pals alright? I'm putting off a reunion with Price as long as possible and the first day is way too damn early for a detention. Even for me. Otherwise I wouldn't have even bothered to get up this morning, let alone play babysitter to some scrawny little freshman. I don't play nice with people, so don't be expecting more 'charity' anytime soon."

"Sorry, I just-" Luke apologized, wondering why he was even still attempting to talk to her when every bit of his common sense was screaming: this girl is trouble!

"Ugh," Grace grunted in disgust before taking off.

"Nice meeting you too," Luke murmured to himself after she was long gone.