A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and especially my mistake with Austin's eye color in the last chapter (oops!). I went back and fixed that. Also realized I forgot the disclaimer, so... I don't own anything in here that you recognize. Enjoy!

"Ally! Guess what!" Ally was standing at her locker before class on Monday morning, when Trish skidded to a halt next her. Her eyes were glowing in the way they only did when she juicy news to tell.

"Oh! Let me guess… Logan asked Amanda to go the dance with him!" Ally responded with false enthusiasm.

Trish frowned for a second. "Umm… no. That would be cool, but that's not it. There's a new boy in school today! Word is, he's super cute!"

Ally raised her eyebrows at her. "Interesting…"

"Do you not care about this? It's like the coolest thing that's happened since the hot glue gun incident. Nothing ever happens around here. How are you not excited?"

"Trish, I know the guy. The new family has a boy our age. It's just Austin. I already met him. Not that exciting." She turned to walk to her first period class.

"You know him?" Trish sped up to keep up with Ally's fast pace. "So… Is he as hot as everyone says?"

Ally rolled her eyes. "I guess so... He's pretty cute"

"Who's cute?" The voice from behind the girls made them both jump.

Ally mentally face-palmed as she realized who the voice belonged to. "Austin…" In the side of her vision, she saw Trish's eyes widen as the name registered with her.

"So… who were you two talking about?"

Ally laughed nervously as she and Trish turned to address the tall blond boy. "No one! It's just this guy in… um… history class! Yeah! History!"

"Uh huh…" Austin raised an eyebrow at her response. He turned his attention toward the other girl in front of him, who was still staring. "Hi. I'm Austin."

"Um… Trish! Nice to meet you!" Trish managed to pull herself together just as the warning bell rang. "Crap… My first class is way upstairs! I'll see you guys later!" She hurried off, only stopping to mouth to Ally He's cute! Ally once again rolled her eyes at her friend before turning back to Austin.

"So… I had a favor to ask." Austin rubbed the back of his neck, looking at her uncertainly. He produced a piece of paper from his backpack. "I just got my schedule, and I have no idea where any of these room are… I don't know anyone here, so could you maybe…?" He trailed off.

"Oh! Yeah, sure, I can show you around. Let me see." Austin handed her his schedule. She glanced over it, and smiled up at him. "You have the same English as me first. Come on. It's just upstairs."

They made it to class just on time, both taking seats near the back. Mr. Brown just gave them a look as they came in, but otherwise ignored their near tardy. Ally was just getting out her stuff when he started talking.

"Good morning everyone. I hope everyone got enough rest over the weekend! We have a lot to get done today." Mr. Brown was never one for long introductions, or casual conversation. He was all business.

"I'm passing out the explanation of your new project. I want you all to choose one theme found in the novel Huckleberry Finn and talk about how Twain demonstrates that theme in the book. This is a partner project, so pair up. I expect a one page report on your theme by Friday. You will have all week in class to work."

"Hey, Ally." Something poked Ally in the back. She jumped, surprised, and turned to see Austin smiling at her.

"What?"

"Do you want to be my partner?" He asked her, eyes twinkling with amusement at her startled reaction.

"Um… Sure!" She was about to turn her chair around so she could fully face him when someone sat on Austin's desk right in front of her. Inwardly, she groaned. She didn't even have to look to see who the intruder was.

Cassidy.

Ally wasn't blind. She knew Austin was cute. He had the whole surfer vibe going on, and he wasn't exactly out of shape either. She had also noticed Cassidy and her posse whispering in the corner, and their frequent glances at the new boy. She shouldn't have been surprised that Cassidy was trying this now.

Cassidy was the most popular girl at Marino High. Ally didn't like her, having seen her exploit her status as a bully in the past.

"So… It's Austin right?" Cassidy gave Austin a dazzling smile, and flipped her long blond hair over her shoulder. When Austin nodded, her smile grew wider, and she asked "Would you like to be my partner?"

Ally could see Austin's look of slight disgust at her obvious flirting in his eyes, although he kept a polite smile on his face. Apparently though, Cassidy was oblivious, as she just kept watching him happily, waiting for his response.

"Sorry Cassidy. I already asked Ally to be my partner. Maybe next time". Cassidy's face betrayed her surprise for just a moment, along with her horror at being rejected. Then she whirled on Ally.

Ally herself wasn't popular, but she wasn't unpopular either. She had her own group of friends that she was very happy with. She was generally classified as more of a wallflower than anything else, preferring to stay silent than speak up the majority of the time.

She never interacted with Cassidy in even the smallest way. She couldn't remember ever giving the girl any reason to hate her. Because of this, Cassidy's next words came as a surprise.

"Her?! But… but… she's nobody! Nothing! How could you choose her over me?! Austin, nobody likes her. If you choose her as a partner, you're going to be unpopular! Seriously?"

Ally's jaw dropped. That was a little harsh.

Even Austin looked a little taken aback for a second. However, his face soon settled into a stony expression. "Don't talk about my friend like that. I choose who I want to hang out with. And after that outburst, that most definitely will not be you." He took ahold of her arm and gently pushed her off his desk and smiled coolly. "Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to say no."

Austin then looked at Ally and motioned for her to put her stuff on his desk so that they could work. She did so, suppressing the urge to laugh at Cassidy's stunned expression.

Cassidy quickly realized she was staring, and huffed, turning on her heel to return to her corner of the classroom. Ally looked at Austin with a little bit of awe.

"That was hilarious! I have never seen her look so mad! You are amazing!" Ally couldn't hold back her laughter any more, and was now struggling to catch her breath.

Austin grinned at her. "Hey, she deserved it! I know what her type do, and I don't want to get involved in all that again."

Finally getting her breathing back to normal, Austin's words registered with Ally. "Wait… again? What happened last time?"

Austin just smiled at her. "I'll tell you that story some other day. So… what theme do you want to write about? I was thinking racism."

Ally glared at him for raising her curiosity, but didn't push the question. "Yeah, sure. Racism is good." Silently, however, she resolved to find out more about Austin. Any boy who could talk to Cassidy like that was worth getting to know.