Benny walked into science, hoping Fayette would be there before the bell rang. He was one of the first to class, so he sat in his seat, twiddling his thumbs nervously. Waiting for everyone else to join seemed to take forever, and to his disappointment, none were Fayette.

'Maybe she's running late,' Benny thought. Hoped, more than anything. 'Or maybe she's not coming to class. OR MAYBE she's somehow been captured by ninjas. Ninja vampires. Ninja vampire aliens. Ninja vampire alien mermaids-'

"Benjamin Weir?" the teacher said, interrupting Benny's thought process.

Benny shot out of his seat, proclaiming. "It wasn't me, I swear!"

Mr. Roberts peered at Benny through his glasses, and said, "I was calling roll. If you want to take a seat now, Mr. Weir, I'm going to begin class."

The class laughed as Benny inched into his seat, noting that this was the second time today he managed to make an utter fool of himself. At least this time Fayette wasn't here to witness it.

'Right, Fayette isn't here,' Benny found himself thinking again. He placed his head in his hands, not so gently, and the bump from the morning locker incident caused him to grimace in pain. 'I wonder if she's avoiding me. However, the ninja vampire aliens thing is completely plausible. This school does experience some freaky stuff.'

After science, Benny went to find Ethan at his locker, when Rory approached him out of almost nowhere. "Benny, my man!" Rory exclaimed, looking for a high five.

Benny grabbed Rory by the shoulders and moved him aside. "Not now. I'm on a mission."

Rory, unfazed by Benny leaving him hanging, perked up at the idea of a mission. "THAT I could happily help you with. What kind of mission is this? Covert ops? Treasure hunt? Tinkle break?"

"Tinkle break? Really?" Benny started walking away from the conversation, but Rory followed.

"Hey, when you gotta go, you gotta go. You're also forgetting that I'm a vampire. I might be useful to your mission."

Benny stopped in front of Rory, speaking in hushed tones "Wow, be a bit louder about your condition. I'm not sure the citizens of Japan quite heard you." Resuming his normal speech, he continued, "And for this kind of mission, trust me, you will be of little assistance."

Benny clapped Rory on the shoulder and continued walking off, in search of his best friend. Upon cutting around the corner, he was convinced he saw Fayette standing by the doors leading outside, but a hulking student blocked his view. By the time the guy moved, Benny saw neither hide nor hair of Fayette, if she even stood there at all. "Thank you, man-child!" Benny shouted after the guy, who had long since left.

"Hey, Benny!" Ethan shouted down the hall, closing his locker door.

Benny approached him cautiously, knowing the trickiness of locker doors and their magnetism to his cranium. "She wasn't in science, if that's what you were wondering."

"Um, yeah. That's what I was wondering..." Ethan said untruthfully. "Also, I had a question for you. Do you know anything about that dance next Saturday?"

"You do realize who you're talking to, right?" Benny grinned, doing his best to moonwalk.

Ethan shook his head, watching his friend and his pathetic attempt to dance. "All right, you're gonna run into that open locker behind you if you're not careful."

Benny swung around in full force, and as his luck would have it, hit the locker door. Seeing stars, he held onto the second bump forming on his head and yelled, "Seriously! What is it with you people not closing your lockers?"

"Can't say I didn't warn you," Benny heard Ethan's voice say.

Eyes still closed from the pain, he reached out for Ethan, or really anything to hold onto. A hand enclosed around his, and he remarked, "Ethan, don't take offense to this, but your hands are kind of girly. But surprisingly soft."

"Don't worry, I'm not offended," A female voice answered. "However, I'm beginning to think locker doors have a vendetta with your head."

Already Benny recognized that voice, and suddenly having her hand around his made him feel a lot more relieved.