Chapter Two

Science was very entertaining with Adrian around. The class were working with Bunsen Burners that lesson so Mason asked the new kid to pair up with him. With Rose and Lissa next to them on the science benches, everyone seemed to be very wary of the group. Adrian didn't know why, but when Rose and Mason had the idea to see who could make the most explosive chemical to put into the flames Lissa immediately backed away, dragging Adrian with her.

The sound of the chemicals exploding and the smell of burning paper sent the entire class again in hysterics. The teacher, Ms Carmack, almost seemed too tired to yell at the two. Apparently this wasn't the worst thing the two had done in her class, not by far.

With the students and teacher distracted with their own work, and the room still filled with the smell of smoke, Adrian got a couple of quiet laughs out of Mason, Lissa and Rose as he pulled out a cigarette, used the Bunsen Burner to set it alight then had a quick puff on it before throwing it out of the window and straight into a bin. It was only the second lesson and already Adrian was having a lot of fun.

And with Science sadly coming to an end, and Maths sadly beginning, Adrian looked at Mason with a bored look on his face five minutes into the lesson. Their maths teacher, Ms Karp, was explaining the different equations of algebra or something that didn't really interest Adrian. And Mason being across the room meant that Adrian couldn't talk to him. Mason looked at him with the same boredom in his eyes, but the sudden paper airplane that flew over Adrian's head and onto Mason's desk made them look around at Rose who grinned at them. Lissa sat at the front, looking at the three and knowing what was about to happen next.

Every time Ms Karp was looking at the class it seemed like a peaceful lesson. But when her back was turned or something on her desk drew her attention paper airplanes flew through the air that the three troublemakers that consisted of Adrian, Rose and Mason made using paper from their exercises books. And the paper airplanes held messages informing each other of how bored they were with the lesson and telling jokes to pass time. It was a miracle that they weren't caught seeing as the class were on the verge of laughing when the jokes were then passed around the classroom. Even Lissa had to hold in a laugh when she was given a rude joke that Adrian had heard from his previous school.

"That lesson needs more paper airplanes more often." When the bell rung the class burst out laughing which confused the poor teacher, and the planes and jokes were disposed of in the recycling bin in case she found them lying around and reported them.

"Why is her class so boring compared to the other two?"

"Stan is really easy to piss of, so with a few comments and remarks the class can entertain themselves easily. And Ms Carmack is a very laidback and nice teacher. It just so happens that she's pregnant and suffers from really bad morning sickness so she doesn't even bother to turn up to lessons half the time."

"But Ms Karp apparently had a mental breakdown several years ago and now the students do whatever they can to prevent another one."

"Let's stop talking about boring lessons and head over to the field! My lunch in my bag isn't going to be eaten any other time!" A couple of benches sat in the middle of the field underneath a large tree that offered shade, that were already occupied with other students. But with the others heading in their direction Adrian had a feeling these were the other five members of the group. "Guys, we have someone for you to meet!"

"This is Adrian Ivashkov, the guy I told you all about last week." Lissa took Adrian's arm and pulled him towards her, smiling at her friends. "Adrian, these are our other friends. The guy with the blue eyes and black hair is my boyfriend, Christian Ozera." The boy, Christian, gave Adrian a small nod before giving his attention back to his girlfriend. "That's Eddie, the guy Mason was talking about earlier. They're roommates."

"I've been wanting to meet the guy who asked Stan if it was okay to smoke on school grounds." The sandy-blonde haired boy leant forward to give Adrian a relaxing smile after seeing his confused face. "Word gets around this place quickly about events like that. So get used to it."

"Over there is Jill and Sydney. Jill is my half-sister." Adrian could see the resemblance in the two sisters, Jill had the same jade eyes as Lissa but her hair was light brown rather than blonde. "And Sydney is…well…Sydney." The girl known as Sydney had the exact same hair colour as Lissa but her eyes were more like Eddie's; hazel. But from where Adrian was standing he could almost see a gold tint to her eyes. "And last but not least, this is Dimitri Belikov."

The taller teenager sat on the bench with Eddie and up until now was very quiet, while the others all either said hello to Adrian or gave some sort of nod which Christian had done. When Adrian looked at the last teenager he was surprised at how someone like Dimitri wasn't out in the world as a fashion model already. Dimitri was very good looking with his dark brown eyes studying everything about the new student, and his brown hair sitting wavy around his shoulders. He was very tall, probably the tallest in the group, and also looked very strong.

During the lunch break Adrian found out more about everyone, and why the group got such respected looks as students walked by. Because of Lissa's caring and sweet personality many people at the school just adored her for who she was. She was in fact the council president and was also respected by many of the students.

Christian held the responsibility of being in charge of the cookery club. Apparently behind the quiet and shy look Christian was a sucker for food and liked baking, a lot. And Sydney was part of the science club. Right now she was telling Rose and Lissa how she made a shampoo-like substance to pull a prank on a girl in her PE class after she picked on Jill. And the reason why she picked on Jill was because she was jealous over the fact that the half-sister was part of the fashion club and was picked out of everyone to represent the school in a fashion modelling contest in several months' time.

"So what do you four do?" Adrian turned his attention on Rose, Mason, Eddie and Dimitri who all glanced at him at the same time. Being around Rose and Mason all day showed Adrian just how alike the two were. And being around Eddie and Dimitri just brought out more of their immaturity, as Eddie made jokes along with his best bud and Dimitri sat there shaking his head at them. "At the school I mean."

"Us four are part of the martial arts clubs."

"Huh?"

"Dimitri is the school's male captain of the Judo club, and Rose is the female captain. Eddie and I however are more into Karate and we're both joint captain after deciding to start a club." Mason gave Adrian his famous cheeky grin.

"But us four also take part in kickboxing together." Dimitri was the one who spoke this time, giving Adrian a real chance to hear the boy's Russian accent. "It gives us all a chance to fight and see who's stronger."

"And a chance to throw each other around." Mason and Eddie laughed at Rose's comment while Dimitri shook his head but had an obvious smile on his face. "Speaking of which, are you interested in joining the club? I can see you as a fighter."

"Seriously? I don't often get into fights. And the fights I do end up are drunken brawls where I end up winning only because the other drunk fell over before he could make it out the door." The new kid chuckled. "Besides you can't punish the hands of an artist by abusing them through fights. These hands are my tools, I can't risk damaging them."

"You're an artist?" Adrian nodded his head. Dimitri's eyes went slightly wide. "Are you the Adrian Ivashkov who painted 'Nightlife in New York' by any chance?"

"Yeah, that was my first masterpiece. How do you know about the painting?"

"Dimitri is a bit of a fan of art as well." Christian's voice made Adrian a little startled as it came from behind him an unexpectedly. He then turned his attention from Christian back to the Russian boy who stared at Adrian as if he was some sort of god or something. "He can't draw for shit, but he loves paintings."

"Dad brought the masterpiece and hung it in our front room, and I fell in love with it the moment I saw it. I'm a bit of a fan of your artwork to be honest."

"Really?"

Adrian blushed. People spoke about his artwork a lot but they were those involved in the art world and often said things just so that he could work with them later in life. But this was the first time that the young artist had ever been told his work was good, from a teenage boy who happened to be in his year no less. Dimitri could had been pulling Adrian's leg for all he knows, to later tell him it was a joke and shoot down the poor boy's confidence in his art abilities.

No thought Adrian. The way that Dimitri was staring at him, it was as though he was meeting a celebrity for the first time. The most fame that Adrian was going to get was a young prodigy in the art world, and he would probably be famous just to other artists. He wasn't going to get the press following his every move, but right now Adrian felt as though Dimitri saw him as an idol. He wouldn't be surprised if the Russian asked for an autograph from the way the two got deep in conversation about artwork. For someone who apparently 'can't draw for shit' Dimitri knew a lot about art, which impressed the young artist. This guy, he isn't that bad of a person actually.