I wasn't able to hear what the teacher was telling the guy but I knew what was coming. He would have to sit next to me, the only seat left to take in this room. That is, unless you wanted to sit next to the teacher, which nobody ever wanted, unless you were a teachers pet, of course.

I continued to look down at the sheet of paper, to look as if I was busy, while I heard the teacher tell him to take the seat next to me. His footsteps were slow and through the slits in my hair I saw him staring at me while he walked.

Quickly, I looked back down and tried my hardest to ignore his presence. However, that didn't go as well as I'd hoped. He made no hesitation to speak to me.

"Hello."

I hesitantly looked up at him and forced a smile.

"Uh hi," I said awkwardly. I really didn't want to talk to him, I still felt weird about this morning.

"My name is Derek Atkins."

His voice was very polite and unusually formal. His ice-blue eyes were piercing yet beautiful. They reminded me of when I would go up to Michigan and the ponds were that exact color. His hair fell over his eyes slightly, the silver tips almost blended in with the ice-blue color. I never saw that this morning, then again I didn't look at him close enough.

"I'm Reina Rosemond, but you can call me Lilith if you like, its my nickname," I said, staring into his eyes. Okay, so I didn't have to say my nickname but it was just a habit I guess, one that I really needed to work on now.

"That's a lovely name," he smiled gently. "But which do you prefer?"

"Thanks. It makes no difference to me, but most people call me Lilith. They seem to think it suits me better than Reina." and again, I say unnecessary things.

"What do they mean, if you don't mind my asking." I was surprised at how formal he was being, it was sort of weird but in the same way, refreshing. I prefer formal to gangster talk.

"Reina means 'queen' and Lilith means 'belonging to the night.'" I still don't understand why people gave me that nickname, but its not a hideous name so I don't mind.

"Beautiful," he said and smiled gently. I could feel my heart beat pick up dramatically. He has a very nice smile. I could feel my face burn so I looked away shyly.

That's when the teacher cleared his throat, signaling everybody to pay attention. I shifted my body to face forward, though I was unable to shift my attention to the teacher.

Though I didn't think I'd want to talk to him, once he spoke, that's all I wanted to do. There was something about him, something I couldn't put my finger on, that made me want to talk to him for hours and want to know every detail about him there was to know.

His voice was mesmerizing and at the same time, calming and soothing.

I decided I needed to pay attention to the teacher, so I completely zoned Kai out and put all my thoughts in the back of my mind.

"So I expect you all to do a good job and help this community out!" He sounded so enthusiastic. "This will be worth a lot so don't even think about slacking!"

Wait, what? What the hell did I miss? I'm so screwed. Unless...maybe Derek was paying attention? I hope so. And I could only hope...my thought process was stopped when I saw a yellow sheet of paper in front of me.

I turned to look at Derek and was surprised. He smirked.

"I assume you zoned out and missed what he was saying, am I correct?"

I sighed. Was it that obvious that I wasn't paying attention? Well I guess so... "Yes, and you're my life saver, I owe you," I told him with relief and laughed.

"Well, then how about we do this together? So neither of us will be alone," he grinned widely and continued, "we could also get it done much quicker."

I looked down at the sheet of paper stating everything that we are to do. It says to choose an activity to do in the area, such as volunteering at a local shelter or plant a garden or two. Those were at least the most appealing. Besides those options there was to go hiking with a group of kids and get them interested in nature, make economical inventions, or, better yet, help the elderly out. I'm sure enough people volunteer to help the elderly, and making an invention isn't the easiest thing to do for some people, and hiking...what good would that do to the community?

"Well, which of these 'fun' options do you wanna do?" I looked at him, smiling.

He laughed at my sarcasm. "Well, I'd prefer to do something besides making an invention or the hiking thing...not the best ideas for high school kids to do. Half of the people would probably blow something up in the process," he said, laughing at the idea.

It made me laugh, too. He was right, half the people that would attempt an invention would destroy something or hurt themselves or others.

"Agreed. How about...volunteering at a shelter?" I proposed, thinking it was one of the better options of them all.

He nodded in agreement. "Sounds good to me. What sort of shelter?"

Hmm...its not like there are a lot of shelters around here, besides animal shelters. I love animals so it really wouldn't be any problem for me, but does he? Well, guess I have to ask to find out.

"Well, in the area there are mainly animal shelters. Would you mind helping there?" I was hoping he would say yes, so I could try to get to know him a bit more.

"Of course, I'd love to help animals. I assume you love animals since you chose to help them, so what animal is you're favorite?" he asked me, and actually seemed interested instead of it simply being polite.

I had to think for a little. I love dogs and cats the most, but is he asking just the animal or more specific, like the breed? Damn, I know it's a really simple question but I wanted to answer my best. Oh the hell with it.

"Wolves," I said simply.

He laughed and I tilted my head slightly to the right, confused.

"I was thinking more of the domestic animals, but that's fine, too," he said and smiled. "I assume you'd like to know my favorite animal as well?"

"You sure do assume a lot, don't you?" I said, teasingly.

He seemed amused by my comment. "I guess I do."

"But yes, I do want to know what you're favorite animal is, if you don't mind."

"Why would I?" It wasn't a question, or at least not one to be answered. Gotta love those rhetorical questions. "My favorite animal is a cat. To be more specific, black cats."

I had to admit, I was surprised by that. Normally, a person would like black cats-or any black animal for that matter-the least. Too many people are superstitious, though I cant say too much because I can be superstitious as well, just not a lot of the time. And I wondered if he liked black cats because they are mysterious in a way, or for their background in the olden days. Either way, he was interesting to me.

"That's cool. But normally people would like them the least, right? I mean, don't they symbolize bad luck?"

He smirked. "Yeah, that's what they symbolize. However back when there were witches, they were looked at as their familiars."

I never heard about that. All I knew was that they were associated with dark magic. Then again, that may explain the witches thing.

"Oh, I never heard of that. Sounds cool though." I said, smiling. It was weird but I was most definitely interested in the subject for some odd reason. I just felt drawn to it.

He nodded in agreement.

I looked down at my hand, looking at the 18kt gold ring with a Lapis Lazuli stone surrounded by two smaller diamonds. I stared at the reflections the diamonds and the Lapis Lazuli stone made and was intrigued.

I saw his hand reaching towards mine, taking my out of my daze with my ring. The instant his hand touched mine it created a spark throughout my entire body. It felt like I had just got hit by lightening. I instantly moved my hand out from under his and looked at him with complete shock.

What the hell is going on? Why is it when he touches me it creates a frickin spark?

He looked at me, I guess I wasn't the only one here surprised, yet again. He looked at me then at his hand. I was glad to know I'm not the only person bewildered about this. But he had the same reaction he did as this morning, staring at his hand in confusion.

I couldn't wait or the bell to ring so I could get away from him. I grabbed my bag, watching the clock tick till the bell would ring and I would be away from him. The bell finally rang after a few moments of me staring at it.

Needless to say, I was the first out that door. I wasn't going to stay by him another second. He was starting to freak me out, though there's no doubt he's attractive, that doesn't mean he's perfect nor does it mean he's safe.

I walked swiftly through the halls, squeezing through the crowds, looking down at the ground. On the way to my next class I bumped into somebody.

I jerked my head up to see who it was, to see if I should or would apologize, and if so, how nicely I did it.

I was relieved to find I bumped into Kyle.

"Sorry about that. Wasn't paying attention," I said and laughed shortly.

"Well, clearly," he said teasingly.

I just smiled the best I could.

"So what's your mind preoccupied with?" he knew, as always, when something was bothering me. That's what happens when your childhood friends I suppose.

"It's nothing to bother with right now." I said, shrugging it off for the time being.

"Reina, come on. Tell me." he put his hands on my shoulder, trying to show he wants to help me the best way he can.

I sighed but sort of laughed. "I think youre the only person who doesn't call me Lilith."

He looked confused. "Is that a bad thing?"

"No, its fine. And I promise I'll tell you later, alright?" I looked him in the eyes and hoped he understood that I didn't want to talk about it at the moment.

To my relief, he understood. He hugged me as tight as he could until I said it was too much.

He was always like this, always hugging me when I was down, whenever the slightest thing went wrong. Since I was a kid he was always my protector, the one person who I cherished and could rely on. My family has never been a big part of my life, rather my siblings. They always cared more for my siblings than they have me, always bragging about them, but never me. Ever since I was a kid my siblings out did me on almost everything, there was little I excelled at that they failed at. But no matter what, Kyle always stayed by my side. His parents are treat me as if I'm theirs, and I enjoy it. I like being around them, it makes me feel secure, as well as with him. Being around him has always made me feel safe and comforted.

I hugged him just as tight, feeling my heart warm. I always loved hugging him.

The warning bell rang. I pulled back from the hug and smiled at seeing everybody scurry off so they wont be late to class. Then again, I should be one of those people.

I quickly walked to my class and waved back to Kyle.

I was able to manage being on time by only a second. I hurried to my seat, feeling the teacher and everybody else glare at me. This class was the one I hated most, nobody liked me at all and I had no friends in here. Of course, History class would be the one I have nobody to talk to. The most boring of them all and the fact that there's nobody to talk to truly does not help the situation.

I sighed and put my bag on the ground next to me and put my head on the desk. I wanted so badly to close my eyes, but the teacher was mad enough that I was, yet again, almost late. The last thing I needed was to give him one more reason to give me extra work in hopes I'd pay more attention. However, seeing that I hate history class and feel it's the worst class of all, I highly doubt ill ever be interested in it.

I sighed and stared at the clock, wishing the hour hand would move quicker. The second hand mocked me, going as slow as a snail. I took out my History book and folder, then looked at the board to see what page to turn to.

Though today, there was nothing on the board. Normally there is a page to turn to and an assignment that is to be done. Does that mean there's nothing to do today? Ha, I wish, I thought to myself. It'll be a cold day in hell when we have nothing to do in this class.

I hesitantly raised my hand.

He looked up from his desk full of paperwork and scattered items such as keys, his phone, and some book I couldn't read the title of. He glared at me but nodded, as to acknowledge me.

"Where's the assignment? I mean, there's nothing written on the board."

He cleared his throat. "Well, maybe if you were here earlier you would have known," He said to me. "Will anybody be so kind as to give her the piece of paper I handed out?" he looked around the classroom and only one person volunteered.

Oh crap. You have got to be kidding me, right? I thought to myself. Of all people, why her? She hates my guts, yet she volunteered to help? What does she have up that filthy sleeve of hers?

I watched as she walked over to me, in disgust. She had an evil grin on her face that she tried to pass off as a friendly smile.

"Hey girlie," she said, sounding like we're the best of friends.

I feigned a smile the best I could.

"Uh, hi Rose."

Rose Amoretti, one of the most stuck up people I know. As well as one of the most popular girls in this damned school. She ruled over the guys and could have anybody in the school If she really wanted. All the guys loved her because of her beautiful strawberry blonde hair that flows down her shoulders like a stream and stunning mint green eyes. The girls loved her because she threw the best parties and being around her could make you popular in heartbeat. If you rejected her, everybody rejected you. That's how it is around here and it's annoying as hell. That's why my friends and I are called "rejects." She wanted to talk to us, but we saw through her and ignored her.

She handed me the sheet of paper in a friendly way and smiled, which for her, was quite unusual, well with me anyway. Normally she would give me a nasty look followed by a comment-in which she thinks actually affects me-or just a plain old glare and "accidentally" bumping into me.

"Thanks," I muttered and looked at the paper. It was a project, oh joy. And what's worse, is that we have to have a partner. I could only hope there was nobody left and I would have to do it by myself, the way I normally would. The project was to choose an era listed. The options were: Elizabethan Era, Mesozoic Era, Feudal Era, Shogunate Era, and the Prohibition Era. Of course, boring eras.

"So I was thinking the Feudal Era. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good." It sounds like the better of the choices, and most interesting, I guess.

"Okay, then we shall start working on this tomorrow, partner."

Okay, her attitude towards me is completely confusing me here. I wonder if she had a drink or two before she came to school.

I watched her go back to her seat to see if she was just in a weird mood or if she was going to gossip or whatever to her friends. And sure enough, I saw her talking to her friends, giggling, then looking back at me on occasion.

Oh, like that's not obvious you pack of dimwits, I thought to myself. I cant wait to be out of high school and be done with this crap.

I opened my book up to the Feudal Era, took out a sheet of notebook paper and began taking notes. I got so consumed in the reading I completely lost track of time. What I though was only a few minutes was actually an hour. By that time I had taken two pages of notes, front and back. I was proud of myself.

I put my folder and book back in my book bag and slung it over my shoulder. I wasn't as anxious to leave this class as I was last class, obviously. I patiently waited for the bell but then started thinking, I really don't want to go to my next class. English class with one of the moodiest teachers alive.

I wanted to skip class next hour but I know I'd be screwed if I did.

So when the bell finally rang, I reluctantly walked to the English building. The house-sized building was made from red bricks and had black doors, typical doors that they use in every school. I walked up the hill leading towards it and entered the room, which I noticed was unusually packed. Normally the room was empty of everybody except me until the warning bell rang. I wondered what was with this picture, but shrugged it off instead.

Taking my seat, I dropped my bag next to me and just sat there watching some people. It was boring but it was the most entertaining thing in this room that I could watch.

I noticed people giggling like morons about the stupidest things or when a friend tells them somebody likes them. Even if they have boyfriends right next to them, they giggle and get all giddy. I admit, its nice, the feeling knowing that people like you but some people will date the person just for that, showing how desperate they are. They turned out to be more boring to watch than looking at their shoes.

The warning bell rang, stopping all conversations that were going on. People began to sit in whatever seat they wanted to-that's the only thing I like about this teacher, she lets us choose-and as usual most people avoided sitting next to me. That was, until Kyle came in the classroom. He was the one thing that made this class fun. His hair was rustled, meaning some of his girl friends have been playing with him and his hair again. His friends, for some reason, love his hair and constantly play with it. I consider them the "weird bunch."

He took the seat next to me and smiled.

"How was your last class?" he asked in a pleasant voice.

"Boring kind of. And weird. You know how Rose Amoretti is always a bitch to us?" I whispered to him, knowing if anybody else heard me call her a bitch I'd be screwed for life.

He nodded.

"Well, today she was nice to me, sorta. After she was done 'helping' me she went back to her friends and began talking about me"

"How do you know they were talking about you?" he asked, slightly tilting his head to the side. Kyle is one of the more optimistic people who would rather see good than bad in people. However, in some cases, there is no good to see.

"Simple. She was whispering than her and her groupies kept looking back at me and giggling," I said. I swear, her and her friends are so childish and I so hope they didn't think I didn't know what the giggling and crap meant, if they did they are the biggest morons I have ever met.

"Wow...are they really still at that level?"

"Yep, does it really surprise you?"

"Honestly, no it doesn't. They really need to grow up and get a life."

We sighed in unison.

The door opened just as the late bell rang and I couldn't help but giggle a little. I was that person last hour.

I looked at the door and saw him.

"Oh, bloody hell...You have got to be kidding me." I mumbled to myself.

Damn it all. Why did he have to be in this class?