First, I want to say thanks to Tytonic for choosing me to continue this story. I've been writing for a while, but I've never posted anything up. Anyways, I hope you guys like the rest of this story. I'll do the best I can with it. I'll let Tytonic continue with the questions, because the whole thing is hilarious to me. He asks, but he doesn't know either.

Please keep in mind that this is an AU, and so it's hard to keep these people in character all the time. But like I said, I'll try. And, I'm trying to make them seem more like real high school kids. I'll be incorporating a lot of things from High School, so hopefully you recognize, remember, or look forward to some of these things. Hope you enjoy the chapter. These first few will be uneventful, but they're necessary. Thanks to everyone!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of The Underland Chronicles, only the characters I make up and the plot itself.

Regalia High

Chapter 6: Holding Grudges

The reason why he felt so bad, why this whole situation made him uneasy, was because deep down, he had hoped they could get to know each other.

There was just something about her.

-O-

The third day of school was much like the second. Gregor spent his class time being bored and a bit annoyed. The things they were learning weren't all too interesting.

In Mrs. Miravet's class, he was learning about parabolas. When would he ever use that in real life? Who cared about lines and turns and coordinate planes? It seemed pointless to him, but he did his work anyway. The sooner he got it over with, the better.

In history with Ms. Solovet, he was learning about World War II. This was a little more interesting to him, but only a little. The thought of war was somehow appealing to him, though he didn't know why, since he hated fighting. He decided that the reason he liked that topic so much was because it caused him to daydream.

For some reason, Gregor liked to think that in a different life, in a different world, he could be a mighty soldier that went on journeys and battled horrible creatures to save a city or a kingdom. But of course, that was impossible.

Silly him.

The daydreams were always strange, but he welcomed anything at the moment. Gregor was desperate to think of anything besides the day before with Luxa. He had gone home after detention thinking about what he had told her. Maybe he had been a little mean, but all he had done was tell her the truth. It's not like he tripped her in front of a cafeteria full of people and covered her in her lunch.

But no matter how much he wanted to think she deserved it, he felt bad. Aurora had told Luxa to say sorry, but there was no one to push him to apologize. Gregor had been angry that Luxa needed to be convinced, yet he didn't want to say sorry. If he hadn't meant the words he had said, he would definitely say sorry without having to be told. But he didn't want to say sorry. He felt bad, but Luxa was cruel, and besides, she wasn't his friend.

Yes, the third day was very similar to the second. Especially with the fact that Luxa ignored him.

Today, he didn't mind. He tried to go on with his day like she wasn't there. In the classes where his friends surrounded her, she just kept her head down. She didn't say anything, or even look up from her desk. Gregor's friends obviously didn't talk to her either, and she spent the class period in total silence.

In the class where he was the one in enemy territory, he did the same thing she did. He kept his head down and never spoke. He noticed that Luxa also pretended that he wasn't there.

Gregor was looking at the teacher when he noticed Aurora give him a quick glance. It wasn't a mean look. From what he could tell, she looked a bit uneasy. He remembered that Luxa said it was Aurora's idea for her to say sorry, and that Aurora wanted them to be friends. She was the only nice one from their group, and he felt kind of bad that she had to put up with the rest of them. Why did she even hang out with them?

Gregor would have been fine with the idea of staying away from Luxa permanently. However, whenever he accidentally caught himself looking at her, though he tried not to, he noticed that she wasn't her usual self. She looked...sad? He was sure that was it. A certain light was missing from her eyes. Was she sad because of what had happened the day before?

Maybe Luxa was sad that she wouldn't get to be friends with him. Maybe she was a little bit miserable. Maybe she wanted to talk to him just as much as he wanted to talk to her.

Gregor didn't know why, but the thought of Luxa wanting him made him smile.

-O-

The rest of the day went by slowly. It went especially slow because Lizzie was no longer in all of his classes. There had been a few schedule changes for some students, and Lizzie had been moved. It had to do with fixing the problem of overcrowding, and some of the more empty classes got more students so the huge classes could get smaller. She had the same classes, but they were in a different order.

The phone calls from Gregor's mother had not been enough to change them, and Lizzie was forced to accept the new schedule. Gregor was a bit upset that he wouldn't have her around, but he didn't mind it too much. At least she could still help him with his homework.

At the end of the day, Gregor was putting his things in his locker when he realized he didn't have detention that day. He would finally be able to go to track practice. Grabbing his backpack, he quickly made his way over to the gym.

He made a face as he walked into the locker room. The smell of that place was something he would never get used to. It always smelled like a mixture between sweat and something else he didn't know. Gregor decided he never wanted to find out.

When he was all changed out, he jogged over to the track and found Ripred yelling at a few freshmen. He couldn't help but smile as he remembered how he met Ripred. Gregor had been outrunning the seniors, and Ripred finally challenged him. Even though Gregor lost the race against him and had to run four extra laps after practice, the coach had taken a certain liking to him, and Gregor liked him as well.

"Hurry up, Baby Flash! Why are you late? Do you need a nap and a bottle of milk?"

Well, most of the time.

Ripred was yelling at him from the other side of the track. Gregor hurried over and began stretching. He quickly explained why he had missed practice the first two days. That earned a response from the coach about how his athletes weren't troublemakers and that if he wanted to stay on the team, he had to straighten up his act. Gregor nodded, but he was ordered to run extra laps anyway.

He didn't mind running the extra laps. Instead of pacing himself, however, he pushed his body harder and harder until he felt like his lungs were going to burst. When Gregor's legs felt like they would fall off, he stopped running and realized he had been thinking about Luxa.

Again.

Now, Gregor was seriously mad. Why couldn't he get that girl out of his head?

Apparently, his distraction was noticeable by the way he ran, because soon, he had Ripred yelling at him from a distance. This made him slightly angrier, since Luxa was the reason he was messing up on the only thing he loved doing.

Frustrated and annoyed, Gregor got through practice as best he could. As soon as it was over, he jogged home and collapsed on his bed, completely exhausted both physically and mentally. He hoped emotionally wasn't a factor as well.

-O-

The next day, Gregor woke up extra early. He had gone to bed early, and his stomach was growling as if he hadn't eaten in days. Besides, he didn't want a detention from Ms. Solovet for not doing his homework.

At school, Luxa and Gregor continued their ignoring game. Acting like the other didn't exist, they went about their day grimly. The day before, he thought he had imagined it, but now, it was clear to him. Luxa was upset, and she didn't seem as lively with her group of friends as she always was.

After lunch, Gregor asked to go to the bathroom during class, which earned him a disapproving look from the teacher. He knew he wasn't supposed to go during class, especially when lunch had just passed. But he couldn't hold it. The teacher gave him a slight nod, and Gregor rushed off to the bathroom.

Even after he was done, Gregor took his time washing his hands. He really didn't want to go back to class. Today, it was boring lecture day. Not that he had any exciting lecture days.

As he was walking back to class, he saw Aurora down the hall coming towards him with a little pink slip. Probably a pass. He realized it was the best time to talk to her without the awkward presence of Luxa or Ares, so he greeted her as she got closer.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," she replied, grinning a smile with perfect white teeth. She had a beautiful smile. But it didn't compare to Luxa's…

Gregor pulled himself together. "I know we don't really know each other, but I was actually hoping to talk to you." He hoped that didn't sound too creepy.

Aurora tilted her head slightly. "Oh? About what? Please tell me you'll take your time telling me. I don't want to go back to class."

"You have a pass. Just walk around, but look like you're going somewhere."

She laughed slightly. "I guess I can walk around. Anywhere except near the office. I just came from there. I moved a few months ago and I forgot to change my address." She looked down at his hands and noticed he didn't have a pass. "Where are you coming from?"

Gregor didn't want to tell Aurora that he had just come back from peeing. For some reason, he thought it was kind of weird. Instead, he thought of something else.

"I took the attendance sheet to the office."

She gave him another smile and raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that done over the computer?"

"We have a sub," said Gregor, not skipping a beat.

"On the first week of school?"

"I can't decide who gets sick or not."

Aurora crossed her arms. "Why didn't I see you at the office?"

He swallowed nervously. "I took the long way around. I don't want to be in class either." They both laughed, and Gregor could tell she hadn't believed a word he said, but she didn't push on. "Anyways," he continued, "I wanted to thank you for what you did. Luxa told me you convinced her to say sorry. You really didn't need to tell her anything."

"Yes, I did. It was mean what she did. Especially after the detention."

That got his attention. "Wait, she told you about that?"

Aurora nodded slowly. "She told me many things. And if you two were starting to become friends, then what she was did was horrible."

Gregor wondered about what Luxa had told Aurora. Good things? Bad things? If they were bad, Aurora wouldn't repeat them. He couldn't believe how nice Aurora was. She was like Luxa without Henry. She was easy to talk to, and her words always sounded sincere.

"Why do you hang out with them, if they're so mean?" he asked her.

She sighed. "They were not always like that. They have changed so much since I first met them. I stay because I know Henry and Luxa were different, and I always hope to see them go back to their old selves. Of course, that means I would have to solve all of their problems. They worry about a lot."

Hearing the words from Aurora made Gregor reflect on how he acted with Luxa. He couldn't help but feel a bit bad. Who knew what had happened in Luxa's life that made her change? He sure didn't, so he decided he would try not to judge her too harshly.

"Her apology didn't really fix things. but thanks anyway. It was really nice of you."

Aurora was about to answer when the bell rang, causing kids to burst out of the classrooms. Aurora turned to leave, but then turned back to him. "You're welcome," she said.

Gregor gave her an awkward wave and began to walk back to class. He needed to get the things he had left on his desk. Before he reached the end of the hall, he noticed that Ares was leaning up against a locker, staring at him.

He wondered for a bit why Ares would have an interest in him, and then it dawned on him. Ares had seen him talk to Aurora. Gregor didn't need rumors to know that Ares had a thing for Aurora, and he hoped the tall teenager hadn't misinterpreted what had just happened.

But what if he had? Would Ares come looking for him later? Just looking into his dark eyes convinced Gregor that he never wanted to be on Ares' bad side. He hoped nothing bad came from this.

Judging by the luck he had so far, though, Gregor gave up on that idea completely.

Well, Gregor's unintentionally screwing himself over. I don't know why, but I don't see Ares as an 'understanding' type of guy. Only a few day's into school, and Gregor is already having this much trouble. Imagine the rest of the year like this; it would suck for him. Now, I would tell you who got the question right, but I have no clue myself. I know this story is just picking back up, but I'm going on vacation soon, and it might slow down a bit, though I will try to keep on posting. So, as usual all feedback is encouraged and appreciated, so give any and all ideas! See you guys later!

Question: How will Ares interpret what he saw between Gregor and Aurora? I have no clue, but I would guess he doesn't take it very well.

Until next time,

-Tytonic