Sasha was dreading algebra, and when the class came, she found herself procrastinating in everything she did to elongate her time before having to enter the class. 'This is ridiculous,' she thought, 'He's just some guy. Plus he's NEW. What the heck are you worried about!?' But she knew exactly what she was worried about. That odd, wrong feeling she'd felt when she'd been with him before. And she didn't want to have to deal with that any more than she had to. She decided to ask if she could sign up for pre-algebra just to move up and get out of his class. In the meantime, however, she had to suck it up and make-do. Even though, she lingered outside the classroom door a few extra minutes. Then, after seeing him seated at the desk next to the one assigned as hers, she muttered a curse and looked up at her hair, sighing and pulling it out of the bun before pushing open the door of the classroom. "Ah, Miss Brooke, it's so nice of you to finally decide to join us." Her teacher's voice dripped with sarcasm and a few of the students stifled laughter. Sasha rolled her eyes, dropping her books onto her desk with a loud thud, just because she knew it annoyed her teacher. "Sorry, I was at the principal's." She said, which, in truth, was a total and complete lie. "Hmpf. Not surprising." Her teacher muttered as she turned back to the board to continue writing whatever she'd been explaining before. Sasha clenched her fists at her sides and muttered, opening her copybook and grabbing a pen. "If A equals 9 times the square root of 4, after deducing 5 to the third power, A equals what? Sasha?" Sasha, who had not been paying ANY attention to what the teacher had been explaining, –thank her ADHD, by the way—only began to pay attention when she heard her name called. "Uh...W?" She guessed, and the classroom burst into laughter. Well, everyone with the exceptions of her teacher and Nico. Sasha blushed and shrugged as her teacher glared at her. "Miss Brooke, see me after class." Sasha nodded, trying to look like it didn't matter, but inside she was freaking out. She was already on probation and had been suspended for 3 days before in just these past 2 months since school had started. Her mom would so kill her if she got herself into any more trouble. Nico turned to her, and his expression morphed into one of fear, but he masked it so quickly Sasha couldn't help but wonder if she'd imagined it to begin with. He slipped her a note while the teacher wasn't looking. 'Don't stay after class. I need to talk to you.' Confused, she wrote back to him. 'You can wait till she's done with talking to me, can't you? If I blow her off I'll just get into more trouble.' He ran a hand through his air as if Sasha was being difficult and scribbled down a response, passing her the note and turning back to taking notes. Sasha opened it and saw he'd responded saying, 'Ugh. Fien. Stay. But then I'm staying too.' Sasha figured that by 'fien' he had meant 'fine', but his dyslexia had messed him up. Appalled, her pen raced across the paper, forming the words, 'Uhm, no, you're not.' He read it and glared at her, then ripped it. She shot him a look that said 'I mean it. Back off.' And he slammed his palm against his forehead, glaring at her through his fingers. Finally he nodded. 'How dare he?!' Sasha thought. 'I don't even KNOW the dweeb!' She continued to sulk inside her own mind until the final bell. She waited as her classmates filed out anxiously, desperate to leave the godforsaken place known as 'school'. Nico was the last to leave. He lingered in the open doorway, glancing from Sasha to their teacher several times before finally shooting one last look at their teacher and leaving, closing the door behind him. She knew, though, that he hadn't really left and he was lingering right outside the doorway. 'Dude, what's your TRIP!?' She thought, rolling her eyes and turning to face her teacher. She raised an eyebrow when she caught a glimpse of her baring her teeth at the doorway. It looked pretty funny, since the teacher's face was all wrinkled and shriveled like a dried plum, and her teeth were a nasty yellow, which did not at all give off the 'fear factor' she figured the teacher had been going for. turned to look at her then and glared. She turned back to the doorway quickly then back to Sasha, and made something like a hissing noise. "Forget it." She mumbled, which Sasha took as a dismissal. Totally and completely confused, Sasha shook her head and walked out of the classroom. "What'd she say?" Sasha jumped. Nico's voice had come from right behind her, and when she turned around, he was standing a mere couple of inches away from her, although she could have sworn he hadn't been behind her just a moment before. She shrugged. "Nothing. I think she was aggravated you were out here." Nico shrugged. "She should have been. Don't stay with alone Sasha, alright?" Sasha raised an eyebrow. "Why not? She's just a teacher." Nico laughed. "You'd be surprised." Emerging onto the front steps of the school, the first thing in her sights was the black sequoia her driver picked her and her brother in. The passenger door opened and Ryan got out, walking towards them. Nico nodded to him. "Hey Ryan." He greeted him, and Ryan shot the other boy a disgusted look. "I didn't know you met my brother," Sasha said to Nico, completely feeling out of the loop. "I didn't know he'd met you either, Sasha." Ryan said, glaring at Nico. He turned to Sasha. "Come on. Let's go." He said, grabbing his sister's hand and hauling her down the steps. "Ryan—Ryan! Let go of my wrist! Dear God, you're HURTING me!" She pulled her hand back and glared at Ryan. They were now out of earshot; Nico was too far away to hear whatever they said. "What gives?!" She demanded, turning to see if she'd spoken too loud and Nico actually COULD hear them, but he was gone. "Look, Nico's new, and he seems cool and all, but he's got a bad reputation, alright? Stay away from him." Sasha stared incredulously at her brother. "And since when do you order me around?" She asked, and he glared at her. "Just listen to me, alright?" He said, and Sasha raised an eyebrow. "No. I can do whatever I want, especially since I'm older than you. You don't have any right to boss me around." Ryan sneered. "Sasha, you're so stupid. You're only 2 minutes older than me, first, and second, I know what I'm talking about, alright? God." He turned away from her and hopped into the passenger seat. Throwing her hands up in exasperation, Sasha opened the door to the back seats and hopped in.
The ride home was pretty boring. Sasha's brother had put in his ear buds and was completely absorbed in his own little world. Their driver was no fun; he never uttered a word. Sasha didn't even know what his name was. He had a tuft of blonde hair atop his head, which, in retrospect, looked like the fakest toupee Sasha had ever seen. He had pale blue eyes, and he always seemed to be looking at Sasha oddly. Sasha, feeling extremely uncomfortable, stared out the window and watched the New York scenery pass by. Soon they a pulled in to their familiar neighborhood and down the long narrow street leading to their house. Their family lived in one of the high-end neighborhoods of New York, and usually Sasha found it to be oddly deserted. She shouldered her backpack and took out her house key, slipping it into the familiar lock on the front door and shouldering the wooden door open. The house was the same spotless, picture-perfect home it always was. A perfectly arranged bookshelf, white couches with pillows placed delicately into their proper positions, gleaming clean tiled and wood floors, a fireplace, and a sleek stairway leading to the higher two floors of the house. Off to the right, just next to the stairway, veered the long hallway decorated with multiple different paintings and such, leading to the kitchen, the bathroom, and the other parts of the house. Sasha dropped her backpack off by the front door and made her way to the den, plopping down onto the plush couch and switching on the TV.
The rest of Friday was pretty boring. The next morning Sasha was supposed to meet Andrea for brunch, so Sasha woke up earlier than she usually did on Saturdays. She picked her favorite pair of casual, faded, light blue skinny jeans and a turquoise top with butterfly sleeves. She yanked her brush through her hair then delicately did it into a French braid. Slipping on her black high tops she grabbed her phone and wallet, making her way to the door. She'd told their driver yesterday that she needed him to be at the house at 8:30, and he'd nodded, which she'd assumed meant he had understood. She slipped out of the house, locking the door behind her and making her way down the steps to the familiar black sequoia. She hopped into the passenger seat and told the driver the name of the restaurant, and soon they were peeling out of the driveway and were caught in the jumble of morning traffic in New York. Watching the scenery pass by through her open widow, she caught the scent of fresh-baked bread as they drove past a patisserie, which did nothing but make her stomach rumble with longing. Soon they were speeding up Houston until the driver pulled over at a little bistro down a side street. She thanked the driver as she got out of the car and told him she'd call him 30 minutes before she wanted to leave, and he nodded before driving away. She walked up to the little bistro and noticed it looked shockingly similar to a little house. The steps at the entrance led up to a little patio with three tables for people to sit and eat, and as Sasha walked in one of those little door chimes sounded. An elder woman came forward. She was dressed in a flower-print dress with knee high socks and black school girl shoes. Her white hair was pulled up into a loosely done bun, with a chopstick stuck thorough it. In other words, her outfit matched perfectly to her little shop. The walls of the little coffee-shop were painted a pale pink, faded slightly with age. All the tables in the room were decorated with a white table cloth and a vase of bright pink flowers. The wall on the far end of the room was decorated with an old looking bookshelf that was hastily arranged with the books shoved in. The wall directly to her right had a little cabinet fillet with china and glasses. "Hello dear. How may I help you?" The woman asked, and Sasha smiled. "Hi, yes. My friend made reservations under Andrea Richards?" The woman nodded knowingly. "Ah yes, she arrived just a few minutes before you. Right this way." The old woman led her up some old wooden stairs to the second floor, which was much more modernized than the first floor. The walls were all glass, and on a dark day like this one, the natural light gave an unusually unnatural, distorted effect. The tables were arranged all across the room, and some of the tables had red plush couches as seats as opposed to dark redwood chairs. The whole place smelled like coffee and fresh baked muffins, and Sasha's stomach contracted. She found Andrea seated at one of the couches, overlooking the street below through the window and sipping at coffee in a mug. When she saw Sasha, she smiled and moved to make room for her on the couch. Sasha took her seat next to her and ordered a vanilla cappuccino and a raspberry muffin. "Sasha you look like you were caught in a stampede of elephants." Andrea commented, and Sasha rolled her eyes. "Thanks. I feel extremely better now." Sasha said, taking a piece of her friend's cheese croissant and popping it into her mouth. The cheese was still gooey, and the warm bread melted in her mouth. "Sash, what HAPPENED to you?" She asked, and Sasha shrugged, turning to gaze out the window. "I didn't sleep." She answered simply. "At all?" Sasha shook her head, turning to look back at her best friend. She had her hair done up into a high ponytail and was wearing pale pink lipgloss. He thick dark lashes framed her eyes beautifully and Sasha felt a twinge of envy. Her eyelashes never looked like that, instead she had thin lashes that, if they weren't so dark, you wouldn't even know were there. Andrea was wearing a purple cold shoulder long sleeve shirt and white boot-cut jeans, with gray ballerinas. Andrea may be a nightmare to play volleyball or soccer, or even tennis against, but you could never tell if you hadn't actually seen her play. Her figure was so petite and feminine, if you looked at her you would believe that if she even tried to play sports she'd get crushed like a bug. The old woman returned with Sasha's coffee and muffin and Sasha took a sip at her drink, recoiling as it burnt her tongue. She set it back down to let it cool off and went for the muffin. It was gooey and warm, as the croissant had been, and soon Sasha had finished it. Throughout this time, she and Andrea had been talking about what had happened in different classes or how hard the biology test was or things like that, until Andrea brought up Nico. "So what's up with you and Mr. Mystery?" She asked curiously, and Sasha nearly spit out the coffee she was drinking, which would have been a shame, because it was really good coffee. "What?!" Sasha asked, her voice maybe a bit too loud, but thankfully, there was no one there but the two of them. "Well, yeah. Mikeal told me that he saw you two after school walking out of the building together, then Ryan like jumped into the picture and pulled you away, and you were all upset." Sasha rolled her eyes. Just like his girlfriend, Mikeal was a major gossip. No wonder they were so good together. "No, that's not what happened. We were both told to stay in after class to talk to , and we both came out of the school a little later. Ryan was pissed because he had basketball practice and I was making him late and I was annoyed because Ryan is a pain in the ass." Sasha explained, only telling a slight lie. Nico hadn't been asked to stay after class, and, in fact, the teacher had specifically told him to go. But Andrea didn't need to know that. "Oh, well how was Algebra with him? Is he not as cute as I told you he is?" Andrea asked, rapidly switching to another topic. "Uh...He's all right, but he's not 'my type' like you claimed. To be honest, I'm still not too sure I even have a type." She said, shrugging. No, it wasn't that she didn't trust Andrea. It was just that she had no intentions of seeming odd because Nico made her feel uncomfortable. She knew what Andrea would tell her: 'Since when does Sasha Pallas Brooke feel uncomfortable around boys? Around anyone, for that matter?' And she would be right; Sasha had never been nervous around people before, but there was something about Nico that just made her skin crawl and gave her goosebumps. Based on her expression, Andrea didn't find Sasha's answer satisfactory. "Sure you like him, you're just not sure if he likes you back." She stated, and Sasha rolled her eyes. "Andrea-" "Nope. I've known you since you were two. That's fourteen years. I ought to know what kind of guys you're into." Sasha smiled and shook her head. "Whatever." They sat in silence for a few minutes, staring out the window, when they heard the ding of the bell at the front door. "That's odd," Andrea said, "Did you see anyone coming towards the restaurant?" Sasha shook her head. "No, I didnt." Moments later Nico was walking up the stairs, and when he caught sight of Andrea and Sasha began to walk towards them. "Hey...Andrea, right?" He asked, and Andrea nodded. "Yeah, hey. Actually, I think I should go call Mikeal, so I'll be right back." And with that Andrea left, totally ditching Sasha and leaving her alone with Nico, although she was undoubtedly listening from the stairs. Sasha made an irritated mental note that in order to call Mikeal, Andrea would have needed her phone, which she had carelessly left on the coffee table. Nico noticed it too and rolled his eyes, taking Andrea's seat. "You left these at school yesterday." He told her, handing her a set of black ear buds. "Thanks." She said, taking them gratefully. Nico nodded and turned to look out the window, giving Sasha a perfect view of his profile. His eyes framed by thick black lashes that seemed to cast long shadows across his eyes, his dark, pitch black eyes, so black Sasha couldn't even identify his pupil, His olive complexion that gave off the impression he was middle-eastern or European. His hair fell down so it slightly covered his eyes, but not entirely. He was wearing the same style clothes he had been wearing yesterday: Black aviator jacket, black shirt, dark black jeans, black converse. He was also wearing a silver skull ring around his middle finger, with two gleaming black stones as eyes. "How'd you not get in trouble?" She asked randomly. He turned to her, puzzeled. "In trouble for what?" "For not wearing the school uniform yesterday. The headmaster would KILL me if she saw me with even so much as the wrong colored socks." She said, and Nico smiled. "It was my first day, they didn't mind. But I'll be damned if I ever get caught in that gods forsaken uniform." He told her, and Sasha laughed. "It is pretty ugly." She agreed, and Nico, who had averted his gaze back to the window, turned once again to face her. "Not on everyone." Not knowing what he'd meant by that, she took a sip of her coffee, saving her from the expectation of saying anything in response. She prayed she wasn't blushing. "So how are you not going to get in trouble if you never wear the uniform?" She asked, putting her drink down, and Nico shrugged. "I don't really care if I get in trouble, I won't be here that long anyways." Sasha raised an eyebrow. "Why not?" Nico's eyes, gazing curiously at the stairway Andrea had 'exited' from, widened. "Uh...Because. My…. dad's job gets transferred a lot, so I usually don't stay in one place for more than a couple months." He said. "Oh. That must suck." Sasha said, and Nico shrugged. "Yeah, so, uh...why is your friend hiding behind that fern over there?" Sasha turned to gaze in Nico's direction and spotted Andrea, crouching behind the plant. At first she hadn't noticed her, but now that she knew she was there, it was easy to spot her. She laughed and turned back to Nico, shrugging. "So, can I ask you something?" She asked him, and Nico nodded. "How did you enter the bistro if we didn't even see you walk up to the door?" She questioned, sincerely curious to hear his answer. He shrugged, keeping his eyes locked on the window, where outside, Sasha could see, it had begun to drizzle slightly. "Looks can be deceiving. Are you sure you didn't see me?" He asked, and his tone immediately put her in a dazed mood, and she felt like she was drifting slowly in the air. Sasha blinked, confused for a moment, and something made her remember that no, she had seen Nico. Or had she? Suddenly she was extremely confused. Raising an eyebrow, she shook her head. "No, I'm sure I didn't see you." Nico turned to her, a look of grudging respect on his face. "Most people believe everything I say." He commented, and Sasha shrugged. "They must be pretty stupid then." He smirked and stood up, leaving a $20 bill on the table. "You think this'll cover what you and your friend ate?" He asked, and Sasha shook her head, handing him back his money. "We've got it. Thanks." He stared at her and raised an eyebrow, then shook his head, put the money back on the table, and made his way to the stairs. He waved to Andrea, crouching behind the fern, as he left, and then he was gone.