Disclaimer: Do not own! :)

A/N: Please please please R & R! I live for 'em! xx, Holly

CHAPTER TWO: NATALIE

"Hey Owen, you know what's the difference between my friend, Adam, and real guy," sneered Fitz, shoving me hard towards his friend. Owen guffawed and caught me by the shoulders.

"What is that, Fitz?" he asked in a loud, forced voice which made him sound like a horrible actor reading his lines. He shoved me back towards Fitz who wasted no time.

"Everything," he said, this time he pushed me headfirst into my locker. My body sickening noise as it collided with my locker. I flipped over quickly and glanced down both sides of the hall for somebody, anybody coming or going. My heart sank when I realized that it was empty except for Fitz, Owen and me—I wasn't stupid enough to try to take both of them on in a fist fight but I had to do something.

"Oh that's cute, guys. Real clever," I said through gritted teeth, massaging my jaw. "How long did it take you to rehearse that?"

"Hey, shut up, tranny," said Owen, pointing a big, dumb finger at me.

"Tranny, really?" I spat, glaring at them. "Very original." I could be wrong but I thought I heard Fitz actually growl. He was staring daggers at me, anyway but I didn't care, I was staring them right back.

To be honest, I know probably should have stop there but I thought I was on a role. "No…Really," I continued, putting my hands earnest and screwing my face up in the most angelic expression I could muster, "I've never, ever heard that one before".

"That's it," snapped Fitz, and both of them lunged at me. Owen grabbed my shoulders while Fitz wrestled with my feet. Of course, they overpowered me and, hoisting me up, swung me up into the air once and let me fly.

Somewhere between the time I was in the air and the time I hit the lockers on the other side of the hall, I felt my beanie soar off my head but I was hardly thinking about that. Before I knew it, I was in a crumpled heap on the floor, fighting back the flow of tears that naturally came when you're whole body was throbbing with pain.

Then suddenly, as if through a foggy cloud, I heard another voice called "Hey!"

"Oh crap," said Fitz.

"If we get another strike for messing with the girl-dude, we'll get expelled," hissed Owen. "My mom says if I get expelled, she'll ship me off to military school".

"Run!" snapped Fitz and, though my neck was too sore to look up, I heard them take off. As their footsteps faded, another set grew louder.

"Oh my god," someone gasped. It was a girl's voice. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I grumbled. My eyes still shut with tears, I hoisted myself up to a sitting position leaning against the lockers—A little more dignified than the fetal position, if you ask me. There was silence for a bit, while I pulled myself together.

Even though my eyes were closed, I knew she was there—I could feel her. I was grateful that she didn't say anything. When the pain faded and was finally replaced by the numb-shocked feeling and the tears were gone, I managed to look up into the face of the girl who had saved me, for all intents and purposes.

Now, let's not get ahead of ourselves now…I'm not going to say something cheesy like 'there were angels singing' and a 'godly glow around her beautiful face'…That stuff gives me the runs.

But, I will say this; she was pretty—Really pretty even. She had a delicate face and pale, smooth looking skin. Her dark, red hair fell perfectly tousled around her shoulders curling at the ends and she looks down at me though thick, black lashes that framed brilliant, bright green eyes that rivaled Clare's.

"Are you okay to stand up?" she asked, holding out her arm for support. "I could go get someone…" she trailed off.

"Yeah, no. I'm fine," I muttered, taking her hand and accepting her help up. I straightened up slowly; reintroducing each of my vertebrae to the idea of being upright then proceeded to brush off some dust from my jeans.

"Thanks, I guess," I said, smiling hesitantly with one side of my mouth. I reached up and ruffled my hair absent-mindedly, which is when I realized I was missing my hat.

I looked around and by the time I spotted it, the red-headed girl was already doubled over, picking it up.

"Look for this?" she asked, returning my one-sided smile from before and holding out my beanie for me to take.

"Yeah," I said, chuckling nervously. This was sort of awkward. I saw her glanced nervously down at her black converse, so I could tell I wasn't the only one who thought so.

I was delighted to see that she was a bit shorter than me. I know that sounds stupid but, unlike "normal" guys, being…cough…in a girl's body…cough, it was hard for me to find girls that are shorter than me because, technically speaking, I'm an average height for girl but a little on the shorter side. Anyway, I really shouldn't be thinking about this stuff.

I snapped back to the present and saw the red-headed girl giving me a puzzled look.

"So?" she asked, as though she was waiting for me to say something.

"What?" I asked, defensively.

"I said 'do you need a ride home?' and you sort of started staring off into space," she said.

"Oh," I said, laughing nervously. "No, thanks". I made the mistake of looking directly into her eyes which, as weird as it sounds, made me forget myself a little bit.

"Hello?" she said, snapping her fingers in front of my face.

"Wha—What?" Great, now she thought I was a creep.

"You keep zoning out," she said, looking a little worried. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I insisted. "My head just hurts a bit" I reached to touch the back of my head and winced a little bit as I came in contact with a pretty sizeable bump.

"Maybe you have a concussion?" she suggested.

I shook my head, no and tried to hide the fact that it made me feel a little dizzy.

"How many finger am I holding up?" she asked, not convinced. I laughed.

"Three".

"Good. What year is this?"

"2010".

"What's you're name?"

"Adam", I smiled, I was starting to get amused.

"It's nice to meet you Adam, I'm Natalie", she said, returning my smile.