I RETURN!!!

Ahh!! Transformers 2 is so cool... -sigh- XD So much action!! -hugs the movie and smiles-

Anyways, back to the story~~

I'm probably not going to update until next Sunday, but that doesn't mean you can't leave reviews. =)

-Chapter Six-

"As you can see, the formula for cosine is..."

I yawned, and rested my head on my hands. Math was just too easy and extremely boring – why did I even take it up again? Oh right. Two words: My mom.

Something hit the back of my head, and I jerked upright, snatching the wad up ball of paper that had been thrown by some idiot who was really testing my patience. This wasn't the first time.

I tossed the ball away, and heard a slight snarl of frustration. A smile touched my lips, and I took out my exercise book to copy down the equation we were supposed to be doing now. Another ball flew past my shoulder, and I whipped my neck around, maybe a little too fast.

Hmm. Who knew that I was in Bradley's class?

He looked irritated as he motioned for me to open the note, and I grimaced at him before turning back around to do so. When I did, my eyelid twitched. Vanny once said that Bradley's handwriting was like spiders who had dipped their feet in ink doing the waltz. At the time, I thought she had been exaggeration, but now I could see why.

I bit down on my lip, hard, and read the note.

Where's your sister?

God he was obsessed. After scribbling my reply, I turned around – Mr Banner was busy scratching more equations on the board, and he never usually cared what we did unless we hit him with chalk, which happened last year with the graduating class – and tossed it back to him. The paper ball hit him in the forehead.

Bulls-eye.

He read the reply (She's sick at home. Will be back tomorrow) and scribbled something else before throwing it at me again. I snatched it out of the air before it hit me in the eye. That was a close call.

This time, I deciphered his writing to say, Can I talk to you? Lunchtime, behind the school.

I looked sideways, and nodded once to show my approval. He looked relieved, but I couldn't see properly. My eyebrows knitted together. If he was going to dump Vanille... oh boy, I can't even explain what I would do to him then.

Turning back to the front, a random thought occurred to me.

Hey, the back of Mr Banner's head looks like a football.

--

The bell rang, and students swarmed the hallways, heading for the cafeteria. I hung back until the line wasn't so long before stepping behind the last guy. Lebreau joined me a second later, and said that she would be eating outside. I shrugged; I didn't really care. As you can see, I was more or less the loner of the school.

I liked it better that way.

I took my ham-and-cheese sandwich from the lunch lady and walked away to pay for it, along with a purple Borba (four bucks a bottle and you'd think they'd add a bit more kick*) and an apple. The sandwich I took for Snow, whose stomach I swear to be a black hole. Nothing filled him up. If he were at an all-you-can-eat buffet, he would finish everything and still be hungry, I swear to God. But it was a good thing – for one, a recyclable rubbish bin that moves when you ask it to.

I handed the wrapped sandwich to Snow, grabbed the apple and the Borba, bit into the former, and headed away. I could see Bradley catching my eye, and standing as I headed for the entrance.

Bradley took my arm as he sped past me, and practically dragged me past the freshmen and in the alley behind the school. I dropped my apple somewhere in the process of being dragged along to the place.

There was someone else waiting there for me.

I balked, and tried to run away, but Bradley had a too-tight hold on me, and Noctis came out of the darkness to grip my shoulders and yank me so I had my back to the wall. Frightened, I tried to twist away and scream, but my throat had dried and my attempts were weak.

"Stay still," Noctis instructed me. Bradley left, and it was just me and Noctis, all alone in the darkness. The idea should have scared me, but instead, I felt a thrill run down my spine as he drew his face nearer to mine. I could feel his breath on my lips.

"What do you want?" I asked in a futile attempt to distract him as I twisted, but – damn he's strong – he shoved me harder against the wall. I winced as the brick cut into my back.

"Sorry," he said, loosening slightly, but not enough for me to manage to get away. "I just... I... well, I need your answer, Lightning."

"Fierce," I muttered, still twisting in his grip. My efforts were wasted as he stepped slightly closer, disabling any chance I had of escape.

"Funny," he replied, no amusement in his eyes as he watched my attempts. "Will you answer me now? I've given you a day to think your answers already." Was it my imagination, or did he sound weary?

"No."

"Will you ever answer me?" he asked, looking exasperated.

I shook my head.

"Do you want me to force the answers out of you?"

Again with the no-shake.

"Did you run away because you didn't like me?"

I was about to shake my head when I stopped and bit my lip. He smiled a little triumphantly, and stepped closer to me so that our bodies were pressed against each other. He ducked his head down and smiled at me.

I swallowed.

"So you do like me?"

Don't say yes, don't say yes, don't say yes...

His eyes widened, and a small grin escaped his lips as my head ducked slightly. He moved his face closer to mine until our foreheads were resting against one another.

"I didn't say yes!" I snapped at him.

"Oh didn't you?"

I nodded.

He laughed, and ran a finger down the length of my face. I shivered, and instinctively tried to back away, but he merely kissed the side of my mouth and closed his eyes with a sigh that caused all my senses to shut down.

"Oh shit." He caught me as I slid down the wall, and set me upright. I swayed. "Are you all right?" he asked me softly.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked him, looking at him. "I don't understand. What do you want to do with me? What was with the note you sent? And don't you care at all about your status here? If you hang around me, I guarantee your immediate decline in position. Besides, there're so many other girls here who'd willingly give their right arm to be with you. Or even their hair, for that matter," I added as an afterthought. He laughed.

"It's because you're different from everyone I've ever known," Noctis said to me, and his amber eyes glowed. "You're beautiful but not shallow, you're interesting and you don't care about your looks, you never give up, you're quiet and mysterious... you intrigue me. I just want to know you better, find the person behind the 'freak of the school'. I know you're in there somewhere... Also, you like Breaking Benjamin." He gave me the perfect, alluring smirk that had the entire female population falling at his feet and licking his Nikes clean. (I glanced down involuntarily, and – surprise, surprise – he was wearing his black Nikes)

I gawked at him.

He grinned. "I saw your CDs."

I blinked quickly, unable to comprehend.

"Are you all right? You're turning white."

I shook my head, fending him off as he came closer. "I'm fine!" I squeaked, and whirled and ran away.

Again.

Only this time, consciousness seeped from my fingers the moment I stumbled into sunlight. I could hear some people calling my name as the world swirled around me and I fell gladly into darkness. The last thing I remembered thinking was, I hope the concrete won't leave a bruise.

Then, I blacked out.

*Quoted directly from Jason Freeman, Vampire Beach: Bloodlust

I just loved that quote! For some reason I found it damn funny... XD But that's probably just me, hmm?

So... reviews will be much appreciated! -hugs reviews-

I'm high...

STUPID CHOCOLATE BROWNIE!!!

-goes to emo corner and curls into ball-