Now that you have met both main characters, hopefully you will start to see some plot develop in the minds of these two. Also, if I haven't yet mentioned it, this story's first two chapters were adopted from the other Partner in Crime on this account who goes by Roxy. She wrote it years ago and let me read over it and continue. Roxy is to thank for starting off with the beautiful language and beginning plot.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Homestuck. Too bad...

Chapter 3

"Class, we have a new student today. Why don't you stand up and tell us your name and something about yourself?" Aradia was used to this. She had moved a few times in her life, although never one this drastic. She stood up and cleared her throat.

"Hi. My name is Aradia Megido, and I was born in the states, but spent a lot of my life in Europe." She gave a small smile, then sat back down in her seat. The teacher smiled.

"Great. Nice to meet you Aradia. Feel free to come to me if you need help with anything. Okay class, turn to page 394. We will start reading The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allen Poe.

The teacher continued in her lecture and reading. Aradia didn't focus on much of it. She was still a bit red from her encounter with the boy on the bus. Sollux. Sollux Captor. That's such a nice name. His lisp was cute. I could listen to it for hours. It helps that he's handsome, not that looks matter at all. I do wonder what lies behind those glasses though. They seemed to be real, but then why would they be tinted? And why two different colors? And his hair, his hair looked so lovely. It was like a brownie with chocolate chips in it. A beautiful mixture of dark and slightly lighter brown that just made me want to run my fingers through it. I couldn't stop staring at his lips. They looked so soft and pink and I just want to- No. I shouldn't be thinking this. He seems like the type of guy to have a beautiful girlfriend. Besides, it's not like we are friends or anything. All he did was save me. He must do that a lot with different people, based on how he handled the situation. I shall never stand a chance with him. Aradia continued in her thoughts of the dark-haired boy for most of the class until the bell interrupted her. She started to collect her things when the teacher called her. Aradia hesitantly walked up. "Y-yes?"

"I noticed you were a bit spacey in class today. Are you alright? Is there anything wrong?" The teacher seemed friendly, and had a very motherly tone about her voice. Aradia felt like she was going to get on with this teacher quite nicely. She felt like she could trust her with all her problems simply by her composure and body language.

"No Ms. Maryam. I just have to get use to things here that's all." Porrim Maryam, or Ms. Maryam, as we were supposed to call her, was very pretty. She couldn't have been more than 25 years old. She was on the taller, skinnier side, but was femininely muscular. She had long, gorgeous caramel hair and bright green eyes. She has so much that Aradia could only hope to have. Natural beauty and grace.

Porrim squinted her eyes at Aradia for a moment, then finally spoke in a calming voice. "I'm not supposed to do this, but how about tomorrow after school you and I go grab some coffee and I can help you situate yourself into Westwood High. It's not an easy place to settle. Does that sound good?" Aradia couldn't help but smile at the friendly, almost motherly, offer.

"Sure, that sounds wonderful. I will come by tomorrow after school and we can walk to the café down the road." Porrim nodded, and Aradia collected her stuff and headed out the door to her next class. She scooted through the passageways of lockers and classrooms, wanting to go exploring through the school. But, there were more important matters at hand. She found her Calculus class and walked to a seat in the back of the room, sitting down and trying to go unnoticed. Of course, when you're the new kid, you can't do that easily. She started shuffling through her things in her bag when a pair of pretty large shoes appeared in front of her. She looked up, seeing the muscular teen from the previous night standing there. Looking at him up close for the first time, she noticed his arms were scratched up slightly on the outside of his biceps, but they all seemed to be scratches in groups of 3.

"Excuse me. I don't mean to bother you but, is this seat taken at all?" the black haired teen asked, motioning to the chair next to Aradia. He had a fairly deep voice and spoke rather formally for a high school student, Aradia noticed. Then again, so did she most of the time. The tall male cleared his throat, still waiting for a response.

"Oh. Sorry. Yes. I mean, no! No, it's not taken. Yes you may sit there." Aradia smiled a friendly smile. Her mom always told her that one could fix almost anything with a warm and sincere smile. The boy nodded and sat down.

"Thank you," He gave a feeble attempt at a smile and looked at Aradia. "I suppose formal introductions are in order. My name is Equius Zahhak. Pleased to make your acquaintance, although, I believe we have met before. Weren't you the girl who-" Aradia cut him off.

"Yes. That was me. I would rather you not say it too loud though. Not trying to be rude or anything, but I would like to avoid as much attention as possible," Aradia said, lowering her voice slightly. "But yes, you and your gang saved me last night. Thank you, by the way. I really appreciated it. My name is Aradia Megido." She flashed a small grin toward him before shifting back in her seat.

Equius looked as though he was deep in thought for a moment, then displayed a smile of mostly chipped teeth. "It was no problem. You really shouldn't thank me, as I did not do most of the saving. It was Sollux's idea to save you in the first place. He heard the struggling going on and couldn't help but jump in to save you." He looked as if he was going to say more, but the bell rang and the teacher walked in to begin class. Aradia stood up and gave her usual new student spiel then continued on with class.

Again, Aradia found herself lost in her own thoughts. Equius seems really nice, which I never thought I would say about someone in a gang. I thought gang members were all the delinquent, former criminal, flunk classes kind of bunch. I suppose because that's all they show on television. Anyway, by his stature I assumed he was at least 20, but I guess he is not much older than I am. That's good. I hope he is always this nice. It would be nice to befriend someone who has the ability to throw his weight around… literally. I wonder how well he knows Sollux. I should ask him. Or would that be too rude and invasive? I mean, I've practically just met the guy. All he did was save my life once, and I presume that was on orders. And his arms, weird that they are scratched in groups of three. Maybe he has a cat or something. Her thoughts were cut off by a paper being handed to her from the student in front of her. She took it and looked it over once. It appeared to be the homework due next class. Seemed pretty simple. She slipped it in her bag, and proceeded to stuff her notebook in as well. The bell rang, and she stood up. Equius called her name before she made it out the door, and he caught up to her, walking out with her.

"Thank you again for letting me sit there. Most people get rather intimidated by my size and refuse such simple matters. Well, I'm off to lunch. Are you heading in the same direction?" He asked, seeming rather hopeful.

Aradia felt quite bad for Equius. He seems like such a nice fellow. "No, sorry. My class is in another direction." She answered apologetically. They said their goodbyes and walked off.

Well, in all honesty, she didn't really have a next class, she had an off period. She was only a junior, but she was well advanced in her studies, so the school allowed her an off period to do some of her more challenging homework. She headed to the lecture hall, where kids who don't want to hang out with a specific teacher tend to congregate for their off periods. She walked in and stopped dead in her tracks, heart fluttering. For sitting in one of the chairs, feet propped up on the table, was Sollux. Sollux Captor.

Hope you liked it. Please leave reviews if you did, or have suggestions or other comments. Thank you for reading.

~Jane