I groaned as I walked into my seventh period class. (History, ugh!) I took my usual seat in the back of the room and pulled my notebook out of my backpack. The day had dragged on so, so slowly. It did not help that I didn't get much sleep from that horrible nightmare last night either.
    What was weird that the dream was so vivid, almost like I was a viewing a memory. One minute I was arguing with a prince about something I can't remember before galloping through a forest on my horse River. (Although her name in the dream was Riverdaze. Weird). Then, she flung me off when the next minute I meet werewolves.
    I shuddered thinking about them. Their appearances were so unsettling! They looked like something straight out of a horror movie. And that Aureo...what a creep. I cringed thinking about that rough, slimy tongue against my cheek and what he said afterwards.
    "I really need to stop watching horror movies before bed," I muttered to myself, trying to shake off the dream. I located a pencil from the depths of my purse and started doodling in the margins of my notebook while I waited for the teacher to come into class.
    The stench of cheap perfume overpowered the room as Crystal and her squad sauntered into class, their heels clacking against the tile floor. I stared down at my books, hoping they wouldn't see me. I was not in the mood to deal with their taunts.
       Fortunately today, Crystal and her gang didn't notice me. They were too busy squealing like pigs about something. Probably about the new Harry Styles album or which poor bastard one of them managed to seduce for the week.
     A few more of my classmates filed in after them, talking excitedly yet in more coherent frequencies. I leaned forward in my seat slightly, so I could eavesdropped on a couple of my classmates' conversations.
    "Dude, did you see how fast he ran, Jackson?" one of the boys who sat in the table in front of me asked.
    "How could I, Drake? He was like friggin' rocket," Jackson remarked.
    Drake leaned into his friend. "Do you think he could outrun Nick?" he whispered.
    Jackson shook his head. "I wouldn't go that far. Nobody can outrun him."
    I heard some laughter coming from the cheerleaders' table on my left, so I focused my attention on them.
   "So you actually got to meet him?" Crystal asked, her sky blue eyes narrowing slightly at the Head Cheerleader Kayla.
    I didn't realize those two were friends. It figures, though. Kayla was the most popular girl in school with Crystal being second popular.
    Kayla giggled. "Oh, don't be jealous, Crystal." She put a hand on her pale shoulder. "You'll get your turn with him...after me."
    "Like I want your sloppy seconds," Crystal remarked, batting her hand away. "How about we make this interesting. First, per-"
    "Are you guys talking about Sebastian?" one of the college prep kids blurted in the table in front of them.
    Sebastian? I haven't heard that name until today. We must've had someone transfer to this school.
    I glanced at the empty chairs on my row and wished someone sat at my table so I could ask about them. Unfortunately, all my friends were in other classes, so I was alone. Not to mention, Crystal and her squad used this class to bully me, so I don't blame anyone for not wanting to sit next to me.
    The sound of Stella's voice (one of Crystal's minions) made me return to eavesdropping. "Allie, this is an A and B conversation. C your way out."
    Allie rolled her eyes. "Sorry, I just-"
   "Now don't be rude, Stella," Kayla said. She flashed a fake smile at Allie. "What were you going to say?"
    Encouraged by Kayla's acknowledgement, Allie continued. "I was going to ask if you saw him in math class? How he was able to locate the matrices without a calculator? That's pretty cool!"
    I didn't get to hear Kayla's response because I heard an audible tap on my notebook. I turned my head to the source to see a boy - a cute one, as a matter of fact, pointing to the misshapen house I had drawn on the margin.
   "What's that?" he asked.
   I could feel my heart starting to race. A cute boy wanted to know what I was drawing? I tried to think of something witty or cute to say. Argh. Where was my best friend Lacey when I needed her!
    "Oh, sorry," the new boy remarked, stepping back. He ran his fingers through glossy, golden hair. "I didn't mean to interrupt you."
   I tugged on a small strand of my honey brown hair. "Y-You don't - Y-you don't have to apologize," I remarked. I could feel my cheeks getting hot. I stared down at my notebook. "It's a - It's a, err, uh, house."
    Ugh. I wish I was better at talking to boys. Lacey would be scolding me right now about not maintaining eye contact and staring down at my notebook.
     The new boy laughed. "Nah, I shouldn't have been so rude."
     It was my turn to laugh. (It's appropriate to laugh at that, right?) "It's not a big deal. I'm just not used to people asking about my doodles."
     His emerald green eyes widened. "I'm surprised. That's a very good house. It reminds me the shack behind my house."
    Before I could decide if he was making a joke or being an asshole, he extends a very tan hand to shake. "Hi, I'm Sebastian Nix. Is it cool if I take that seat next to you?"
     My face got redder. I forced myself to maintain eye contact and touched his hand. His palms were rough and calloused compared to the smoothness of my hand. A bolt of electricity went up through my hand. I gulped, trying to ignore it. "Mya Anderson. And, of course," I replied, trying my hardest to keep the eagerness out of my voice.
    The bell rang. Immediately, the class got quiet as Mr. Spitz the history teacher walked in.
    "Good afternoon, class," Mr. Spitz said as if he really did not care if it was a good afternoon. His appearance certainly indicated that. He had a five o'clock shadow and there were dark pit stains when he lifted an arm to pull down the projection screen.
     "Today we are going to talk about-" He paused and narrowed his eyes when they landed on Sebastian. "Young man, who are you? Why are you in my class?"
     Sebastian stood up calmly and extracted a neatly folded note from his pocket. He approached a suspicious Mr. Spitz and handed it to him. "Principal Wilson told me to give this to you," Sebastian added, flashing him his dazzling smile.
      Mr. Spitz didn't smile back and read the note. When he finished, he sighed and crumbled up the note before throwing it unceremoniously into the trash can."Another student to teach. Yay. Take a seat, Mr. Nix," he said, unhappily.
     "Okay, Class, today we are going to learn about the causes of the Civil War. Can anyone tell me why the Civil War began?" he asked.
     The college prep kids on the front row raised their hands. Mr. Spitz called on Allie, who immediately started rattling off reasons why the Civil War started.
    Someone poked my shoulder. I looked at my new table companion, who promptly handed me a folded up paper. I opened the note up. It said:

                        After school, may you give me a tour? I don't want to get lost tomorrow.

    I waited until Mr. Spitz had his back turned again and wrote underneath in my best cursive:

                        Of course! I would love to!

   I gave him back the note. He read it and gave me a thumbs up. I leaned back in my seat.

                                                                                    *******

       After what felt like forever, the final bell rang. everyone bolted out of their seats and ran out the door. Sebastian waited as I collected my things. When I finished, we started walking out of the classroom when Crystal ran up to us.
    Here we go. I thought.
    "Hi, I'm Crystal," she said, tucking her curly, bleach blonde hair back behind her ear. Sebastian smiled. My heart sank a little when I even saw him puff out his chest a little as he said, "Pleasure to meet you, Crystal. I'm Sebastian."
    "I know you are new and all, and I was wondering if you'd like a tour of the school," Crystal remarked, acting casual. Her eyes flitted to mine for a second and smirked.
      Before I could react, Sebastian said, "Actually, Mya here is giving me a tour of the school. But you can join us, if you want. I'm sure you can show me all the good short cuts for classes."
     Crystal dramatically smacked her head. "I'm such a ditz. I totally forgot about a meeting I had with the school counselor. I'll join you guys later." She handed out her cell phone and lowered her voice. "Put your number in, in case you need help with homework or...something."    

     Sebastian didn't take the phone. He started to shift his feet. "Oh, um, I don't have a number. I just moved here and my parents just-"
    Crystal held up a hand. "It's fine. You don't have to give me your number. But I'm just letting you know: this loser doesn't put out." She turned on her heel and stomped off.
   "What's her deal?" my companion asked me, watching her walk off. "And why did she say you don't 'put out'? What does that even mean?"
    I felt myself blushing again. "Why don't we start the tour first, hmm?"