Luckily, Drew, Luke, Aarushi and Ahana's were in the same class as her. They kept chatting whenever there wasn't a teacher in class. It felt nice to already be a part of a group when everyone around her were still figuring out first time awkward conversations. And being free of monitoring the class was an added bonus. 

That didn't mean she didn't talk to others. There was this girl named Ovia, who struggled with her physics, but was too shy to ask. She had explained it to her carefully, making sure not to make her feel dumb. And when an open discussion struck up about what their impression of the school was until then, she had actively participated.

For lunch, she headed to the cafeteria with them. Ahanaa had been narrating an incident in which Aarushi embarrassed herself by spilling tea on her date on her very first date. Not her best first impression. Hillary had been so engrossed in listening and laughing that  she was caught completely off-guard when she met his chocolate brown ones.

 Tyson was sitting with the other blade breakers, but his eyes were trained on her, gods knew for how long. But their eye contact lasted only a moment, for Tyson quickly turned away. Yet, it that moment, she saw multitude of emotions in his eyes, anger, frustration, hurt and guilt. Hillary's smile slightly wavered.  Tyson may have normally worn his mind on his sleeve, but his deepest emotions were expressed in his eyes, and only those who were really close to him could have seen it. 

She tried concentrating back on the conversation at hand or on her food, but she couldn't just shake the feeling of guilt that arose in her, which was kind of stupid, as it was the Bladebreakers who had unanimously decided to cut all connections with her for her own 'safety'. It didn't help matters when Tyson left soon after, looking quite moody.

 She was shaken from her thoughts when Aarushi and Ahanaa started talking about the club's they planned to choose, they had the sports club every Monday and tuesday. Aubrey and Hillary were obviously choosing swimming for the sports club, Hillary didn't plan on letting go of any opportunity that took her to a swimming pool. Ahanaa also planned on joining swimming while Aarushi and Noah were planning to take up table tennis. Drew would be taking basketball and Luke, soccer. 

Hillary quickly completed her lunch They still had twenty minutes to spare. "I just remembered that I had to get my receipt for AP chemistry and Biology." She lied. "You guys carry on. I'll meet you at class after lunch." She said, getting up to leave, or more like, to seach for Tyson and smack him in the head. 

All right, they answered distractedly, too engrossed in their talk. Noah was trying to convince Luke of how wonderful it would be to learn animation when she left. Good for him, Luke didn't look much convinced. 

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Finding a quite spot for himself was quite an easy task for Tyson. His legs subconsciously led him up and up the stairs, for so long that he could no longer hear the loud chatters taking place in the cafeteria. He opened the door to the terrace, cringing when it made a loud creaking sound.

The wind was crisp, already showing signs of the upcoming winter. He was having a wonderful day, and then, he saw her and it all went down the drain. How could she just forget everything, when the guilt of getting her mixed up in their mess still ate him up? How could she just make new friends and act as though she knew them since ages? How could she just move on when he still couldn't keep his mind off her? 

"Mind if I join you here? I don't mean to intrude" Asked a girl standing near the entrance. "Yeah, sure." said Tyson shrugging. It always helped to have strangers around if you quickly wanted to pull yourself together.

"You're in our class, aren't you?" He asked, glancing at the girl. She did look slightly surprised, but recovered easily. She gave him a wide smile. "Yep. It's nice to know you noticed." She could very well be kidding. With her tall curvy frame, porcelain skin, black mischievous eyes and long glossy black hair falling in soft curls, she could very well be the prettiest girl in their year. Maybe excluding Hillary, his mind added, but that was beside the point. "I'm Tyson and you're..." His mind tried to place her name with her face, but she helped him to it. "Cassandra Jones, but you can call me Cassy." She introduced herself, striking a casual conversation with him. And Tyson didn't mind though, it kept him busy from thinking too much about his ruby eyed friend, until she herself stood in front of him.

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Cassy's charm was rudely interrupted by Hillary, when she suddenly walked into the terrace. Only when Hillary saw her murderous glare did her steps falter. Casey's mind reeled. What the hell was the spoilsport doing here? she seethed in anger. Just when she was getting close to one of the most sought after teens of their generation, the upstart shows up, rubbing her fall from disgrace into her face again and again.

Hillary looked a bit embarrassed now. "Hey Casey, I didn't mean to interrupt-" she started but Cassy cut her off sweetly. "But since you just did it, you might as well as tell us, why you're here?" She fake smiled. "Yeah, its just that both of you had not yet given your names for the clubs you'll be choosing and Miss Duvet wants the form filled before the lunch break ends so she sent me to call you guys down." She said it all in one breath. 

"Why was there even a question in that? Of course he'll be choosing beyblading and I'll be choosing swimming. Or did the fact that we are the national champions of Japan slip your mind?" She taunted. Hillary tsked in irritation, trying hard not to let Casey get to her. She had really tried being nice to her in the beginning. "Of course I know all about your recent achievements, but Miss Duvet wants you to tick off the other two clubs you'll be choosing and sign the sheet, so obviously, you guys have to break your private rendezvous and get your asses down there." She said, turning around to leave, quite happy with her comeback. 

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"Let's get going then, I don't want to upset teachers on my very first day." Tyson said immediately, looking quite troubled. Meanwhile, Casey was enraged. How could the girl just interrupt them, and then leave with the last word! First, the upstart snatched away her title, now she even wants to take away her chances of making new friends! Everything was awkward between her and Tyson now! She moaned internally.

"So, what just happened here?" Tyson asked, as they walked side by side down the stairs. "You're the swimming champion, but so is Hillary? Did you guys pull a draw or something?" He enquired. Casey sighed in relief. If that was the most important point he could bring up from everything Hillary said, maybe he didn't get her last comment, or simply didn't care. 

Casey composed herself. "Well, it's actually a bit complicated... I was the national as well as the state swimming champion for the last two years. Two months ago, the upstart  defeated me and became the state swimming champion. So... I am the national champion, but not the state champion. And as she defeated the national champion, she gets the title too, unofficially of course, but that doesn't help matters much. The news was on TV, and she got all the publicity she could get." She explained.

 "Oh.." was all the answer she got. Tyson was quite surprised. How could he not know about this? Why hadn't Hillary ever told him about it? Maybe because you never asked her, dumbo! His mind reminded him rudely. Tyson cringed at the remainder. He now felt ashamed of feeling so angry when he saw Hillary with her new friends. Of course she would move on so easily, there was absolutely nothing for her to anchor on to with them, except negligence and nightmares. 

"I think the teacher's staffroom is to the right." Casey said, spurring him from his thoughts. Sure enough, there was quite a crowd near the room reward the right. Casey went ahead of him. Just as she said, Casey chose swimming, music vocal and drama. Tyson hadn't yet made up his mind yet. 

He chose beyblade, of course, and photography, because it seemed cool. But the third one... Tyson realised that most people had chosen amnesty international. "Hey, what do you do in amnesty international?" He asked Casey. Casey clicked her nails before she answering. "Absolutely nothing. It was supposed to be a volunteer group which did charity and all, but the club isn't enforced strictly. Most people  just take it so that they could leave school early on the wekends." For Tyson, that seemed like an offer too good to leave. He too ticked it off beside his name, before signing.   

Casey was checking her phone when they walked back to their class. He bid her goodbye and met up with his friends. "Where were you?" Max asked. "Miss Duvet had called to choose our clubs by lunch break. I was there. By the way, what did you choose?" Tyson asked. 

"Foreign language and journalism." Max said. When Tyson raised his brow questioningly, Max just shrugged. "It did seem interesting." he mumbled. "I chose  foreign language too, along with animation." Kenny answered excitedly. "Good for you", Tyson encouraged him. "I chose arts and book reviewing." Ray volunteered. "What did you choose?" Kenny asked him instead. "Photography and amnesty international." Tyson said, with a carefree voice. 

"Why would you choose that?" Kenny asked him, looking quite aghast. "Nothing seemed interesting enough, and I didn't want too much work. As it is, I am hardly sure that I will be able to keep up with the normal homeworks, I didn't want another one on the pile." explained Tyson, defending his decision. Before the discussion could continue, the bell rang, signalling the end of their lunch break. Ray went ahead to his classroom while the rest of them went to theirs. They had japanese for now, and Tyson desparately hoped he wouldn't sleep through the class.

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A/N: Hey there's a small change in the story here. I think you guys do remember when Hillary told Tyson that she would no longer be with them giving some half cooked answer. That didn't happen. Hillary just planned to leave them slowly, and that is without informing them down right. I'll change this part in the original story too when I get the time, so until then, this will have to do.

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The last bell for the day rang, signalling the end of all their normal classes. Hillary half heartedly started packing her bag. Everyone had to report to their sports clubs on Monday and Tuesday. 

Hillary felt quite put off since her encounter with Tyson. It had absolutely not gone the way she had imagined. Not even a day had passed since they were at high school, and Casey had already started requitment for her petty little influential gits club. As though the drama they did at their swimming classes wasn't enough, she seethed in irritation. And of course, Tyson had to be her first target, seeing how famous he is. Hillary thanked her stars for gracing her with a quick retort when Casey stood in front of her, thinking of all the ways she could humiliate her. Hillary would have never let her embarrass her, especially not in front of Tyson.

She had really wanted to demand answers for what was on with the blade breakers, with them avoiding her, acting as though she didn't exist, as though they absolutely didn't know her. Of course, she had planned to do so too, but it was supposed to be eventually, not this sudden change. She didn't want the be associated with the blade breakers as a group, but not like not be their friends. 'Just listen to what you are trying to say,' her mind told her, 'you are making no sense'. 

Uhh, she sighed in annoyance. Hillary ditching the Blade brekers felt justified to her. She wanted to protect herself, and more importantly, she wanted to protect her family. The blade breakers ditching her felt a lot more like them using and then abandoning her. And it was a huge blow to her already fragile self esteem, even if she didn't like admitting it to herself.

Hillary was the last one to leave their class. Sadly, it reminded of her of her secondary schooling days, when she would be the last one leaving, after making sure the class was clean and everything was prepared for the next day. Things were so simple back then. "Hey Hil." said Tyson standing close behind her, starling her back to the present. Think of the devil and the devil arrives, Hillary thought to herself in exasperation. Why was Tyson here of all places? 

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A/N: How was the chapter? Did you like it? Votes and comments please!!