Please vote and comment! I'd really appreciate it!

PS: Roxy at top

Shelly had to show me to my second-hour class, which I found out was on the first floor.  Questions buzzed around in my head, making me dizzy, and I was reluctant and disappointed when she told me she wasn't in the same class as me.

"Besides," Shelly said when I hesitated.  She smiled mischievously. "Roxy has this class with you, so you don't have to worry about... yeah.  You'll be alright with her."

I sputtered.  "Alright, with her?"  I looked at her as if she was crazy.

She smiled.  "She may be a bitch, but that girl can multitask.  And don't even mention the girl code."

A girl code is going to keep a girl like that from clawing my eyes out?

I felt my stomach flip.  This was my first time going to my second class, and I hadn't even known what it was until Shelly told me it was ordinary human history and mathematics.  She explained that we were taught math once a week on Tuesdays and human history on Thursdays, the only two days we had school.

Great.  I felt like a total nerd.  Not only did I dislike math, but I was good at it, too.  We were almost late for class, and most of the students were already in their suspiciously familiar seat arrangements when Shelly pushed me into the class.  She turned on her heel and, throwing a smile and a "Good luck!" over her shoulder, swished away to her class.

The class looked ordinary in that weird chamber-room-converted-class way, but it being a potentially ancient room wasn't what made it familiar.  Sure, the room had identical windows to my previous class, and it had that sense of being comfortable—if you weren't being stared at—but the table that stood in the middle of the room was not what I expected.  It was huge and consisted of sturdy dark mahogany, seating comfortable-looking winged chairs, fifteen of which were already occupied.

I couldn't fathom why it looked familiar.  Maybe it reminded me of the time I went with my Janine to her office and she showed me her meeting room.  With all the polite smiles pasted on serious faces, I wondered if the office atmosphere was the reason the students were acting all stiff and humourless.  From what I could tell, the previous class had all been laughing and talking between intervals of Decennia's lecture.  Not that I really knew anything, of course. 

But, my mind argued, something is weird.

I almost had a heart failure when someone waved at me from the back of the room, the farthest point of the table, and I practically breathed a balloon's worth of relief.

"Alexandra!"  Roxy called, and I winced.  It was the first time after I'd solemnly corrected them, that someone my age had called me that in a while.  Way to choose your friends, Alex, my mind grumbled.  No, I hadn't had a choice, had I?  It wasn't as if I asked for this.  More to the point, Roxy was Shelly's friend, not mine.

Then why are you acknowledging her like such a big idiot?

I shut out my inner voice when I took the only open seat next to Roxy.  My left side felt immediately exposed and cold.

"How's your day so far?" I was pretty sure I blinked rapidly at Roxy, and she rolled her eyes.

"You should know better than to listen to Shelina." She sighed dramatically. "She always exaggerates."

"Sorry?" My face felt like a fat question mark.

Another one of those dramatic eye rolls, a sigh following close behind.  "I'm a bitch; I'll be the first to admit that.  So if you have a fucking problem with me, we're going to have a bitch-fit.  You got that?"

My mouth opened, but not a sound came out.

Roxy smirked.  "Glad we understand each other."  She studied her black nails.  "Need a new coat," she mumbled, but I didn't respond.  Despite the fact that I was still gaping at her, I was certainly not going to voice my confusion aloud.

Roxy rummaged in a black leather handbag, and when she pulled her perfectly polished fingers out, she produced a shimmery bottle of black nail polish.  She started to repaint her nails, and I stifled my own thespian eye roll.

She noticed my disapproving scrutiny, and I could already see the nasty remark on her lips when I witnessed her response shoot up to heaven.  Roxy's eyes grew wide, and I virtually expected her to drop the nail polish—and maybe splash her more-than-five-fingers-above-knee blue skirt.

But then I followed her gaze to the door, and I swear I almost followed Roxy's words to heaven, just to escape the shock.

He had incredible eyes, the type where you got lost within irises of milky porcelain blue.  He was running his hand through his black hair when he stepped into the classroom, and I noted the undeniable grace every Athlan seemed to possess. Bold, angular ink framed his cheekbones, flashing silver in the sunlight, reminiscent of tribal tattoos.

I didn't blame the girls for sighing in surprise, including Roxy's loud gasp beside me.  I sympathised with the guys when all of them grumbled.  Sure, almost every teacher I'd seen so far was either really attractive or simply hot, but there was something about his presence that sparked the whole classroom with envy and daydreams.  And he was my teacher.

"Scott," I breathed, unable to hold the astonishment out of my voice.

Out of the corner of my vision, I could see Roxy twisting in her seat to scowl deeply at me as if I'd just said a dirty word about Scott.

"You know him?" I imagined her baring her teeth and hissing at me by the sound of her tone, but when I looked away from the sizzling hot man in front of the class and faced Roxy, she only looked exceedingly exasperated.  And was that... jealousy?

I wanted to cringe under her dagger-quality look, but I forced my chin upright and said in the steadiest voice I could muster, "Sure.  I met him after I met the Queen, and then he brought me here."

Almost like he heard me, Scott scanned the unfamiliar faces and stopped solemnly on me.  A bright smile exploded on his face.

"Well." He altered his voice to sound relieved and pleasant, not at all the brooding guy I'd met a few days ago. "It's nice to know I'm not the only one new here.  I might as well say welcome, though I assume you're already settled."

He paused, and, embarrassed, I realised he was waiting for my response.  I swallowed audibly and tried to smile.  Not that I was successful.  "Thanks... uh, it's nice to..." I rummaged my brain to come up with something to end my sentence, a blush screwing with my cheeks.  "It's nice to be here," I finished lamely, and I heard someone muffle a snicker.  I turned a frown on Roxy, who must have been cheered up by my humiliation.  She shrugged at me but was still smiling.

Scott didn't seem to notice my blush deepening when I turned back to see him still staring at me.  "Yes, it's nice, isn't it?" he mused, thoughtful and obviously unconcerned that he'd spoken his thoughts aloud.

The crack of his hands clapping together made everyone jump.

"Right, Alexandra aside, I know that most of you will be disappointed to learn that I am the new substitute teacher for Anabeth.  I am Scott, and I want us to start by getting to know each other.  You"—he pointed at the girl on his right, who was sitting on the right side of the table—"What's your name?"

The girl, who I now realised was Mia, stood up from her chair.  She flipped her brown-with-blond-highlights hair over her shoulder, a twin gesture of what Roxy had done when Scott's gaze slipped over her, and pressed her pink-nailed hands on the table.  Now that I could see her closely, I saw that she was actually short even with her killer-machine heels and teased hair, and I was proud to see I was taller than she was.

"I am Mia," was all she said, but I didn't miss the wink she gave Scott.  Typical.  She had a boyfriend for crying out loud!

Scott nodded as if he hadn't just been bombarded with a pretty girl's vain attempt at flirting, and went on with the next student.  Except for Mia, I immediately forgot all the following students' names, which wasn't going to help my social status.  I was used to the familiar people I'd grown up with swarming around me and Natasha, but this time...  I couldn't imagine myself like that here.

When introductions reached the chair to my right, I wanted to face-palm. I swore I was a stupid blind bat, for how couldn't I have realised who had taken the seat beside me?  I still felt exposed, but now my right side felt too warm with the anticipation that someone I didn't want to see was beside me.  I peeked.  Sure enough, I was not a blind bat, I was a mole, but at least my sluggish brain had sensed the presence beside me correctly.

Aiden was scowling beside me, his hard gaze trained directly on Scott.  I sensed with some discomfort that he was sizzling with anger—along with the other guys whose girlfriends were sitting here making goo-goo eyes at Scott—after just witnessing Mia flirt with our supposed teacher.

I wondered why everyone—female, anyway—was drooling and fanning themselves as if they were about to kick the bucket.  Without a doubt, he was completely delicious, but something was stopping me from panting like the other girls when he asked her name.  Familiarity.  It was hard to understand, but there was something familiar about his presence, so intimate yet so distant like there was an unfathomable wall separating us.

I shook my head and crossed my arms on the table, distantly wondering if such feelings could be considered etiquette.  Something—Ataxin, most likely—had done something to my brain and hormones.  I should be here panting like everyone else, but...  I hadn't even acted this way the first time we met, and that was before my freak-out and drugged state.  So what, then?  Shock?  Maybe.  After all, I'd gotten a nasty shock when he arrived—and why was that, anyway?  It didn't make sense.

I'm going crazy with all these questions!

I'd hoped that Scott would skip over me, given that he'd already met me and the whole school had probably heard of me.  Yet, when Roxy sat back in her seat after a show of almost breaking her neck by flicking her hair, he looked at me expectantly.

I'm never going to live this part of my life down, I thought as warmth spread from my neck to my face again.

I stood, reluctant, and tried to ignore it when everyone turned their eyes on me.  My knees felt weak, and for a fleeting moment, I thought they were going to buckle.  Instead, I stared straight at the black wall behind Scott and quickly mumbled, "I'm Alex.  Alex Ribbon."

The whispers around me died like I'd just blown out a lit candle.  Now I had everyone's unwanted attention, and I quickly plopped back into my seat and stared down at my lap, happy that my long hair hid my beet-red face.  All was silent, and I wondered if they hadn't noticed me in their class and was surprised to see me here, or if I'd said something wrong.  Had my voice just cracked?

Someone cleared his throat beside me at the same time Scott said, a little too loudly, "Right, moving on."

Aiden's arm brushed mine when he stood up and uttered his name before settling beside me again.  I could feel his eyes on me, which wasn't helping my self-esteem.

As the last five students said their name, dread pooled in my stomach.  By the time the last student sang her name, I'd realised my mistake.

I hadn't thought about the possibility until now, and I was already talking before my mind could knock some sense into me.  "You guys don't have last names, do you?" I asked Roxy.

I didn't have to look up to see the scowl on her pretty face.  "Heck no."

Again, it was as if I'd said a dirty word.  As if I'd asked her if Athlan females grew beards or something.  Crap, wasn't this supposed to get easier after the hard part?

Scott started the class, and as everyone pulled out their notebooks, he didn't hesitate to ask questions about several terms to get a feel of what we'd... or they'd already learned.  I got most of them right, and many of the students around me frowned at me like I was some kind of alien.

The half hour left somehow flew by, and like in my first class, I jerked in surprise when the loud dongs of the grandfather clock assumed the sound of the room.  Somehow, it was even louder; it must be situated on this level.

When the dongs faded through the mansion, everyone got up with a gush of loud whispers.  I heard Roxy complain as she kept pace beside me.  "That was so hard.  I wouldn't mind getting extra lessons from that piece of steak." She made a purring sound, shooting Scott a lascivious look.

We were almost out the door when I heard my name.

"Alexandra!"

I turned around in the mob, many cussing around me as they smashed into me.  Fortunately, Scott was tall, and I could clearly see where he was standing behind the crowd, though I waited until the last student was out before I made my way back into the room. Roxy followed me into the class, scowling, but smoothed her frowning mouth into a sweet smile when she saw who'd called my attention.  I didn't hesitate to approach Scott.  I mean, how much more could I embarrass myself when the cup was already full?

"Yeah?" I said when he remained silent, and I started to feel awkward when he eyed me up and down.  I could practically feel Roxy spitting fire at me.

Scott gave Roxy a meaningful look, still polite, but he wore the stern expression I'd come to associate him with.  Roxy didn't seem to get the hint and crossed her arms stubbornly, eyebrows rising.

I wanted to laugh, but instead, I said, "Can you, um, give us a moment?"

"What?" she nearly sputtered.

I gave her a significant look, inwardly cringing at the thought that Roxy could use some weird voodoo and zap me.  Not that magical ability was witchy or anything, right?  With that murderous look, it sure looked possible, though.

With a huff, she spun around on her tall heels and stomped out of the room.  I couldn't keep the reproach out of my tone.  "Some theatrical exit," I muttered.

Scott surprised me when he laughed.  "You don't say."

"You look cheerful today."

He turned serious in an instant like a light switch.  "Why wouldn't I be?"

Gosh, I seemed to insult everyone I met on this crazy island.

"I figured you'd be that type of guy; sombre, silent, brooding, etcetera."

He seemed amused, though it was hard to tell with that serious face.  "Is that what you think?  Maybe I'm just happy to occupy myself with a new job.  Ageing slowly does that to you, unfortunately."

Wait, what?  "What do you mean?"

He sighed.  A very familiar sound.  I wondered why I felt so comfortable, even when I should have been nervous being in the same room as him, alone.  The meaning of the feeling evaded me, the term of it just at the tip of my fingers but unreachable.  Why was that?  Why did I have the confidence that I could tell him anything?

"So many questions, so much to learn.  It explains why you still adopt human customs."

I bit my lip and crossed my arms, hugging my chest defensively.  "You mean the 'Hey, I'm Alex Ribbon, nice to meet you' thing?"

His lip curled a little at my half-hearted sarcasm.  "Nothing to be ashamed of.  Most of the Athlans are not used to the last name concept, and I am sure most of the students here do not even know what it is, so be glad about that."

"What, because I know about one thing they don't?" I snapped, then realised my tone. "Sorry."

He just smiled.  "No.  What I meant was, even though you are still ignorant of our world, you are more advanced in the knowledge and principles of humans.  More than the most complex classes we teach here."

When he saw my scepticism, he continued in that calm, tolerant voice.  "It also means that you have a brighter understanding of the world than most knowledgeable Athlans on this island because you were brought up in human civilisation."

"But I heard of other Hybrids on Atlantis.  What about them?"

He shook his head.  "Even they do not truly comprehend the human nature because they were either born on Atlantis, or they were brought here before they could talk.  In your case, you did not even know about Atlantis until recently, and I know this is hard for you.  You were taught by humans, you lived with them, you even loved some of them." I winced when he used the past tense. "That is a depth of knowledge none of us can reach or have ever experienced."

"But there are other Athlans off the island who live among humans, just like me."  I knew I sounded like an insecure girl with no common sense, but right this moment, I couldn't visualise myself as something of worth or having something that the other Athlans didn't.  Especially when I was only part of their blood.  Hybrids couldn't be special.

Scott took a long time to answer, his eyes growing distant as if he was thinking of a memory.  I wanted to go home; this talk was making me feel dejected.

Then: "You should not break yourself down like this, Alex.  I know you feel disheartened because everyone, mainly yourself, is giving you a hard time about not knowing your lineage.  Tell you what.  What if you took extra lessons to help you catch up?  I'll do it personally if you want.  Or I could consult with Decennia."

For some reason, I didn't want it to be Decennia.  To be honest, she was great, but I felt more at ease with Scott.  He reminded me of Kylon, with his irritating brotherly protection.  Not that Scott was irritating, obviously.

"Sure, it'll be cool."

He could see by my smile what my decision was.  "So, I will pick you up at twelve on Wednesday?"

I just nodded, threw him a tentative wave, and left the classroom.

Haha, Roxy wanted extra lessons with the hunky Scott but instead Alex gets that privilege :p

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. If you've made it this far in the story, thank you so much! It really means so much that you are giving this story a shot, even though I know it's probably subpar to some other awesome stories out there. Still, seeing readers take the time to get this far is the best experience for every writer, I assure you. Sharing a story is like sharing a diary; we pour our souls into our writing, and it's like you expose your heart and inner thoughts when you publish a story for others to see. It's a unique experience, though scary as well. Which is why writers are so thrilled by even one more reader who enjoys their work. The reader has a lot to offer the writer, just by reading and enjoying the story. I know I don't have a lot of readers, and probably only one or two people will see this message, but the bottom line is that I'm grateful to be able to publish my story and have someone read it, even if they are silent readers.

If you enjoy my story, read on! :D