Dedicated to K1222723 , for her awesome idea about Tam and Biana meeting in childhood, from which this was born. THANKS!! And dedicated to fanfictionaddict2. Thank you for being so supportive, and becoming one of my best online friends. And thanks to Alicorns_are_cool for making the gorgeous cover!!!!

"You're staring again."

I started, my sister's voice bringing me back to reality. She was giving me that half-smirk, half unimpressed look that I was unfortunately very used to by now.

I huffed and crossed my arms. "I wasn't staring."

"Yes you were."

She was right, but I wasn't about to admit that.

Biana stood a few feet away from us, surrounded by friends, her teal eyes sparkling and chocolate hair perfect. She was fierce and friendly, and I'd never met anyone like her.

And this was quickly becoming a problem.

"I can't believe I have a crush on a freshman," I grumbled, slouching down and glaring at my knees. "This is ridiculous."

"Have you actually gotten to know her?" Linh asked, leaning back on the bench and giving me an appraising look.

I was a bit offended. "Of course I have! Well....sorta."

"Sorta?"

"I mean, we have a couple classes together." I was getting seriously uncomfortable with this conversation. "She's in my math class."

Linh raised her eyebrows. "Smart, huh?"

"Yeah." I immediately cringed at the admiration in my voice, and tried to bury myself further into my hoodie. "But she's a Vacker, so it's never going to happen."

The Vackers. Their family had been one of the main sponsors of this school in the first place, and they've been going here ever since it opened. Around here, they might as well be royalty, if not for their money than for their looks. This school seemed notorious for model-worthy kids.

Unlike me.

"Maybe you should talk to her," Linh suggested, fiddling with a woven leather bracelet around her wrist. "Get to know her a little better."

"You're funny," I said. "How's that going to work? 'Hey Biana, I really like you and my sister says I should get to know you better, so here I am!' Yeah, she'll go crazy."

"Who's going crazy?"

I tilted my head back to see a tall, dark skinned teen staring down at me. Wylie smiled. "You talking about Biana again?"

Linh giggled as I huffed and brought my gaze forward again. "No."

"He was," Linh assured Wylie with a smile.

I twisted to face him. "You coming over later?"

"You bet," he said. "I got a new game, too. Got any stress to relieve?"

"Oh, plenty," I muttered.

"She'll come around," Wylie promised me. "Just gotta wait."

I glanced between him and my sister, who kept shooting each other glances. I rolled my eyes and made a shooing motion with my hands. "Oh my gosh, you guys are hopeless. If you had someplace to be, just say so."

Wylie shot me a sheepish grin. "See ya later, man."

Linh gave me a quick hug. "You gonna be okay walking home alone?"

"I'm not five, Linh," I reminded her. "I'll be fine. Now go have fun."

"We'd better go before he changes his mind," Wylie told her, flashing me a teasing smile. I snorted.

"And be back by nine!" I shouted as an afterthought, watching them walk away. Wylie gave me a smile and a thumbs up, and I saw Linh giggle. I smiled--they deserved each other.

I turned back to the front and came face-to-face with a pair of crossed arms.

"You're Tam, right?" Biana asked as I met her eyes.

I hesitated and nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Have you seen my brother?" she asked, glancing around, her arms still crossed. It didn't seem angry though, more worried. "I texted him, but he's not responding."

"He's probably with that other girl," I told her without thinking. "The blonde one."

Biana gave me a strange look. "Sophie?"

I nodded. "I've seen them in the hallway. They seem pretty.....intimate."

Biana threw her hands into the air. "Ugh! He's always taking my best friends from me." She glanced at me and sighed. "Wow, that sounded bratty. Sorry about that."

"It's fine," I assured her, probably a little too quickly.

She sighed again. "Well, here goes nothing, I guess. I gotta find him before Dad comes to pick us up. Thanks anyways."

"Yeah," I said, but she was already walking away.

I sat back, letting out a breath that was part relief and part confusion. Why was she asking me? I barely knew her brother, other than seeing him in class sometimes. And how did she know my name?

Math class, you idiot, I reminded myself. Duh she knows your name.

I groaned and tilted my head back, letting it rest on the back of the bench for a couple seconds before grabbing my bag. I should get home. School was way too confusing.

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So, chapters will probably be a bit short, just because of the scenes I want to include. But hope you enjoyed!