"Dude, wake up."

"Huh?" I jolted, opening my eyes wide.

"You're falling asleep again." Dominic rolled his eyes.

"Sorry man, 'm tired."

"You stayed up all night again, didn't you."

It wasn't a question. And he wasn't gonna be surprised with my answer.

"Yep."

Dom shook his head. "Phil, that's not good for you."

"So?"

Two things. First, if it was anyone other than Dom calling me Phil, I'd break their nose. Second, telling me that something isn't good for me is never, and I mean never, going to get me to change it.

Call it stupidity, call it stubbornness, I don't care. Either way, I get it from my dad.

"I'm not gonna stop doing it, Dom. We've been over this." I glanced down at my notebook, more filled with doodles than with notes. "Wanna see what I finished?"

Dom narrowed his eyes at me. "If I say yes, will you promise to get a good night's sleep tonight?"

I snorted. "No can do, man. I've got an important engagement."

"Going on a date with your sketchbook?" He taunted jokingly.

"You could call it that."

"You need sleep."

I shook my head. "Do not."

"This is the third all nighter you've pulled in a row." Dom said. "You're gonna crash eventually."

"Hey Dom, ever heard of this magical thing called coffee?" I grinned at him.

"That only works for so long." Dom insisted. "You'll build up a tolerance and then you're gonna crash. And I'm gonna be there to dance around you and sing 'I told you so' over and over."

"Just shush and look at what I did."

"No." He crossed his arms.

I smirked. "C'mon. You know you wanna see it."

"Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Fredericks, would you like to share with the class what you're discussing?"

Did I mention Dom and I have been sitting in English class for the past twenty minutes?

Oops.

"Sorry, Professor. He was falling asleep so I woke him up." Dom spoke before I did.

Professor Mulligan narrowed his eyes at us, then turned back to the board.

"Way to throw me under the bus." I hissed at him.

"You would have done the same thing a second later."

"True."

Dom and I sat in silence for a few moments, then he reached for my sketchbook.

"Alright, fine, lemme see."

I grinned and flipped it open to my most recent work, then slid it onto his desk.

Dom shook his head, muttering, "I still don't get why you won't just sign up for art. Mrs. Miller would flip if she saw this."

I shrugged. "Being told what to draw is annoying. Besides, I'm more of a cartoonist than a realist."

"So you've told me." He passes a critical eye over the paper. "This is your mom, right?"

I couldn't help but grin. "Yeah. I used a picture on my phone as a reference."

He nodded, "Nice," and handed the sketchbook back to me.

I shoved it back into my bag. "So-"

"I need to pass this class Phil," Dom said. "Let me take some notes."

I sighed. "Fine."

Dom rolled his eyes and began to scribble down what was on the board. I didn't even bother.

"My dad's a better teacher than this guy." I muttered.

"Shut up." Dom responded, not even looking over at me.

I chuckled and picked up my pen, continuing the caricature of Professor Nulls, my 6th hour Geology teacher.

"For cryin' out loud, Phil, if one of the teachers finds that you're so getting a detention. Probably more than one." Dom muttered.

"What?" I asked defensively. "That's how these drawings work."

"She looks crosseyed."

"It's a caricature," I told him. "It's an exaggeration."

"But is she gonna know that?" He retorted under his breath as Professor Mulligan looked up at us.

"I can explain it."

"And you really think that's gonna save you?" He snorted.

"You know I can sweet talk my way out of detention."

"Yeah, I know. It's weird," Dom said.

I snickered and turned to my notebook again, finding an empty space, which was hard, and beginning a new doodle.

Hours later (at least that's what it felt like), the bell rang. I shoved my things into my bag and stood, slinging it over my shoulder. Without waiting for Dom, I bolted for the door.

"Could you go any faster?" Dom teased as he caught up to me in the hallway.

"I can't stand that class. It's a waste of my time."

"You say that about everything."

I shrugged. "I've got a legacy to live up to, man. Why should I sit in a desk all day when I'd rather be in a studio or on a stage reciting something."

Dom rolled his eyes and slung an arm around my shoulders. "Because, little man, you have to work your way there."

"Don't call me that." I scowled playfully.

We stopped at our lockers to switch out our books.

"You ready for Algebra?" Dom asked.

I sucked in a breath, suddenly remembering my partially completed assignment in my bag.

"You, uh, wanna ditch today?" I asked hopefully.

"You didn't finish it." Dom sighs. "Dude, you're gonna get kicked out."

"They wouldn't risk it." I smirked.

"If you get kicked off the forensics team I'm sure they'll be more than willing to take a chance." Dom said, effectively wiping the smirk off my face.

"You don't think they will, do you?" I asked worriedly.

"The team has a grade requirement, Phil."

I groaned. "Fine. I'll try and get my grades up."

"Good. You know your mom wants you to do well." He reminded me.

"Right." I immediately felt guilty. Mom and Pa were paying a lot to send me here. It was one of the few things they agreed on nowadays.

"Come on, let's get to class before we're late."

We ended up getting into the classroom right before the bell went off.

"Take out your homework." Professor Criedell said from the front room. "You get full credit for completing it, half credit for being partially done, and no credit if you didn't attempt it."

I sighed in relief. It was one of those days.

Our tiny professor wove between desks, writing things down in her notebook. She made occasional comments to students as she passed, quiet enough that only they would hear it.

"Oh, Philip." She sighed as she viewed my work. "I know you're smarter than this."

I nodded, avoiding looking at her.

"Try to finish it next time." She patted my back and moved on.

A knock sounded at the door and Professor Criedell looked up.

"Oh, yes! Class, there's a transfer joining us today. She's from a private school upstate. Her name is Theodosia."

Dom snorted and I kicked him.

The door opened and I glanced up.

The girl in the doorway...wow. She was pretty. Really pretty. Her eyes sparkled in the flourescent lights above us and her curly hair bounced as she walked across the room to one of the free desks.

She was gorgeous, and I couldn't take my eyes off of her.