Starting over was difficult. The new peers, new teachers, new ... everything. Kate Sloane hated leaving her friends behind, being the only kid on the block without a clue as to the social dynamics, and all the other feelings that accompanied having everything ripped from beneath her. All so her stupid father could kiss butt on his climb up the political ladder. If anyone had asked her--evidently, no one had--she would have sternly objected. If being the new girl weren't bad enough, she had just transferred in the middle of the second semester of her last year in middle school. She rolled her eyes at her good fortune.

Kate stared at the name engraved in the stone: Lamb of God Preparatory Academy. She almost rolled her eyes. Instead, she bit her tongue, inhaled deeply, and pulled open the heavy wooden door.

Keep your head down, do not talk to anyone, and for the love of God, do not trip, she repeated in her head. Glancing at her watch, she hustled through the hallway, glancing at the numbers beside the classrooms. Slinging her strawberry red string bag over her right shoulder, Kate took another deep breath. She weaved around the chatting kids and glanced at a teacher wearing a pale blue buttonup covered by a gray sweater vest and navy tie.

Despite his preppy look, his large build and commanding stance reminded her of a bouncer guarding an exclusive club.

This is gonna be a long year, Kate sighed as she passed him. In her arms, Kate hugged three binders, five folders, and two spiral notebooks. Of course, laptops were forbidden--what did she ever do to deserve this punishment? On top of one of her notebooks, her class schedule balanced precariously.

"Okay, I'm locker C-275. Wow, won't be hard to find with every looking exactly alike," she muttered. Pausing again, Kate looked down the right and west wing. She grimaced and stepped out into the buzzing mess of packed students.

Suddenly, a body crashed into hers. Kate was so caught off guard that both she and the other person fell to the tiles beneath them. Her school supplies scattered across the floor. She flinched when she felt a hand on her white, buttondown blouse.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry," a young male's voice apologized. He offered her his hand to help her up.

She kept her head to her scattered belongings but took his gesture. Kate peeked at him when she felt the hand release from hers

"Here, gosh, I'm really sorry," he handed her, her things. He came face to face with her.

Inside her head, her jaw dropped ten feet. There, standing in front of her, was a hunky, blue eyed and brown haired prince charming. Kate wanted to drool but had second thoughts. That would certainly turn any guy away. With a shy smile, she thanked him and they parted ways. Her cheeks flushed as Kate continued to class.

***Andrew POV***

The class telephone blared, conveniently reprieving the class of Mr Reid's speech about valence electrons and the formation of ionic compounds. He spoke this spheal the umpteenth time this month and Andrew was exhausted of listening!

He hustled to answer the phone. "Science Lab," Mr Reid said with a slight huff.

Mr Reid's class began to chatter about all the latest happenings in their lives while others felt like complaining about how much their lives sucked.

Andrew dove into completing homework problems. The led in his pencil snapped, and he rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Morgan, the guy who sat to Andrew's right, jabbed his arm with his finger and whispered, "Hey Drew, what's the answer to number 36?"

Andrew narrowed his eyes. "It's in the back of the packet."

Andrew heard the class phone clatter back onto its plate, and he gently slid his homework underneath the stash of papers already there. Slowly, innocently, he glanced back to the board.

Mr Reid cleared his throat in that 'attention please' way. Just about everyone settled, and eyes zeroed in on the twenty-something year old. Swiftly, Mr Reid regained control of the atmosphere and dove straight into his lesson.

∞

A knock caused Mr Reid to flinch while in mid-sentence, and Andrew heard several sighs of relief.

Since Andrew was the closest to the door, he stood lazily and headed to respond to the class's savior. His hand closed onto the knob as he pushed down and nudged the wood outward.

A plain black pump blocked the door from opening further.

Mrs Brooks, the guidance counselor, stood in front of the window with her usual overly cheerful expression.

He trudged back to his seat awaiting another lecture, one of a different caliber. Andrew assumed she was in to talk about the pending topic: new school testing. As he flipped back-and-forth through his Chemistry notes, Andrew kept his eyes glued to the problems but looked up when Morgan poked him again.

Mrs Brooks and another person sauntered into the laboratory.

Twenty pairs of eyes focused on the couple who have stolen our attention from Polyatomic Bonds.

"Hello class. I'm sorry to interrupt your lesson, but we have a new student joining your class today. Her name is Kate Sloan, please make her feel welcome. And, uh, if one of you could help her around school to her classes, that'd be fantastic. Thank you." Mrs Brooks nodded as she promptly exited the lab.

Kate stood frozen at the door, her back was toward Andrew.

He wondered where he had seen that shirt. It couldn't be her, could it?

Mr Reid offered to shake her hand.

She made no movement, like she was at a loss of what to do.

The girl was pint-sized in comparison to Mr Reid. His body-builder frame towered over her toothpick body.

Instead of accepting his hand, she said, "Good morning, sir."

"I'm Mr Reid, your Chemistry teacher. Um, I wasn't expecting to receive a new student until the end of the week, but I guess since you're here early, why don't you take a seat over there." Mr Reid pointed his finger to an empty lab table in the back of the room.

Kate nodded once and took her assigned bar stool.

Andrew watched her carefully. 'I knew it!' he almost cried out. That girl he saw was familiar.

Mr Reid explained an abridged version of his lesson before continuing with more polyatomic bonding information.

Meanwhile, Andrew observed Kate. She looked invested in the conversation yet she also looked completely lost.

"Okay, class. That's all for today; we'll be doing a lab tomorrow. Girls with long hair, tie it back." He gives a glance at Rachel. "And we're having a test on Binary Compounds the following day." The last part of his message got drowned by the buzz and bell.

In an unorganized fashion everyone bumped and squeezed through the doorway.

The new girl exited dead last. Kate pressed her binders on the v-neck of the brown cardigan she was wearing. Her sleeves extended just to her wrists, but she tugged at them. She peeked at a paper on the top of her stack and sauntered down the tiles.

"Hey, hold on!" I found myself shouting as I quickened my pace to walk alongside her.

She shifts her glance to me, acknowledging my presence before wordlessly keeping her walk. "So, you're new here," I say.

She does not look up, just gives a slight tilt for confirmation. I take note of her head angled submissively to her toes. Her long chestnut brown hair brushes on the waistband of her pants.

"So ah, where are ya headed?" I try making conversation.

"Gym," she replies so quiet I almost missed the one-word answer.

"Ah, cool, me too. Here, can I see your schedule?"

She hands the paper over, no questions asked.

I study the classes and rooms listed in the table. "Hey, that's cool, we have several classes together." I glance over to gauge her response.

Again, she tips her head, but a small, almost concealed smile touches her lips. The rest of the way we walk in silence.

"Dude!" I hear someone call from a distance.

Suddenly, something slaps my shoulder blade, producing a loud thwack, making my back arch with a stinging pain. While flashing a dirty look at the person, my eyes catch the end of Jenny's reaction.

She purses her lips and quickens her pace.

I frown as the girl gets away.

"Hel-lo," Damen, my best friend, waves his hand too close to my face.

I blink twice and avert my eyes onto him.

"Do you have the French homework?" Damen asks.

I scoff. "Yes, but I'm not giving it to you."

"Awe, please! I had a football game and-"

"Which, I too was at, playing the game," I interject.

"Yeah but, my parents wanted to go out to eat after, and I was so tired I forgot to do it," he whines.

"Fine, but you owe me." I glare in annoyance.

"Yeah, yeah, sure man. I promise I'll repay you. Thanks!"

"Yeah, whatever. I'll give it to you in lunch." I roll my eyes half amused.

Damen dashes into the gym locker room while I follow close behind. He props the door open with the toe of his shoe as he beckons me to move faster.

Opening the Locker Room door, I immediately hear Luke's obnoxiously loud voice bouncing off the walls. I roll my eyes while shoving my stuff into the locker. Wasting no time, I change into the students' dull PE uniform. Our school's mascot and name is neatly placed on the lower left side of the polyester shorts. My shirt is cleansed from last week's sweat. The cotton is already wrinkled though. The color of the laces, strapped to my Nike's shoes, conflict with the color combination. I drag my feet to the gym floor.

Mr. Vilini blows his whistle, yelling orders with his baritone voice. "Fifteen jumping jacks!" He never seems pleasant, always grouchy, like a grizzly bear.

After stretching and warm-ups, we head outdoors to play football. The temperature is beginning to drop into more acceptable autumn weather now that we're in October. The leaves grace the grass, burying the patches of dirt.

"Pick your teams, remember, these will be your teammates for the rest of the week.