-Avoidant personality disorder: fear of being noticed.

THE REST of her class periods went by in a blur. Since she wasn't too keen on paying attention to what was being taught in any of the them to begin with, she found that tuning everything and everyone out was the best option that she had.

At last, When the final bell rang, Winter wasted no time silently thanking God that the day was done and jumping up from out of her stiff metal chair. She hastily swiped away some of the wavy blue strands of hair that had fallen in her face back into place, and gathering up her supplies. She stuffed her binder not-so-gently back into her bag and thought over what she was going to do when she got home after work. Usually, she would shower, heat up a hot pocket and call it a day. But today she felt like doing something different. Something... out of the ordinary. She just didn't know what. Not yet, at least.

As she tossed her backpack strap over her shoulder, someone bumped into her back and stepped on the backs of her shoes. It forced her forward, causing her stomach to ram itself into the blunt corner part of the desk.

"Ow!" she yelled.

There was a snickering behind her. She whipped her head around and glared at her assaulter. Whoever thought that it would be a good idea to try to get a rise out of was an idiot. She could understand if it was an accident, but judging by the slight laughter and the lack of an apology told her that the person wasn't the least bit sorry.

She almost choked and laughed at the same time when she saw who it was.

Alek Grayson.

He was like the typical bad boy. Seventeen years old with a chip on his shoulder. A heart breaking, weight lifting, your-daughter-calls-me-daddy-too type of guy that everyone warned some stupid girl about who manages to get caught up in his web of extreme bad boyness and slick smiles. He was exactly what she prided herself on avoiding at all costs. It's not like she had a very big social life to be in the position to talk to a guy as cool and... Daring, if that be the right word, as him in the first place. But it was the principal of the thing.
But now here he was.

A bad boy apple just ready for the picking standing not even a foot away from her.

How revolting.

Winter quirked her eyebrow at him and crossed her arms over her chest. How he even found pushing her into the desk was funny, despite how asshole-like it was, validates that he is nothing but a no good butt face who didn't understand how to treat a girl properly.

"Is there something I can help you with? Or do you always find yourself running into girls for no apparent reason."

He raised his eyebrows up in mild surprise, slightly taken aback, before settling his face back into his usual cool guy exterior.

"Just didn't know how else to get your attention, is all," he said with a half smile. His lip was raised up slightly, a silent little challenge in its own to dare her not to swoon over him just yet. That this is just a small piece of the double chocolate fudge cake, and she wouldn't be able to handle the rest of it even if she was an expert chocolate enthusiast.

It made her feel sick.

"And why on earth would you feel the need to get my attention?" she choked out. He had never paid attention to her before. No one has really paid much attention to her before. Not anyone like him at least. And that was a good thing. She didn't need a no good heart breaking bad boy to come into her life and fuck everything up.

No thank you.

Alek shrugged his shoulders once, yet his smile grew wider. Winter nervously secured her backpack straps around her shoulders. She had a feeling that it would be time for her to make a sudden disappearance very soon.

"I just wanted to get to know the mysterious blue haired girl who never speaks to anyone besides golden boy Donaldson and the sexy Asian girl Angie."

She scoffed. "What's it to you? My friends aren't exactly any of your business and neither is my blue hair."

"I'm just curious."

"That's not a valid reason and this is a stupid conversation."

His smile broadened. "You're right. But that's the only reason I have. And it's only stupid if you want it to be. Right now I think it's perfectly fine."

Winter rolled her eyes and tried to not say a bitter remark to that. She just didn't have the time nor the effort to try to deal with the likes of him. It was weird enough that he'd decided to talk to her at all in the first place. She shouldn't try to think too hard on why the real reason behind that was. Not right now, at least. Right now, she should be heading to work before Vicki had a heart attack and hit her with a marker or something that was small but would hurt.

With a hand motion that indicated that she would be leaving, Winter turned her back to him and walked out as quickly as she could. She'd already encountered enough strangeness today. She didn't need to have any more.

Kristopher was waiting for outside the door to her class by the time she walked through. He always managed to get to her class before she could leave.

He smiled at her when he saw her. She didn't return it. What he did to her earlier still bothered her. And although she said that she would get over it, that didn't necessarily mean that she would be getting over it right now. Not until she got her pizza, and drink, and perhaps a new paint set from him since she didn't feel like buying her own. But even then she would need to still have some time to stop being angry. This wasn't just something that got blown over. It took a lot of time, and a lot of food.

He had yet to provide any of these things.

When he saw that she did not return his grin, his smile slowly began to falter into a frown.

"What? What did I do now?"

She shrugged.

"Nothing that you didn't already do."

His frown deepened.

"Is this still about the whole Stacey thing? You said you would get over it if I gave you pizza."

"And I have yet to see that pizza, my good sir."

He playfully shoved her as they walked down the hall and back to his car. He was upset, she could tell, and decided to pull back some on her discontent. She didn't want to make him upset. Even if he did make her upset by agreeing to going on a date with her archenemy.

Winter shoved him back and mustered up a smile.

"Tell me about your day, stupid."

He smiled at that. He could tell that she was making an effort to cheer him up.

"It was good. Yours?"

Translation: I have been feeling guilty about what happened earlier and wow is your hair looking particularly blue today?

She shrugged. "It was okay. I'm ready for it to be over."

"Ah."

They made it to the student parking lot.

"So I may just be imagining things," Kristopher said. "But I could have sworn that I just saw you talking to Alek a few seconds ago?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I don't know. He's not exactly... Good news."

"Yeah, this is something that I'm aware of."

"So why talk to him?"

Winter cast him a sideways glance.

"Cool your chaps, Krissy. You sound a little peanut butter and jealous."

His eyes widened. "I'm just saying!"

"Yeah, yeah. If you really must know, he's apparently interested in me."

"What? Alek is interested in you?"

"Woah, don't sound so calm about it now. I may not be able to handle it."

"It's just surprising, I guess. You're not normally his type."

"This is also something that I'm aware of."

They made it to the car. Kristopher unlocked it and opened the driver side door. Winter followed his lead and hopped in. She was exhausted from the day and just wanted to go to Work, then home to bed.

"Just be careful. Guys like him don't know how to treat girls. Or anyone in general."

Winter rolled her eyes but smiled. He was always looking out for her, even though she knew right well what was right and what was wrong. Who could be mad at that?

"Okay, Krissy. Whatever you say."

With that, he peeled out of the student lot and headed off in the direction of work.