(just a heads up, i changed stella's name to zoe)

"A babysitter? For you two? Classic!"

After last night's incident with Jane, Mom insisted on hiring a babysitter and Benny, being Benny, just had to take the piss. Why he felt the need to announce it as we walked into high school on our very first day of freshman year, is a mystery to me.

"Shh! Keep it down!" I hissed, punching Benny in the arm and making him wince.

"Yeah, this kind of info could totally ruin mine and Zoe's rep!" Ethan said. Rep? I wasn't aware that we even had a rep considering we've been in high school for a total of two minutes.

"Besides, it's not for us, it's for Jane." I continued.

"Well, on the positive side, one of these premo high school babes could totally be at your house tonight," Benny said to Ethan and I suddenly felt left out of the conversation, "Hey, hot stuff." He winked at one of the girls that walked by. I felt a dull pang of jealousy settle in the pit of my stomach and hated myself for it. Benny flirts with pretty much every girl he comes in contact with, he always has done, I shouldn't let it bother me so much. Well, every girl except me.

"Dude!" Ethan hit Benny in the shoulder, which I was thankful for as I was also one step away from punching Benny again.

"What?!" The boy in the striped hoodie said defensively.

"Anyway, all we know is her name is Erica and she goes to this school." I said, desperate to change the topic.

"With any luck, we can talk our parents out of it by tonight." Ethan added and I nodded in agreement.

"Oh, hey, Principal Hicks, let me give you a hand," A tall, pale guy dressed in all black caught our attention as he walked up to the principal, who was putting up posters about some missing kid, and took his coffee out of his hand.

"Oh, thank you, Jesse. Much better." Principal Hicks smiled gratefully as he finished sticking the poster to the wall.

"Anything for our fearless leader," The guy, apparently named Jesse, smirked as he held up the coffee, "Do you mind?" Before Hicks had a chance to answer, he took a sip of the hot beverage, "Ah, french roast."

"French roast." Hicks repeated in an extremely monotone voice.

"Good choice."

"Good choice."

Jesse then handed the coffee back to Principal Hicks, the smirk never leaving his face as he walked away. He caught the three of us staring and flashed us a smile as he walked by, which made me feel rather uneasy.

"Haha, boys in the drama club, always making a scene." Principal Hicks told us as he, too, saw us watching. Benny mimicked the principal's awkward chuckle while Ethan and I just looked at him weirdly.

"Well, that was...strange," I stated as I turned to my twin brother and our best friend, "Anyway, I'm going to find my locker. Later, losers." I grinned at the two of them, laughing when they glared at me for calling them losers before I wandered off. I soon found my locker and started putting my things inside it, when a girl came and opened the one beside mine.

"Looks like we're locker buddies this year," The girl spoke up after a few minutes, turning to me. She was insanely pretty, with long black hair, smooth tan skin and deep brown eyes, "I'm Sarah."

"I'm, um, Z-Zoe." I replied, my shy side coming out as I was talking to someone I'd never met before and stopping me from stringing together a simple sentence without stuttering.

"I don't think I've seen you around before, so I'm guessing you're a freshman?" She asked with a small, knowing smirk.

"Uh, yeah..." I nodded, letting out an awkward giggle.

"Well, good luck on your first day and don't worry too much, high school's not that scary." She told me with a warm smile before glancing at her watch, "Oh, shoot, I'm almost late. I'll see you around." And with that, she left.

×

"Guys, this is it!" Ethan exclaimed as he joined Benny and I in the lunch line, "Our whole future social lives could depend on how we behave in the next few days," Benny soon stopped listening to my brother and slipped on a pair of bulky, stupid looking goggles.

"What do you think?" He asked me and Ethan. I couldn't help but giggle at how silly Benny looked but Ethan wasn't finding it quite so amusing.

"Benny!" Ethan hissed, ripping the goggles off of his head.

"Those are state of the art alien DNA detector goggles!" Benny whined.

"Yeah, so?" Ethan deadpanned.

"A high school cafeteria is an ideal place to test them out!" Benny continued.

"Yeah, and to brand us as dorks for the next four years!" Ethan argued.

"Just give me the goggles!"

"No!" They started fighting over the stupid goggles which made me pretty uncomfortable since I was stood right between the two.

"Just give me the goggles!"

"You promise to be cool?"

"Give me the goggles or I will hurt-"

"Ethan, just give him the damn goggles before someone gets hurt, like me!" I finally snapped, putting a hand of each of their chests and pushing them away so I was no longer squished between the rowdy teenage boys.

"Sorry, Zoe." They both mumbled in unison, acting like two little boys who had just been told off by their mother as Ethan handed the goggles back to Benny. I smirked triumphantly to myself.

"Hey! Hey, guys, over here!" A familiar voice called and we all turned to see the mop of blonde hair and dorky glasses that we knew all too well, stood at the front of the lunch line.

"Rory..." Benny sighed while I just giggled at him. I liked Rory, in a totally platonic way, of course. Sure, he's super dorky and a bit of a handful, but he's adorable and totally harmless. Like a puppy, I guess.

"The four amigos ride again!" He grinned, "Any of you guys got a buck twenty-eight?" He practically shouted and I chuckled as I shoved my hand in my pocket and fished out the money before handing it to Rory, who smiled and thanked me before paying for his food.

"Okay, that's it. I'm getting away from you guys or I am doomed to be-" Ethan began to walk away, only to bump into a girl, who happened to be the girl I met earlier, Sarah, and spilled his sloppy Joe all down her pretty pink top.

"Dork!" She gasped in annoyance, "Thank you, so much!" She sarcastically added before storming off. Well, that went well...

Benny then walked over to stand next to Ethan, putting the goggles back on as he checked Sarah out, "That is one fantastic tower of babe-alon." That feeling returned to my stomach, but a hint of sadness was there, too. There was no denying that Sarah was gorgeous, way prettier than I'd ever be, so of course Benny would like her.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when Ethan complained about Benny's goggles again before dragging me, him and Rory over to a table.

"No way!" Benny said, staring at something - or someone - on the other side of the cafeteria, "That babe you branded is friends with her?!" I followed Benny's dreamy gaze and spotted Sarah sat with a blonde girl with red glasses, wearing a Dusk t-shirt.

"Who?" I asked, trying not to let it show how much I already disliked this girl just because of the way Benny was looking at her, "Stage one Dusker girl?"

"Her name is Erica and she is the Princess Leia to my Han Solo." Benny sighed happily and suddenly, that feeling was back again, but stronger than before, "Hey, maybe, she's your babysitter for tonight." Jealousy and even a hint of anger bubbled in my stomach as Benny continued to stare at Erica but I also felt an overwhelming sense of sadness again. I almost felt as if I was going to cry as I thought about the fact that Benny would probably never look at me in that way.

"Okay, first of all," Ethan began but I didn't pay much attention to what he said as I stared down at my lunch tray, "In no universe are you Han,"

"I doubt it's the same Erica." I mumbled, subtly glaring at the beautiful blonde and hoping she wasn't our babysitter.

"You're right, probably too good to be true. I'mma go find out." Benny announced, standing up.

"Wait, what?" My eyes widened as he started walking over to their table.

"Benny? Benny!" Ethan whisper-yelled, probably afraid of him saying something stupid in front of the girls and embarrassing us.

"Way to go Benny!" Rory beamed.

"Shut up!" Ethan hissed at him as Benny sat down at Sarah and Erica's table.

"Hi there," Benny smirked at the two girls, specifically Erica, "Are you by any chance babysitting the Morgans tonight?"

"Yeah, why, do you know their kids?" Erica replied.

"Yeah, they're actually my buddies, they're sitting right over...there..." Ethan buried his face in his arms when Benny pointed over and I looked away, feeling my face heat up, "They're a bit shy... See ya around."

"Think she'll tuck you in tonight?" Rory laughed as Benny came back over.

"Shut up!" Ethan snapped at him while I kicked his leg under the table.

"I think she likes me! I think she likes me!" Benny practically squealed and I rolled my eyes, my chest feeling heavy with jealousy once again.

"You two are being babysat by a Dusker! I heard fans of Dusk are so lame!" Rory continued to torment us but I couldn't have cared less. I had other things on my mind.

"You should talk, you still sleep in Starship enterprise jammies." Ethan snorted.

"Dusk is based on fairy tale creatures, Star Trek is based on actual physics!" Rory protested.

"True, but if fairy tales is what it takes to nab my future wife, I'm in!" Benny smirked and that was the last straw. I couldn't sit there and listen to Benny talk about having a future with this girl when it hurt so much, even though deep down I knew Benny would never have the guts to actually ask her out.

"I gotta go," I muttered, standing up.

"What? Why?" Benny frowned, looking genuinely disappointed that I was leaving. I was too frustrated to notice, though.

"I just do." I grumbled before storming off. I left the cafeteria but as I turned a corner in the hallway, I ended up bumping into somebody. I panicked a little when I looked up and saw that tall, pale guy from earlier. Jesse, wasn't that his name?

"Careful, freshman," He smirked down at me, before he gave me a fake pout, "Now, that's not a happy face, is it?" He observed since I was still upset about Benny and Erica and I guess my facial expression gave it away.

"Uh, I-I need to uh...use the bathroom..." I stuttered before turning and quickly walking away from the intimidating, raven haired guy and making a beeline for the girls bathroom.

  ×

"Hey, Zoe," Sarah greeted me with a friendly grin when we met each other at our lockers at the end of the day.

"Hey, Sarah." I smiled back shyly as we both closed our lockers and ended up walking out of school side by side.

"Sarah, hey, wait up!" A perky voice called and both Sarah and I turned around to see Erica running over to us. I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes upon seeing her. I felt bad, she was probably a really nice girl but I was automatically hating her just because Benny liked her.

"Hey, Erica." Sarah smiled at her friend.

"Who's this?" Erica soon noticed me.

"Oh, this is Zoe." Sarah introduced me and I just smiled awkwardly.

"Aren't you one of the Morgan kids? Weren't you sitting at the table that the kid in the striped sweater pointed out at lunch?" Erica asked, squinting at me as if she was trying to remember me from earlier.

"You mean Benny," I said, not meaning to sound quite so defensive, "And, uh, y-yeah... I might be..." I trailed off, turning a crimson colour from embarrassment.

"You need a babysitter?" Sarah asked with a small smirk. It wasn't a mean or tormenting smirk, just an amused one.

"Jane does," I quickly corrected her before turning a darker shade of red when I realised they didn't know who Jane was and probably had no idea what I was on about, "My little sister... Anyways, I should probably go and find my brother and our friend, the kid in the striped sweater, since we're walking home together..." I awkwardly dismissed myself before going to find Ethan and Benny. I found them walking out of school and joined them.

"Hi." I mumbled, appearing next to Benny. I didn't notice the smile that crawled onto his face as soon as he saw me.

"Hey, Zo." Ethan said.

"Zoe, hey," Benny said before looking back down at his phone, "Check it out, looks like they found the rest of that missing senior."

"The rest?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah, says here he was all shrivelled up," Benny explained and I scrunched my nose up in disgust, "Kinda like this juice box." He squeezed the juice box that was in his hand and it went all over me.

"Benny!" I gasped, glaring up at him as I wiped my sleeve over his face. Meanwhile, Ethan was almost crying with laughter.

"I am so sorry, I-I didn't mean to... Here, let me help..." He pulled his own sleeve over his hand and tried to clean the juice off of my face with it. I could feel my cheeks heating up at how small the space between us was and at the feeling of him touching my face.

"Benny... B-Benny, I think it's okay now..." I gently pushed Benny's hand away with a soft giggle.

"Right... Sorry, again..." He said awkwardly, his own cheeks a crimson colour. He then glanced up and it seemed as though something had caught his eye. Ethan and I followed his gaze and spotted Sarah and Jesse arguing.

"Oh, bummer, looks like she's already hooked up with Mr Too-Cool-For-School." Benny said as Rory came over.

"Did somebody mention my name?" The blonde grinned and I couldn't help but chuckle at him. We continued to watch Sarah and Jesse as they walked over to Jesse's car, where the rest of his drama club friends and Erica were. Sarah said something else to Jesse, still not looking very happy, before she stormed off. We couldn't really hear what they were saying from where we were stood, except for when Erica threw her fist in the air and yelled after Sarah, "Dusk forever?!"

"Something's not right about that drama club." Ethan muttered and I nodded, agreeing with my raven haired twin. One of Jesse's friends said something to Erica which made her blush and I felt myself smirking. With any luck, they'll end up together and Benny will over his dumb crush on her.

"I am so going to your house tonight..." Benny crushed any hope I had of him getting over Erica when he sighed dreamily while staring at her, and suddenly, all the negative emotions I felt at lunch came rushing back.

"Great." I mumbled sarcastically. The last thing I needed was Benny drooling over Erica in my own house.

"Yeah, the more mathletes the merrier." Ethan added just as sarcastically.

"Can I come?" Rory piped up.

"No!" Both Ethan and Benny said.

"Sorry, Ror," I giggled, ruffling his hair. The drama guys all got in their car and came screeching past us, almost running us over. Benny grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the way, his arm wrapping around my waist protectively when I slammed back into his chest, causing heat and colour to rush to my cheeks.

"Watch it nerds!" One of the guys yelled out the window. I quickly remembered he'd been gawking at Erica only a couple minutes ago and yanked myself out of Benny's grip, but instantly regretted it as I wished for his arms to be wrapped around me again.