After the entire class had presented their poems, Mr. Whells glanced at his watch and observed the time. He grimaced and looked at the classroom clock hopefully, almost as if he wanted the time on his watch to be incorrect. He sighed and looked at us all apologetically.

“ I’m afraid class, that we do not have enough time to write individual poetry today. That will have to be put off until tomorrow.”
I tried not to show the relief washing over me, and faked disappointment, as did Aura. Mr. Whells glanced at us and shared a moment of sympathy.

“ Yes, I know girls. What terrible luck.” He said, dissatisfaction setting in his voice. I nodded solemnly in response. “ Luckily we all get a head start today!” he gushed. Instantly my head shot up and let my eyes gaze into Mr. Whells’, curiously. Was he messing with us? The wide grin on his face told me otherwise. He was serious all right.

For five whole, mind bending minutes, I had to sit in front of a blank piece of paper. I stared at my pencil, half expecting it to pick itself up and write an entire poem by itself, but it did not. I picked up the pencil and wrote the word poem at the top of the page, then set it back down. Mr. Whells seemed to notice my apprehension.

“ Millie, are you feeling well?” He asked. I looked up to stare at the face of the man who subjugated me to this torture.

“ I feel absolutely fine.” I answered. He looked content with my reply, and returned to grading our essays from two days ago. “ If you call, wanting to kill yourself instead of writing a single bloody poem, fine.” I muttered.

“ Pardon?” asked Mr. Whells. I looked back up and smiled.

“ Nothing.” I said. I turned back to my work but instead of writing words; I drew a picture of a man being hanged for torturing young students. “If only,” I thought.
Just then, Draven nudged me in the ribs. I jumped up and narrowed my eyes at him. He coughed and motioned his head towards the door. Hesitantly I turned to look and saw a tall, handsome, pale, dark-haired student standing in the doorway. I looked back at Draven questioningly and waited for him to answer. Instead Mr. Whells spoke up.

“ May I help you?” He asked. The student’s eyes scanned the room, but his gaze lingered on me the longest. A shiver slid down my back. The look in his dull grey eyes startled me; for a second I thought I was staring back into the eyes of a fresh corpse. He turned to look at the teacher and smiled, warmly. The look he had in his eyes had vanished now replaced by warm, very light blue color.

“ I am the exchange student from Greece.” He said, in what seemed to be a faint accent.
Mr. Whells nodded. “ The exchange student from Greece.” He echoed. “ Well, I suppose since we only have three minutes left of class, there really is no point in finding you a seat. Oh, pardon me; I am Mr. Whells, the English teacher.”

“ Yes, I know.” Replied the ‘exchange student from Greece.’

“ And you are…?”

“ I am Darius. Darius Shadow.” He answered, impatiently. He looked around as if he were still looking for someone.
Draven nudged me again. I turned around and widened my eyes in irritation. “What?” I nearly shouted. He leaned towards my ear and whispered:

“ Look at his left hand.” I pulled away and glared at him before turning around to see what importance the hand of this Darius person had for Draven. Then I saw them; three distinct markings on his thumb, all small and elaborate, but visible. They were very elegant and beautiful, probably something in Greek, but that’s not what held my attention. They seemed to have a soft glow to them; the brilliance of them captivated me. It was like the markings were pulling me in. I shook that notion out of my head at once, and turned back to Draven.

“ What about them?” I said, a bit less irascibly.

“ I don’t know about you, but they seem to be glowing.” He whispered.

“So I wasn’t just imagining it,” I thought.

“ You noticed too?” I said; though not sure if I should be glad for my sanity, or worried for the eeriness, and abnormality of the situation. Draven nodded. I turned my torso all the way so it faced the front of the room, and stared down at the piece of paper I had drawn a very unfortunate fate for Mr. Whells on.

“ Aura.” I whispered, unsure if she had heard me. She turned her head slightly and whispered back:

“Yes?”

“ Look at his left hand and tell me what you see.” I said. She looked at me confused for a brief second, then reluctantly turned to look at Darius, and gasped.

“ Millie, his hand is glowing.” She said, panicked.

“ No, not his hand. Look closer.” I instructed. She did as I asked her to.

“ Those are some strange markings.” She contemplated.

“ I know. What do you think this means?” I asked. Her face scrunched up in confusion.

“ That they’ve somehow found a way to make glowing tattoos in Greece?” She said, and shrugged.

“ Don’t be silly Aura.” I scolded. Though it would be pretty awesome if they had invented glowing tattoos. I can’t imagine what they would do to your skin. I shuddered at the thought.

“ I don’t know Millie; glowing tattoos seem pretty rational to me right now. I mean compared to all the other possibilities surging through my head. What do you think?” She asked. I was about to speak, but the second hour bell rang, and every student stood from their seat and rushed out the door.

Mr. Whells was still telling Darius all about the class, and informing him that we were currently writing poetry. I didn’t dare chance a second look at him; I could still remember what he looked like as if the image were taped to my brain. He was dark-haired, muscular tall, probably nine inches taller than me, wore a tight black t-shirt and a dark, close to black pair of jeans; he had on black converse and his semi-long, dark brown hair was in disarray. I could even remember the cold greeting he gave me when my eyes met his grey, mysteriously attractive ones. I didn’t know why it was directed towards me, but then again I didn’t really care.

If I had to guess, I’d say half the girls in the class were already in love with him. He wasn’t bad looking, I admit, but yet he didn’t have that particular appeal to me. It must have been the way he looked daggers at me that repelled my interest. Whatever it was, it didn’t matter; the last thing I want or need, to put it simply, is to trip over the new guy.

“ So what were you going to say before the bell rang, Millie?” Asked Aura, disrupting my chain of thoughts, as Draven, she, and I walked down the hall. Again I opened my mouth to speak, but out of nowhere, Eliza, Rain, and Orion appeared.

Eliza didn’t hesitate to take Draven’s hand and stand on her tiptoes to plant a full kiss on his lips. They held each other, kissing for what seemed eternity, and I couldn’t help but laugh at Rain’s reaction; her face was taking on a sea-green look.

“ Excuse me!” She practically yelled. The two lovebirds broke part, with small, satisfied smiles on their faces. “ Could you two get a room? It’s really disturbing watching my best friend make out with my twin brother, in the middle of the hall.”

Draven’s face reddened a tiny bit, barely coloring his cheeks at all, and Eliza rolled her eyes. They still held hands as they turned to walk to their next class together. I smiled at the sight. I was really happy for them, I really was. Those two were so perfect for each other. They have so much in common, it’s a wonder they aren’t related.

“ Are you coming?” asked Orion. I spun around and smiled. Great! Drama. Fun, fun, fun.

When Orion and I walked into the class, everyone including the drama teacher, Mrs. Bates turned to glare at us. Mrs. Bates is an old, motherly, but strict teacher. Usually she adores me, but today she didn’t seem to like me at all. Her face was grim, and the grimace she put on when she saw me enter through the door was something I could not fathom. I froze at the doorway, confused, until Orion put his hand on my shoulder and gently pushed me inside. Slowly, and reluctantly I took my usual seat in the back, and Orion followed.

“As I was saying before Mr. Reyes and Miss Starbright walked in, I have grave news.” She said. Her voice sounded frail, and worn out. I was worried now. “ My son passed away over the weekend in a terrible plane crash, and I…” her voice cracked, and she started sobbing. Her voice was like mournful bells crying on the wind; I felt really terrible. Brett, one of the more promising actors in this class stood and offered her a tissue. She took it, wiped her tears and smiled at his thoughtfulness. He sat back down, and soon half the class was swarming around her, offering condolences and sharing this moment of grief with her.

“ Alright, alright. Everyone take your seats. I am not finished telling you the news.” She cried. Everyone did just that and sat in silence. Even Sophia Diamond was being compassionate for once! Sophia is the richest, most popular girl in my grade. To make a long story short, she, and her little friends, Kiki and Emma are intolerable.

She’s probably just sucking up, I though. Yes, that’s it. Sophia can’t stand that I’m a better actress than she is, and Mrs. Bates prefers of me over her. I always get the lead roles, and she gets second best. This was all an act; I just knew it.

“ I am going into an early retirement.” She announced. “ Tomorrow you will have a new teacher. I’ve heard many great things about him, so please make sure feels at home.”

“ What?” I shouted, and stood from my seat. Everyone’s gaze was on me. Slowly, I sat back down.

“ I am sorry Millie, but this will be my last day with you all.” She said, trying not to cry again. I couldn’t believe this was happening.

“ You can’t do this.” I whined. Mrs. Bates’ eyes widened.

“ Millicent Starbright, you can’t possibly mean what you say.” She said. Incredulity was evident in her voice. The entire class chuckled. I didn’t have to guess to know why; my name is pretty bad. My cheeks reddened.

“ I truly am sorry Millie. I don’t like deserting you like this, but I’ve already made up my mind.” Her eyes flickered to the ground as she said this.

I wondered what Sophia must be thinking of all this. I stole a glance and saw all I needed to know. Her lips were curved up into a dainty smile. I wanted to go over there and bite her pretty little blonde head off, but of course I didn’t. When she saw me glaring her way, she smiled wide and turned back, pretending she didn’t notice me sending her death glares.

“ Millie, calm down.” Orion whispered in my ear.

“ What?” I said, bemused. He glanced down at my hands as indication. They were balled up into tight fists, and the skin was paper white right over were my knuckles tried to poke out. I unclenched them, and folded my hands neatly on the desk. I sat in silence for a minute before I spoke again.

“ Thanks.” I mumbled. Orion raised an eyebrow.

“ For what?”

“ For distracting me before I murdered her.” I smiled, and he laughed, drawing everyone’s attention. A few people sent us murderous glares. It took me while to realize why; it was apparent this wasn’t the time to be making jokes, Mrs. Bates was grieving, and we should show some respect.

After class, I said goodbye to Orion and made my way to Pre-Cal. I still couldn’t figure out how I was placed in this class. I mean, I did take the mathematics placement exam, but I didn’t think I did this well. Heck! Last year I was in geometry; I basically skipped Algebra II. Freshmen year they made us take this silly little math course instead of going straight to geometry. I wasn’t too thrilled, but at least I aced the class.

I saw Eliza up ahead, so I quickened my pace to catch up to her. I was twenty feet away when I bumped into Phillip Diamond, Sophia’s older brother, causing him to drop the only textbook in his hands.

“ Oops, I’m so sorry.” I apologized. He didn’t look very happy as he bent down to pick it up, and grumbled, without looking up to see who had actually crashed into him.

“ Next time watch where you’re going.” He said, rudely. Things like this usually never happen to Phillip Diamond on a regular basis, I could tell. The Diamond family lawyers would probably visit anyone with the nerve to do it, seeing as how both his parents are one.

“ I really am sorry Phillip.” I apologized again.

“ Yeah, whatever.” He said. He finally looked up and froze when he saw me.

“ What? Do I have something on my face?” I gasped, and covered my face with both hands. He hesitated an answer.

“ No. You’re fine.” He said, almost in a whisper. I peeked between two fingers and sighed when I saw he wasn’t laughing. People usually do when they see I have gunk on my face.

“ Then what is it?” I asked, nervously.

“ Nothing. I just didn’t know it was you.”

“ Oh. Who did you think it was?” I questioned.

“ No one. I mean, someone I don’t know.” He replied. I was confused.

“ And you think you know me?” I said, puzzled.

“ Well, I know who you are.” He amended. I nodded. I glanced at my watch. Crap. I was late.

“ Oh my gosh!” I gasped. “Again, I’m really sorry for crashing into you. I’m actually late for class.”

“ It’s alright.” He assured. “ You better hurry. I hear Dr. McHale isn’t very forgiving.” He teased. I turned my head around to roll my eyes at him as I walked toward class.

“ Yeah, I know.” I smiled. “ Thanks for the reminder.”

“ No problem.” He said, smiling back.

When I walked in, I rushed to my seat beside Eliza. Dr. McHale’s back was turned to the class. He was too busy writing on the board to realize I was late.

“ Why are you late?” Hissed Eliza.

“ I ran into someone.” I answered.

“ Millie, I know you love to talk, but did you really have to stop and do it this time?”

“ No, the thing is I literally ran into someone. Or… at least walked into them, really fast.” I said, sheepishly. Eliza shook her head.

“ Who?”

“ Phillip Diamond.” I said it almost as if I were embarrassed.

“ Really?” She asked, incredulously. “ Did he get all ‘grr’ about it?”

I laughed. “ No. In fact he was pretty cool about it all.” I informed.

“ Hmm. That’s strange. We are talking about the Phillip Diamond, hot, millionaire extraordinaire, older sibling to the wicked witch of the east: Sophia Diamond, right?”

“ Yes, that Phillip Diamond. Is there really any another?” I rolled my eyes.

“ I don’t know.” She speculated. “ What are you implying with ‘ Is there really any other?’”

“ Nothing! What are you implying?”

“ Nothing, only that I think you have the hots for Phillip Diamond, is all.” She shrugged.

“ You serious?” I snapped. She nodded. “ Choke!”

“ No, you choke. I can’t believe you would fall for someone like Phillip Diamond.” She whispered, angrily.

“ Oh my gosh. You are insulting me. I do not have the slightest feeling for him, nor am I inclined to ever have any.”

“ Lie to yourself all you want, Millie. Just remember, there is no fooling me.” She glared at me for a brief moment, then turned her full attention to the board and started jotting down notes.

I followed her example but sooner than had been anticipated, class ended, and everyone in Highbury Academy had only one destination in mind: the lunch commons.