Cassidy walked into History prepared for war.

She had in her backpack, the mostly finished project final.

She would give the jocks assignments, and they would fight her. Then she would ignore them, and they would do nothing.

She'd give Shay-James a write-up while she did the other one, and then when Mr. Gurshed came to collect the project, she would pull out the finished parts that the jocks would take credit for.

Easy.

And then she would finish her novel.

Cassidy slammed her bag down onto the desk and dragged up a chair.

"Alright." Cassidy announced. "Let's get going-"

"Cassidy, I understand that you have a lot to express, but may I address my class please?" Mr. Gurshed drawled.

Of course, no one pointed out that

1) literally everyone had been talking, Cassidy had just been the only one standing.

And 2) the class didn't officially start for another three minutes and four kids weren't even there yet.

Cassidy shot him her patented, 'I-hate-you' smile.

"Thank you for allowing me to speak." Mr. Gurshed sneered.

That's right. Cassidy thought. I should've punched your loud mouth and shut you up.

Except for that was illegal, and as much as Cassidy practiced, her right hook was not actually that great.

"We have a new student. Mr. Henderson is very promising." Mr. Gurshed started.

Aka, I'm scouting him for the athletics department. Cassidy mentally translated.

"Leo is joining us a couple months late into the year, so if you could all be understanding about his present progress, that would be fantastic. I've appointed him the new Team Leader of a group that needs some help."

Um, they were on their final projects? What. The. Fudge?

"Mr. Henderson, my boys at the back will catch you up. Say hello to your new group. There are some people who struggle..."

His eyes looked right at Cassidy.

"But I know that you're a natural leader, and I don't expect miracles."

What.

The.

Actual.

Heck?!

He had just made the new kid team leader during the final project.

And insinuated that she was a problem child!

Cassidy moved her death glare to her new "team leader".

He was unexpectedly tall. Definite muscle head. Probably star athlete at a school that actually had a good athletics program. No wonder Gurshed was sucking up.

He walked over to their group with a lazy grin and Cassidy's eyes narrowed.

He had confident posture. Arrogant. He was wearing a zip up jacket, a slight variation of the classic jock choice: the hoodie.

Underneath that was a bright mint t-shirt. Worn blue jeans, black sneakers and a tattered backpack slung over one shoulder completed the ensemble.

But. You know, Cassidy liked to think optimistically.

Maybe he was actually a nice guy.

Then Derek the doofus raised his hand in greeting and cemented New Guy's doom.

New Guy high fived the three jocks that had been making Cassidy's life miserable before sitting in the desk next to her.

"Um, so I'm not sure what's happening." He admitted.

The jocks gave him reassurances that he did not need to worry. They had it covered.

"Hey, actually-" Cassidy started.

"Hey, actually, Henderson is Leader. You can't harass us with a new kid here. Have some self-respect, Clemontine." Ivan mimicked.

Cassidy's jaw clacked shut.

Now they were making her look like a dumb floozy.

Fine.

New Guy put his hands out in a calming manner.

"Hey. Everyone calm down. We aren't gonna have any problems." He spoke, his eyes resting on Cassidy.

Who hated him on sight.

Screw optimism.

Cassidy waited until Derek made his inevitable conversation switch to football before pulling her book out and opening it beneath the desk.

She got two more chapters in. The characters were developing. Changing. The author had done a fantastic job.

"Cassidy."

Mr. Gurshed walked over.

Cassidy groaned.

"I'm putting it away-"

"The office needs you." He said flatly.

"Oh." Cassidy closed the book and slid it to her other side, totally taking it with her.

"Oo. She's probably in trouble." Derek commented, his face full of what looked like true concern.

Cassidy wasn't buying it. She rolled her eyes and made her way to the door.

"Oh, and Cassidy?" Mr. Gurshed added. "Leave the riveting reading material in your backpack with your other distractions."

Cassidy faced the humiliation of walking back, putting the novel into her backpack, and then feeling the eyes on her as she left again.