Nico kept her head down as she walked through the school halls avoiding eye contact with everyone. She stopped at her locker and adjusted the helmet tucked under her arm before focusing on opening her locker, tuning out the students around her.

"You thought that you could hide from me?" someone called out from behind Nico, startling her and causing her to drop her helmet. Nico whipped her head, feeling the anger rise in her only to disappear when she locked eyes with the person behind her.

"Nobody is hiding, Nate," Nico said, annoyed at her best friend turning back around and facing her locker.

"Well, not anymore because I caught you," Nate said, grabbing her helmet off the floor and passing it to her before leaning on the locker next to her. Nico grabbed her helmet after throwing open the locker and shoved her helmet inside, slamming her locker shut. Nico closed her eyes and sighed before glancing at her friend, observing her.

"What's going on, Nate?" Nico asked, leaning on her locker and crossing her arms.

"I don't feel like going to first period wanna cut?" Nate said, shrugging his shoulders, pulling out his phone, reading through his messages, and waiting for her response. Nico gave a little laugh, and Nate glanced at her, confused, before turning back to his phone.

"I wish, but I can't," Nico said, turning to Nate and watching him text his new entertainment for the week.

"Well, you could just give Mrs. Darcy a good excuse," Nate said as his eyes were glued to his phone.

"Yea, that's not happening. You know that she hates me, and if I give her some bs excuse of why I wasn't in class, you know that she won't believe it," Nico said as she pushed herself off her locker and started to walk down the hall. Nate watched Nico walk away and shake his head before moving himself off the lockers shoving his phone in his back pocket and proceeding to catch up with her.

"Whatever you say, Nic. I'm just saying it wouldn't kill you to break some rules," Nate said, walking along the side of her.

"Yea, and have my dad punish me for cutting class. No thanks," Nico said, walking into the classroom with Nate in tow. 

The classroom was filled with students, keeping themself entertained until Mrs. Darcy arrived. Some sit in groups laughing and others talking, and others are by themself, studying or playing on their phones. Nico reached her desk by the window and sat in the chair, throwing her bag on top. Nate sat at the desk in front of her, spinning the chair around, facing her, and resuming the earlier conversation.

"You know I would love for your dad to punish me for being bad," Nate said seductively, and Nico shuddered at the thought of Nate's crush on her dad.

"Nate, please, he is still my father at the end of the day. Please don't make it creepy," Nico said in disgust.

"What, you can't blame me for loving that fine piece of milk chocolate," Nate said, biting his lower lip and fantasizing about Nico's dad. Nico chuckled at Nate as she started to pull her book for this class. Suddenly a group of girls walked up to Nate and Nico, which made Nico suppress a groan. One of the girls with wavy long blonde hair and green eyes with cherry red lips matched her red eye shadow, leading the other two girls with matching short brown ponytails. Nico sighed and pretended to ignore them, hoping they would leave, but they stood there staring at Nico.

"Wow, Nico, you are here on time for once." The blonde girl in the middle of the other two girls said, knowing that standing in front of her would be pointless.

"Hello to you too, Megan," Nico said as she continued to pull the rest of the material for the class.

"You know I say you look good today, but who am I kidding? You never look good even if you tried," Megan said, twirling her long blonde hair between her fingers before flipping it over her shoulder. Nico rolls her eyes, already done with the conversation if that is what you call it.

"If I ignore them, maybe they will go away." Nico thought, rolling her eyes, pulling out her phone, and checking her work schedule for the week. Megan grew annoyed that she was being ignored, so she decided to get a rise out of Nico.

"So, I decided I was going to throw a party this weekend at my place," Megan said, checking her expensive nails.

"Oh my gosh, Megan, your parties are amazing," One of Megan's friends says.

"Yea, it is. You know everyone is invited well, not everyone. You have to be cool to come, so it looks like you're not invited, " Megan said, pointing at Nico.

"Damn, that's crazy," Nico said, resting her chin on her hand. Nate chuckled at Nico and her lack of interest. Megan glared at Nico, but before she could respond, the teacher interrupted her by walking into the classroom before doing anything.

"Okay, I don't care what conversation you guys are having; end it, head to your assigned seat, and get rid of the phones. You know what happens when I see them," Mrs. Darcy said, setting up her lesson for today. Nico slid her phone into her pocket, and Nate smiled at Nico before getting up from the desk and walking off toward his desk across the classroom. Nico stared at Mrs. Darcy as she started to address the class.

"Okay, last week I told you that we would be starting a new project about the town's history. And before you start picking your partners, try it with another class because I will be assigning your partners," Mrs. Darcy said as the class groaned. 

Mrs. Darcy started to talk about the lesson plan, and Nico started to zone out, turning towards the window looking out. When she looked out the window, she saw a clear view of the woods in the distance past the football field. Nico always wondered what was in there, she always thought there was something more than just trees and wild animals, but she knows that her theories are just that. Nico's vision was suddenly blocked by someone's hand waving in front of her face. So she snapped her head towards the person blocking her view and locked eyes with a pair of amber eyes.

"Hm, interesting. Why is he here," Nico thought as she continued to stare at a pair of amber eyes. Nico shook her head, shifting her attention toward her desk. The guy slid into the chair in front of her turning it to face Nico properly, and she stared at him. Nico saw that he was talking but didn't register what he said because she tuned out, looking back out the window.

"You know we have to talk to pass this assignment," he said, causing Nico to snap her attention back to want he was saying.

"I- I'm sorry w- what did you say?" Nico managed to get out.

"Weren't you paying attention?" He said, arching an eyebrow and leaning back into his chair, crossing his arms.

Nico rubbed the back of her neck, very embarrassed. "Well, I only got half of it," she said, staring back at her desk.

"Unbelievable, Mrs. Darcy picked partners, and she paired us together," He said, looking at her, annoyed, and Nico started to curse at herself mentally. 

"Crap, maybe I should have cut after all," Nico thought, staring at those amber eyes, starting to feel a sense of dread the more she stared into them.