I jumped when the bell rang. My classmates sitting nearby looked over and laughed under their breath. Stifling a yawn, I looked to the front of the room and noticed a dark-haired boy I didn’t recognise was talking to the teacher.

Rubbing my eyes, I pulled out my textbook and notebook. As I dug threw by bag looking for my pencil case, someone stopped in the isle beside my desk. Looking up, I saw the same new boy, staring down at me.

“What’s wrong with your hair?” He asked.

The bored tone he used pissed me off. I gave him my signature glare, punctuated perfectly by my icy blue eyes. “Bleach. I dyed it.”

He smirked. “You look like a ghost.”

“Better than a shadow.” I shot back.

I turned away and looked out the window beside me. Since my class was on the third floor, the view offered was incredible. It was ruined, however, when the boy sat at the empty desk beside me.

When class started, I tried my best to ignore him, but he kept looking over at me. By the time lunch rolled around, I was starting to get goosebumps.

“Have you been shown around, yet?” A girl named Ashley asked him, twirling her hair over her shoulder. She looked down at his notebook. “Daren Sanders? I had a cat named Daren when I was a kid.”

“Did it scratch you?” He retorted, causing me to snicker despite my anger.

Ashley shot me a glare, flipped her hair over her shoulder, and gave Daren a heavily glossed smile. “I can show you around if you’d like.”

“Can’t.” Daren pushed back his chair and picked up his bag. “I have something to take care of.” He walked around her and out the door.

“Sorry princess.” I said, packing up my own bag. “Maybe the frisbee team needs motivation.”

She slammed her hand down on Daren’s empty desk. “Shut it, freak.” She turned and walked away.

I sighed and lay my head on my desk. “Dawn, hurry up and come back. I’m bored.”

When lunch ended, Daren didn’t come back and I was able to focus on afternoon classes. Which was lucky, since there was a science test covering biology, my worst topic.

After the final bell rang, I pulled out my phone and checked my emails. I had a message from Dawn and was ecstatic to see that she would be back from Spain in a couple days. I sent her a reply about what she’s missed. I left out Daren because I was still mad.

“Tomorrow’s a new day.” I told myself as I exited the school. “Maybe he was just nervous about his first day. He could be really nice.”

My optimism lasted through the night, but was shattered when I returned to the classroom the next morning. I was expecting to be the first one there, like I usually was, but Daren had beat me.

He had pulled my chair away and crouched, looking through my desk. “What are you doing?!” I yelled.

He looked up, glaring. “Where did you put it?” He reached into my desk and pulled everything out. “I know you have it, so where is it?”

I ran into the room and smacked him with my bag. “What’s your problem? Didn’t anyone teach you manners?”

His hand shot out and gripped my neck. “I don’t have time for this. Where is the tiara?”

I dropped my bag and grabbed his arm. His grip wasn’t tight enough to chock me, but it was painful. “You’re crazy.”

“Let her go, Daren.” Someone said from the door. “You know she can’t fight back.”

Daren glanced over, but his grip didn’t loosen. “Of course you’d be here, Aiden.”

“I was in this school long before you, cousin.”

I craned my neck and was able to make out Aiden Ignis, star of the soccer team, standing in the doorway. He was clutching at his lucky charm, a blood red stone in a vial attached to a string around his neck. He walked into the room and closed the door behind him. Raising his hand, I noticed it was dancing with fire.

Daren laughed. “You really think you can beat me? I’ve been training since I was a kid, while you gave up years ago.”

“I couldn’t do any more without her.” Aiden glanced at me before returning his attention to Daren. “My next step was to find the Princess. But it looks like you beat me too her.”