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Damon listened idly as Ms. Sherwood continued to define and give examples of some math functions to the class. She had been talking for almost thirty minutes straight now and Damon's attention had drifted somewhere in that time. Where his attention drifted had been pretty random. For a moment, he thought about his family, smiling to himself as he remembered how his mother had run out of the house, waving Ros's emergency card and Caleb's lunch just as he had been about to back out of the driveway. He thought about Riley and Vin and the guys for a moment as well and thought about the after school workout they'd be getting in football practice this afternoon. He thought about Vin and Mr. West in the room next door and remembered being on the frosh football team with Mr. West as their coach. Damon then thought about a certain girl inside Mr. West's class and tried to fight the sudden urge to smile.
He recounted how he had caught a glimpse of her rushing into the school just as the warning bell had rung. He had watched as she expertly moved her way through the crowds of people moving towards their own respective lockers and classes so she could go to her own locker. He had smiled, said his quick good-byes to the guys, and went to catch up with the girl that had caught his attention in their first literal run-in with each other the week before. "You know, for having only been here for two days, you move around the crowds like a natural," was his greeting to her that morning.
She hadn't bother looking at him when she answered. "Not that hard considering I had to do this at a high school much larger than this one."
"Show off," he grinned.
"How do you know I'm showing off? I could just be bluffing and be a real natural, as you would call it," she winked to him as she grabbed one last binder and slammed the locker door shut.
"You answered me honestly and without thinking. Now, unless you had that answer rehearsed for a morning just like this so that it would come this naturally to you when undoubtedly asked, there'd be no reason for you to be bluffing."
She just laughed at him as the two of them walked quickly up a flight of stairs and on towards their respective classes. "You know, for a Monday morning, you're surprisingly awake. That was a really complicated sentence you just used on me."
"I do that sometimes," he said as they reached her class, grinning. "It throws people off when they realize I'm more than your average, typical jock. Anyway, happy Monday morning," he said, dropping her off.
"You too," she replied before ducking in to the classroom.
He himself had taken his seat with just a few seconds to spare, warranting him a look from Ms. Sherwood, a woman who was known to start class promptly after the bell rang.
And now, after almost an hour and a half of calculus, Damon was more than ready for the bell to ring by the time it got around to it. He grimaced slightly to himself as he finished writing down the massive amount of homework Ms. Sherwood assigned to have done by the time Wednesday rolled around and then quickly gathered his things into his backpack. Slinging it onto one shoulder, he made his escape and joined the crowd of people moving in the hallways. Immediately, his eyes scanned the moving faces for familiar ones as he moved slowly along to his next class down in the next wing. Briefly, he caught the sight of Vin dropping Sharon off in one of the other math rooms on this side of the building. In a few strides, Damon had caught up with his friend and the two of them continued onto their English class, but not before he had waved a quick hello to Sharon.
Sharon smiled to herself. It was only her third day at this new high school and she already felt comfortable with her surroundings. People here, in general, had been welcoming, a fact that surprised her very much. She knew there was probably some gossip going on behind her back, but at the same time, everyone seemed to be giving her a chance to prove herself first. Teachers had been more then helpful in making sure that she was up to her peers' level with regards to the work level. Classmates were ready to start talking to her when she started giving off the impression that she was open to it. And of course, it obviously added to her status to have been welcomed into Damon's group so readily.
And that was how she thought of his friends, really. They were Damon's. It wasn't so much the fact that he had been the one to introduce her to the rest of them, but the fact was it hadn't been difficult at all to realize the influence the boy had over his peers. Just being around him and his friends for two days had shown that to her, how, while there wasn't any sense of rivalry among the people, it had seemed that Damon naturally had the final say in things. And he didn't even really seem to take notice of it. 'The boy's cute, popular, and influential. Just my luck to start liking a guy like him so soon,' she thought to herself.
Sharon shook her head slightly to return herself to the present. She took her seat in the middle of the room towards the back and unzipped her backpack to get her calculus binder out. As she straightened herself up in her seat, however, she found herself staring into a pair of angry blue eyes. Sharon blinked quickly and turned around to see if perhaps she was mistaking herself as the recipient of the girl's animosity for someone else. However, one look told her no one else had sat down behind her yet. Sharon's brow wrinkled a little in confusion as her classmate continued to glower in her direction for a few more seconds before turning away to scribble something furiously onto her paper as the girl in front of the angry girl whispered something to her. Sharon wasn't given a chance to really contemplate this turn of events, however, because more students began filing in and getting settled. The teacher also motioned Sharon up to the front of the class so she could ask her if everything was going all right for her so far. Once Sharon had convinced the teacher that she was doing fine, the bell was about to ring and the girl with the angry blue eyes had been forgotten.
The class came and went and soon, Sharon found herself packing her things back up into her backpack. As she stood up and started heading towards the door though, she felt a slight tap on her shoulder. Turning, she found the same girl from earlier that morning right behind her, smiling a falsely sweet smile. "Yes?" Sharon asked.
"Who do you think you are?" the girl asked point blank once they were out in the hallway, taking full advantage of the noisy crowd to hide out her business with the new girl.
"Excuse me?" Sharon asked, becoming defensive and not having any idea why she was feeling this way.
"Stop with the fake airs, princess," she practically snarled. "I can see right through you."
To that, Sharon lifted an eyebrow in skepticism. 'Didn't I just think earlier that everyone here was giving me a chance? What's up with this girl that she's after me?'
The other girl mistakenly took Sharon's silence as compliance and nodded her head to herself. "Glad you see things my way."
'And what way would that be?' she found herself wondering as the girl started to leave her.
"Just keep to yourself and to your own kind, princess, and leave me to mine. You don't want other people to think you're a freak, right?" She left her with a swish of her long blonde hair.
Sharon stopped automatically once she got to her locker but found herself continuing to stare after the blonde who had both threatened and insulted her in less than a minute. Still, instead of the worry or anger she supposed she should have been feeling at that moment, all she felt was curiosity towards the girl with the blonde hair. 'I suppose there are a few of those types everywhere, and what better target than a new girl? Best to just steer clear of her,' she thought as she slammed shut her locker and raced to get to her next destination.
"So, Sharon…"
The girl glanced to her right and saw Damon looking her way.
"Uh huh?"
"My mom was wondering if you and your family might be up for a dinner sometime with us and then maybe show you around."
She smiled. "That's so nice of you and your mom to offer. I'll ask my parents when I get home today and I'll let you know in the morning."
"The morning? Nah. Just call me when you find out," he said as he tore off a corner of his paper and scribbled his phone number on it. As innocent as the act had been and really automatic on his part, he still felt a little heat come to his face when he handed her the scrap and realized how this might look to other people.
Sharon was almost a little disappointed when their fingers didn't touch. She was still wondering if there was still that shock and electricity between them but resigned herself to the fact that now wasn't the time to figure that one out. She took the slip of paper and placed it in her planner, tactfully ignoring the slightly flushed look on the boy's face. "Thanks, Damon. I'll call you tonight then. You have football practice right after school, right?"
"Up until five, so anytime after that would be all right. You know, though, about my number, please don't hesitate to call if you need something, all right?"
She smiled again and nodded. "Again, thank you."
The two fell into a silent lapse then to work on the drawing assignment Mr. Flynn had given them. A little later though, Sharon voiced a question. "Is this the kind of place where everyone knows everyone else's business?"
"Huh?" Damon replied as he turned in her direction again, curious as to where this question had come from.
She shrugged without taking her eyes off her work. "Most everyone is so nice here and everyone seems to know everyone else."
"I guess so. I never really thought about it though, but I guess you're right."
Another silence fell until Damon remembered something else she had said. "Most everyone? Has one of the guys been giving you trouble already?" The girl to his left burst out laughing before quickly silencing herself when she saw Mr. Flynn glance in their direction. Damon felt heard himself growl a little, although he didn't know whether it was because he didn't want to think about anyone going after her already or the fact that she was laughing at him. He sincerely hoped it wasn't the latter, although the first thought didn't dwell all that well with him either. "Well?" he asked as soon as she got herself under control.
Still smiling, she answered, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have laughed. No, it's not one of the guys giving me trouble."
His brow wrinkled. "A teacher then?"
She shook her head. "Nah, just one of the girls."
"A girl? Why would a girl be acting nasty towards you?"
She shrugged. "I'm wondering the same thing."
"Well, what's her name?"
"I didn't quite catch it. She never offered it and I really didn't pay her much attention until this morning."
"What did she say?"
Now, she frowned as she thought back on it but managed to still pull off a shrug. "She called me a freak."
"What? Why?"
"I have no idea. She was just acting all rude and stuff. There's nothing I can do about it except stay out of her way for now, I guess."
"Well if you don't know her name, what does she look like? Maybe I know her and can talk to her about it."
Again, she shrugged, obviously not caring about the other girl one way or another. "She's a blonde, blue eyed girl, and she's in my calculus class."
"Well that helps a lot," he scoffed.
"Hey, you asked! Really, it's nothing. I don't know what she thinks she knows about me but whatever."
"Well, just let me know if she gives you anymore trouble, all right? I meant it earlier about me being willing to help you out, you know."
"I know. After hearing it from your mouth three or four times now, I think I get it," she winked, teasing him.
For some strange reason, Damon found himself blushing again and was grateful Sharon was kind enough to not mention it. 'This girl is really something…'