"Wonderboy."

The name had first come from a place of distaste, but now, years later, Dex's tone sounded almost friendly. Almost.

Sophie looked down, face on fire. Of all people she could run into, of all people she could fall on to, it had to be Fitz. Biana's brother flashed her a movie-star worthy smile as she scrambled to push away from him.

"Sophie." He said pleasantly, beautiful eyes trained on her blushing form. "How are you?"

"Um, I'm alright?" She hadn't meant to squeak out the response like a question, but it came out timidly anyway. She couldn't help it.

The last time he had seen her was at the funeral as a sobbing, crying, grieving mess. She had been hoping she wouldn't have to face him for at least another month, but it seemed the universe had other plans. She felt a warm hand on her shoulder, and she lurched her head up. His face was closer now, his eyes searching her own.

"Are you sure?" He pressed. It took Sophie a moment to register anything past he's so close, but she nodded vigorously.

"Perfectly." Okay, that was a bit of a stretch, but she was determined to show him that she wasn't the weak little girl clinging to her mommy and daddy helplessly he had last seen her as. He flashed her another movie-star smile that nearly blinded her before bidding her and Dex goodbye.

"Bye, Deck." He waved before walking down the hall and turning down a corridor. Dex growled incomprehensibly.

"Years of school together, and he still calls me Deck. I'm convinced he's doing this on purpose just to mock me."

"Well," Sophie pointed out, "you do still call him Wonderboy." Before Dex could snap back a retort, Biana reappeared, an evil grin dancing on her face. Sophie eyed her suspiciously.

"Why are you smiling like that?" She said slowly. Biana waved her hand airily at the question.

"Oh, nothing." She smirked. "Did you happen to come across anyone of importance while I conveniently slipped away?"

Sophie's eyes widened. "Biana! You set me up?"

"Maybe I did. It's not like you're complaining." She raised an eyebrow suggestively. Sophie blushed again.

Biana was well aware of the small crush Sophie had developed on her brother over the years, but Sophie had only talked to him a few times while over at Biana's house. For the most part, their lives couldn't be more separate, but it didn't stop a small part of Sophie from dreaming. Dex scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Of all people, she picks Wonderboy?" He muttered under his breath before walking away from them. When the girls didn't follow, he turned around and raised an eyebrow. "I recall that we're at school and have classes to get to?" He said pointedly. Biana giggled before grabbing Sophie's arm and pulling her after Dex.

Sophie smiled. Being around her friends had tamed her nerves, and at the mention of school they only fluttered slightly in her stomach. Biana leaned over her shoulder to look at the schedule Sophie had pulled out earlier and was now clutching in her hands.

"What's your first class, anyway?" She said excitedly. Sophie scanned the schedule.

"Chemistry, with Ms. Galvin." Biana's eyes widened at the statement.

"Fitz had her last year and apparently she had a terrible attitude. She's said to have little patience for mistakes." She looked at Sophie expressly at 'mistakes'. "Good luck with that!" And with that wonderful piece of information, Biana disappeared into what Sophie could only assume was her first class. Dex slowed down to walk beside her, noticing the anxious expression etched into the planes of her face.

"Hey, don't worry about what Biana said. I'm sure you'll be fine." They stopped, arriving in front of the infamous Ms. Galvin's classroom. Sophie swallowed nervously.

"Yeah. I'm sure I will."

.

.

.

Sophie was not. She absolutely was not.

When she had walked into the classroom and met eyes with Ms. Galvin, she had thought she looked severe, but not as horrible as Biana made her out to be. Her red-brown hair was in an up-do style that looked painful and she was draped in an odd hunter green cape adorned with little green gems and twisting designs snaking up the fabric. She looked serious, but not scary.

Sophie was later proven very, very wrong when she managed to spill a chemical from the intro demonstration onto the little sliver of skin between the glove and her sleeve and Ms. Galvin's prized cape. That was when the self-righteous shrieking had begun. Ms. Galvin had turned from a strict teacher to a woman nothing short of terrifying in a matter of seconds. Now, as the school nurse, Elwin, treated her wounds and chuckled at the story, she couldn't help but feel slightly ridiculed.

"That's it. I'm asking your parents to send me the funniest picture of you they can find and we're putting it above that cot." Elwin laughed as he finished treating the burn. Sophie groaned. The last thing she needed was a physical reminder of her clumsiness and awful luck. As she continued to injure herself in the most ridiculous of ways, she had managed to build an odd sort of friendship with the school nurse, which resulted in a load of teasing after every mishap of the week.

"Please don't." Sophie begged as she watched him put away the bandages in his mess of an office. The haphazard computer and desk arrangement and stray papers strewn among the entire area resembled Elwin's nature, his dark flyaway hair and random animal covered shirt of the day giving the illusion of a constantly frazzled state. In reality, she had learned from her excessive time in the nurse's office, informally known as the Healing Center, that Elwin was extremely efficient and knew how to get things done quickly. "It's not like I try to get injured all the time! It just kind of... happens."

Elwin turned to give her a dubious look. "Well, you always manage to find yourself here anyway. I might as well reserve a special cot for you in honor of it."

"Blame it on my clumsiness."

"Clumsy or not, you might as well accept that this is more or less your second home. Embrace it, even."

"Never." Sophie claimed, and Elwin grinned.

"Denial will get you nowhere in life. Someday that clumsiness will be lethal."

"Well, until that day I will deny it all I want." Sophie said, hopping up from the cot Elwin had deemed hers. He chuckled.

"Alright, go on. We wouldn't want to keep Ms. Galvin waiting any longer than she has to." He winked. Sophie rolled her eyes, but a smile creeped its way onto her face despite herself.

"Thank you, Elwin." She called over her shoulder as she reached the door. Elwin mumbled something unintelligible in response, already distracted by something he had found in his mess of an office. Sophie shook her head before pulling the door open, butterflies completely gone as she settled back into life at school.

A/N: Oop this took me a lot longer to update than I thought it would. Life sucks sometimes :/

Anygays, I know this chapter was pretty boring, but I hope you enjoyed it either way XD