As she reached the top of the staircase, with Ryder only a few steps behind, she  went to grab the banister as students rushed past her to get to their classes. However she misplaced her hand and staggered back.

She felt herself begin to fall, but rather than taking a harsh tumble down the stairs, she felt strong hands grip her which stopped the fall.

"Careful there darl, wouldn't want you to get hurt on your first day." Ryder commented as he steadied her.

Instantly, she felt both relieved and grateful. He barely knew her, yet he had saved her from embarrassing herself in front of a majority of students.

"T...thank you." She stammered, feeling a little flustered.

"You're welcome. Ya know, you should really be more careful." He told her as he began walking alongside her.

"It was just a moment. I don't have them often." She informed him.

"Soooo Erica Atwood, where ya from?" He asked, swiftly changing the topic.

"Conrad, Montana." She answered, wishing she could just crawl under a rock and never come out again.

"Wow...Big change then. Any reason why you moved here?" He asked curiously.

Just like that, the awkwardness came flooding back in and she began to feel uncomfortable. She wasn't sure that she wanted to open up to anyone about what had happened, let alone someone like Ryder who was dripping with sarcasm and cockiness.

"Uhh...that's something I don't really like to talk about." She answered as politely as she could.

"I see. No worries." He replied.

"What about yourself?" She inquired.

If he would make conversation about his own life then maybe, just maybe she would end up telling him her story.

"Me? I've lived here my whole life. Know the place like the back of my hand." He answered, purposely leaving out any personal details.

"Oh. Wow. So what do you do around here for fun?" She asked curiously.

"Ask Gen. Not me. Her answer will differ from mine, and you won't approve of what I do." He answered vaguely.

Odd. She thought, why wouldn't she approve of what someone else does for fun? It was his business after all, not hers. Either way, she decided to shrug it off since the day had been going so well, considering that it was her first, and she didn't want to ruin that now.

"Okay, I'm sorry." She mumbled.

He said nothing. Instead he chuckled, to which she shot him a look. She barely knew this boy, and he barely knew her, so she couldn't understand how he had the balls to be so cocky and self assured around her. For all he knows, she could be a gossip girl, not that she ever would be one of those types of girls, but he didn't know that.

"Come on Trippy, don't want to be late to class on your first day." He stated, hurrying her along.

Did he seriously just call her Trippy? Who does he think he is, giving her a nickname like that?

Oh how she would just love to give him a piece of her mind right now, however she chose to remain calm and composed. She would save the temptation for another day. He would not be getting away with giving her a nickname that was so cringey.

Thankfully, only seconds after his comment, they got to class. She hoped that unlike in the last class, they wouldn't be sat directly next to each other.

Unfortunately for her though, the only two available seats, were right next to her.

Great! Another hour spent sat next to this boy, who had grown to be annoying, she thought to herself in frustration.

Taking her seat, she made sure to look in any direction but his. She took out her notebook and pencil case, before placing them on the desk, and took in the sight of the front of the classroom.

This one had printed out sheets of paper, bluetacked to the walls, and a pull down screen against the main wall.

"Hey there, do you think I could borrow a pen?" She heard a voice ask her.

Much to her relief, it hadn't come from Ryder, turning to the other side of her, she saw who the voice had come from.

It was yet another boy. This one was dressed much differently from Ryder, and his voice was softer too. His sandy blonde hair was slicked back in a John Travolta style, and his blue eyes looked as innocent as could be.

"Uhh...sure." She replied and reached into her pencil case and brought out a pen to hand to him.

"Thanks." He said, as he accepted the pen from her.

"My name is Erica, by the way." She introduced herself.

She was surprised at how confident she sounded when saying that, especially compared to how anxious she had been feeling all day.

"Nice to meet you Erica, my name's Faye. Dawson Faye, to be exact." He introduced himself in return.

She couldn't help but smile at his friendliness, it made a great change compared to Ryder's cockiness.

Dawson's voice held no sarcasm, nor cockiness. His voice was sickly sweet as though it was a cake overloaded with sugar.

He also had no challenging expression on his face, or any hidden darkness in his eyes. His face held pure innocence and warmness.

It made her feel quite welcomed in comparison to Ryder, who made her feel small and out of place.

Much to her surprise, he smiled back before turning to face the front. She followed his gaze and her eyes landed on their English teacher; Mr Arthurs. A tall and burley looking man with greying hair.

He began to talk about Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the dream topic for a bookworm such as herself.

She listened carefully, and with great interest to all the little minor details that the teacher was pointing out, and to the theories that a few students came up with every now and then.

Everything was going smoothly.....

Until she felt her side being jabbed by a pen. Instantly she turned her head to look in Ryder's direction, and sure enough, he was the culprit.

"What on earth do you think you're doing?" She whispered, though it was a rather loud whisper. Louder than she would have liked.

"Well I had to find some way to get your attention. You were away with the fairies there, intently listening to the ramblings of our teacher." He whispered back. One eyebrow raised, and his mouth curved into a smirk.

"I would really rather that you let me listen." She asked quietly.

"Okay...but just so you know. Mister innocent, whom you were just talking to, he is not as innocent as he comes across." Ryder whispered, a hint of warning in his voice.

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that?" She asked rhetorically, and turned back to face the front of the class.

From that point forward in class, she ignored any of his attempts to grab her attention. Much to her relief, the time flew by, and soon the class was dismissed.

She hurried out of the classroom once again, desperate to avoid him catching up with her and being all smug again.

Relief washed over her when she ran into Gen, on her way to try and find the cafeteria. Instantly, the brunette linked arms with her and guided her around until they reached the room that all students ate in.

It was a massive room, filled with benches and a speaker up in every corner. To the left of the entrance, there was a queue forming of students waiting to get their lunch. Luckily for her, it wasn't too long. So she and Gen quickly joined before it could grow.

"So...where you from?" Gen asked her, while they were stood in line.

"Conrad, Montana." She answered, becoming accustomed to the question.

"Awesome. I'm originally from New York, but my dad moved us around a lot for business, so we're here for at least a year or two." The brunette girl explained.

"Well...my parents divorced, so my mom decided to move us here to get away from my father and his mistress." Erica explained, feeling surprisingly good about being able to share it and get it off her chest.

"Oh...wow. I'm sorry." Gen replied.

Before she could reply to the girl, they were at the front of the queue, and it was her turn to pick out what she wanted for lunch.

Carrot sticks; check
Cucumber; check
French fries; check
Thinly sliced gammon; check
Victoria sponge smothered in custard; check
Apple flavoured juice box; check.

Once she was handed her tray, she waited for her friend before they finally walked over to a table.

Though this wasn't a free table like she had expected, instead it was filled with a group of girls.

She hadn't realised what Gen was up to until now. This next hour would definitely be interesting.