Home Economics. One of the best lessons ever since it didn't involve much essay writing or note taking. Most of the work was practical experiments.

Nothing could have prepared Erica for the events that would unfold in the duration of only sixty minutes.

"I would like to introduce you to your new project for this semester. You will be in pairs for this project and it will be eighty percent of your final grade." Mr Daisies informed them as he wrote on the black board.

The information alone earned him a displeased mix of groans, sighs and swears from the class. Erica did none of these however, she was grateful at the distraction the project would provide her with.

"I am now going to place you in your pairs. I don't want to hear no whinging about who you've been put with either. You can spend the rest of the lesson working on your projects." The teacher informed them and glanced down at his list before continuing.

"Gen and Chad.

Valerie and Trevor.

Ryder and Erica.

Isla and Tommy.

Gina and Carl.

Carrie and Jenny.

Roman and Dawson, who I know is absent at the moment." Mr Daisies finished reading out the list.

Gen gave a very fowl look to Ryder before relocating to sit next to her unwanted project partner. Erica stayed seated as she saw Ryder make his way over to the now empty seat beside her.

This was going to be one extremely interesting project for sure.

Reading what was written on the board, it became clear to her that the project was about budgeting money and managing a household.

She was actually glad that she got put with Ryder and not Gen or one of the girls since it gave her a chance to get to the bottom of his little mystery. However she also wondered how Dawson would feel about her working with Ryder - though she couldn't explain why she cared about what he thought. It wasn't like they were dating or anything.

At this point she wasn't even sure that she should even be his friend. There was something off about him but she couldn't make a final verdict without knowing the full story.

"Where do we start Princess?" Ryder asked, chewing a piece of gum.

"Hmm...well the budget on the board says $500, so I'm thinking the first thing to do would be to work out how to reduce spending. To do this we need to do research on where it is cheaper to shop and..." She began to ramble but stopped when  she noticed him staring at her with a genuine smile, not a smirk, on his face.

Once he noticed that she had realised what he was doing, his smile only widened and he decided to bite the bullet and ask.

"Sorry, am I making you uncomfortable?" He asked.

"No. Not at all." She answered.

"That rambling thing you do when you're nervous....it's cute." He admitted.

She could already feel the heat rising to her cheeks, which were most likely already pink. Unable to trust her words, she responded with a smile and began taking notes down on their sheet of paper.

"What I am doing now is making a list of supermarkets that we will research to find the cheapest prices." She explained as she reached the end of the list.

Ryder, being the typical bad boy that he is, wasn't too focused on the project. Instead he had other things in mind.

"How was the move?" He asked curiously.

"Hmm?" She muttered, looking up from the paper.

"The move. How was it?" He repeated.

"It was...tough. Mostly I just miss my home town and my best friend." She admitted.

"Big change." He said in agreement.

"Though it's not so bad here, I'm starting to warm up to it." She explained.

He chuckled at her conflict with herself. She clearly didn't know what to make of the people there. Though he couldn't blame her for that since no one had made it easy for her. He wished that he could share the full story with her, but he couldn't. At least, not yet. It wasn't the right time. Dawson was still presenting that golden boy image and before he said anything, she needed to see his true colours for herself otherwise she would just turn against him.

The same way that Monica had.

Brushing the thought aside, he quickly dived head first into the project before she could notice anything was wrong.

Something about her took the sting away from the past experience. It was unexplainable but he couldn't hide it forever from her.

Just as he settled into his thoughts, a massive, ear piercing scream sounded from one of the other tables in the room. Both he and Erica looked in the direction that it came in.

At the table on the other side of the room, Gina had just struck Carl in the face for some unknown reason and now she was proceeding to yell at him.

Erica's eyes widened and Ryder couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction. It was clear that she had come from a small town where not much drama took place just from the mere shock written on her face.

"Not used to this amount of drama are you?" He smirked.

"Umm...not exactly. What do you think is going on over there?" She questioned, unable to tear her eyes away from the situation.

"Lemme see....they were working together nicely. Then he made some smug, stereotypical asshole joke about their imaginary kids causing her to react. He then furthered the joke, winding her up more and more until she finally exploded and the situation became public." He stated, also looking in the direction of Gina and Carl.

Erica was surprised by the confidence of his speech. He didn't stutter or pause to think at all. It was almost as though he was able to read people and tell a lot about them from the little insignificant things.

"You got all of that from just that drama." She said stunned at his ability.

"Well it's pretty obvious. The overly dramatic girl paired up with the dumb jock type. All hell is bound to break loose." He explained, brushing it off as nothing.

The truth was, it was an ability he'd had for as long as he could remember. It was both a blessing and a curse since it was also the reason he knew instantly what was going on between Monica and Dawson behind his back. Every time he approached them, he always knew there was something up. He was just too powerless to stop the events from unfolding.

But this time....he was ready for just about anything. Now he knew the real Dawson Faye and could anticipate the boy's every move. At least that is what he hoped.

He watched as Erica made more notes, or rather added detail to the ones that she had already taken, and smiled to himself.

Not a smirk this time, a genuine smile that resembled an emotion he hadn't felt in a very long time - Happy.....and it was all because of her.

"What are you smiling for?" She asked, noticing his expression for the first time.

"Nothing. It's just....I've never had any real friends before and I don't know....actually talking to someone feels nice." He admitted, his cheeks turning a little rosey pink colour.

"Is that what we are? Friends?" She questioned.

"Hmm...how would you define it?" He challenged.

"Well we haven't had much chance to talk and...I don't really know that much about you other than the little things you've told me about Dawson, so I honestly don't know how I would define this." She answered truthfully.

"Two people getting to know each other?" He suggested a little dismayed but unwilling to let her see that.

She shook her head instantly.

"Two friends getting to know each other." She corrected.

He was surprised that she'd said that since her previous explanation had been right. She didn't have much to go on. The reason for that though was because he didn't want her to know the real him. If she did then any positive feelings towards him would most definitely turn negative. Simply put, she would hate him.

There was also a part of him that wanted her to see who he truly was though. He was worried that Dawson would end up giving her the wrong impression if he didn't open up soon. All these thoughts in his head were killing him.

Why was it so hard for him to just be open with people?

It was like a curse that had been placed on him by the past. A curse that he was unable to break. No matter how badly he had been wanting to since he first laid eyes on the sweet blonde girl that was Erica Atwood. She was the purest person he had ever encountered and part of him found comfort in that. A softer part of him.