"Hey, how was your first class?" I ask Lucian as he walks to his locker with me.

"It was okay, I'm still trying to get used to talking to new people. Not everyone's as approachable as you." He says with a genuine, casual smile.

Me? Approachable? What in the hell?

"Oh, okay." Man, I am not good with compliments...

"The good news is that I went to the front office and asked to be put into your class, so that'll be good. I think we have science next class right?" He questions, while worry flutters inside me. It'll be nice to have someone to talk to who doesn't treat me like everyone else does, although, I haven't known him long. If there's one thing I've learnt out of my short time on this earth, it's that people are not always what they seem.

"Oh, that'll be nice." I reply pushing a smile onto my face. He has a caring look about him, something I've never seen before. I like it, and I think I would like to get used to it.

"Come on, well be late. Don't forget your science textbook, Mrs Ayelsbury grills us about it a lot." I explain.

"Oh okay sure. I mean, I'm sure I could get away with it if I used my new kid charm." He chuckles. He seems to find a way to joke about everything, and I like it. It makes the morning seem less dull than it usually is.

"You're not as charming as you think Mr Lucian, your pride is too big for a small school like this." I joke as I begin to walk down the hall to class, waiting for him to follow.

"Ouch!" He says sarcastically while holding his hand to his chest as if I've physically hurt him with my words. This makes me giggle. Nothing really makes me giggle, it's, nice.

"Well, this is science. I usually sit up the back at this table." To my surprise, he sits down next to me on the tall stool. I can't help but notice our height differences and laugh. I am an ant compared to him, he's tall for a year 6.

"Okay class, today we will be learning the effects of different acids. Today we will be starting off with hydraulic acid and what chemical reactions can be made when it is mixed with different substances. Grab a partner and a sheet up the front please and I will bring over your resources. " Mrs Ayelsbury says happily. You can tell she loves her job. I myself could never be a school teacher, the moment I'm out of school I'm out for good. I don't want to spend another second in these halls if I don't need to.

"Yo miss are we making a bomb cause that's like, illegal and shit." Says the second most annoying person in all of school. Marcus Evergreen, Charlise's brother. I swear that family is evil, pure evil. Sometimes I can't decide whose more annoying. Marcus and Charlise share the same piercing blue eyes and very light blond hair, that along with their irritating aura that never seems to escape me.

"Excuse me, Marcus, if you are going to speak that way you can take a walk down the principal, that behaviour will not be tolerated. No, we are not making a bomb. Please try to pay attention." A calm Mrs Ayelsbury exclaims.

He turns back and laughs to his idiotic friends, before noticing the new presence in the room beside me. Oh God no, he's coming over, this is one of those moments where I wish I could dig a hole and hide in it. Not just me, Lucian too.

"Hey, so what, are you like the new kid? I haven't seen you before." The doofus spits out with the only English he knows. I don't care how critical I am to him, he and his sister have made my school experience hell. I pray that Lucian won't be led on by him or join them, he seems too nice. They would break someone like him.

"Yeah, just moved." A hesitant Lucian replies. I can sense his discomfort, but he's doing a great job at not showing it in his facial expressions. He still holds the outgoing and friendly expression he usually has.

"Little tip, you don't want to stay around this chick, she's as weird as they get." He chuckles to himself. His words hit me, but I refuse to let them settle. Well, that's what I tell myself. I look down and say nothing, just like every other day. I don't expect Lucian to stay with me, Marcus is right, as bad of people Marcus and his friends are, he would be better with them than me. I am weird, and it's why I've never really liked myself, so I can understand him and his sister's disapproval. Doesn't make it hurt any less.

"I like weird."

What?

I look to the side and see that Lucian was the one who said that, and is looking dead into the eyes of Marcus. Why would he stand up for me? His 3 words hit differently, no one could ever like weird. Could they? Or more importantly, could he?

"Um, what?" A disgusted expression takes over Marcus's face. "Don't tell me you're a weirdo too." He spits at Lucian. I don't like his tone. I never have, but I can take it. Lucian simply doesn't deserve it.

"What's the problem with weirdos? They're more interesting than swearing, disrespectful swines who think they own the world. At least weirdos actually have brains." Lucian points out. I cannot believe that he just said that, he's not wrong, but I can't believe he just said that. This is not going to end well. Marcus's friends pat him on the back and whisper into his ear while he continues to wear his disgusted expression.

"So what, you think cause you're the new kid you can come in here and judge all of us? Why did you even move here anyway?" I look up at Lucian again and see the same flash of emotion cross his eyes as when we were on the bus and I asked about why he moved. Something tells me there's a lot more to that emotion than I'm seeing, but I can't quite figure out what it is. It seems that I am not the only one who sees this.

"Awh, why so sad newbie? Your parents split or some shit? You run away? Oh my gosh, I bet you're homeless, that would make sense since the clothes your wearing are from like, the 21st century." Marcus fires at Lucian. 21st century? He actually must be the dumbest person I've ever met. I mentally facepalm myself. Anger spreads through Lucian's face, and I notice that he balls up his fists in his hands. Please, please don't do anything stupid. I think to myself, wishing I could speak telepathically for the billionth time in my life.

"Ah, so you're one of those kids." Lucian replies in a restraining voice as if he's really holding back, and somehow, I know exactly what he means.

Their squabbling is interrupted by Mrs Ayelsbury, as she comes to our table giving us our resources. Marcus and his mates were told to move back to their table, but their minds seemed to stay at our table, as I could hear practically everything they were thinking.

"Are they always like that? That guy's a douche." Lucian whispers to me.

Yes, Lucian, he is. You have a lot to learn.

"Yeah, always." I reply quietly. After a brief moment of silence, Lucian begins to speak again.

"Why do you let them treat you like that?"

His question catches me off-guard and hits home somewhere inside me. Why do I let them treat me like that? I ask myself. Probably because I agree with them, I am well, weird. No one likes weird and I couldn't ever expect them to. It's not just them either, most people don't like me here, and if no one really does then it has to be me. It's always me. At school, at home...

"I don't really mind." I reply, which is an absolute lie.

"Well, I don't like them treating you like that. It's gross, and I like that you're different. They are idiots. The lot of them." Lucian says trying to defend me. They are idiots. I try to change the subject.

"Do you want to place the ammonia into the hydraulic acid?" I ask.

"How do you know all those words, you sound like a scientist." He laughs, raising the mood.

"What can I say, I'm an undercover scientist. It's not like the words are on the sheet in front of us at all." I joke while glancing down at the sheet in front of us with the instructions. Lucian's eyes flicker to the sheet and he facepalms himself, making me laugh. I stare down at the sheet again briefly, and the image on it catches my eye. The test tube has smoke coming out of it, which is what we are trying to do today, but this gives me a whole different idea. A sneaky, probably really really bad plan. If I were to add just too much ammonia, there would be a whole lot more smoke. I think this as I stare at Marcus and his idiot friends. I have an idea.

I notice that the teacher has gone over to the table on the right to show another part of the experiment and the majority of the class is around her, making my idea even easier.

"I'll be right back." I say to Lucian without looking back at him. I walk slowly over to the front of the room and grab 2 cans of the ammonia gas, then cover them with my jacket. Once I have them secure, I go over to Marcus's table to start my cheeky plan. The boys have used a small amount of ammonia in their large test tube, but not enough in my opinion. Not enough indeed. I pull out the two cans and spray them into their tube, causing smoke to slowly begin to form. As soon as I'm done I leave the gas cans on the table and move quickly back to mine as Lucian watches in awe. The teacher is still talking and no one has turned around yet, meaning I am winning. Lucian doesn't question me, simply stares at the growing smoke cloud as it moves over Marcus's table.

"Isn't that dang-" Lucian begins but I cut him off by shushing him and pointing to the teacher.

"Miss! Marcus's table has smoke everywhere!" A girl from the back of my class shouts, ripping my teachers head from the table and over to Marcus's. A strangled yell erupts from her throat and she searches around for a cloth to put ontop and then carries the smoke bomb to the sink. I laugh to myself but ever so silently as I watch a confused Marcus try to figure out how so many gas cans ended up on his desk and how his turned into a smoke bomb. The poor thing probably can't even count, let's be honest.

"EVACUATE OUT OF THE CLASSROOM AND INTO THE HALLWAY!" Mrs Aylesbury declares as she continues to try put out the smoke. Students rush around to get to the door and I walk normally, waiting for Lucian outside the door.

"I can't believe you just did that! How did you know that would happen?" He whisper shouts to me at a tone only I can hear.

"I'm good at science, I knew what to add to make it explode with smoke. It's not as if Marcus wouldn't have messed it up anyway." I explain quietly so that none of his friends overhears.

"I don't know whether to laugh or be scared of you, you evil mastermind." He laughs and I laugh with him. That'll teach Marcus for picking on Lucian.

"Marcus do you have anything to say for yourself!" A frantic Mrs Ayelsbury shouts as she appears out of the smoke.

"I didn't do shit miss!" He yells in an angry tone.

"It wasn't Marcus miss, It was Avelina. I saw her do it while you were explaining what to do." A girl from our class admits, causing me to look down. Dammit. A few minutes later I'm sitting out front of the principal's office. As I stare down at my feet, I think of how this day is going to end. I'll probably walk in there and end up with some sort of punishment like a detention, then walk home and have to face my dad when he gets home from the construction site. Mum will probably be out with her friends so I'll just sit on my bed reading until he's home. It's a scary feeling, the calm before the storm, waiting for something you know will happen and not being able to do anything to stop it. Footsteps begin to get louder and louder down the hall, and I look up to see who it could be. Marcus is with Mrs Ayelsbury, being led to principal most likely for swearing. He looks angry. Very angry. Thankfully, the principal opens his door and calls my name, making me not even care about the punishment anymore, so long as I am away from Marcus.

"Avelina, we have cameras in all the rooms at school, meaning that we can rewind back to see if you did cause this explosion. What I would like to ask of you, is to make it easier for all of us and simply be honest about whether or not you started this. If you did not, then you can help me find who did. We do not tolerate this behaviour and what happened in that science class was very dangerous." Mr Rye explains to me in a friendly tone with a hint of seriousness. His short brown hair is pushed to the side with what looks like a thick gel, shimmering a little in the sun. Who needs that much gell?

He wears a black suit and tie, which seems a little ridiculous to me. He looks like he just walked out of some high school musical play. His desk is covered with photos and little things that I believe his kids made. A photo of 2 young boys with light blonde hair sitting on top of Mr Rye's shoulders is the most noticeable item on his desk. The photo radiates happiness. I wish my dad and I were like that.  Mr Rye is nice, he's always been a good principal. I feel ashamed that I will be letting him down with the truth.

"Avelina?" He questions me again.

"Marcus was being rude to my new," Friend? I don't think I've ever actually had someone I considered my friend. "- My new friend. He's new here, and Marcus was giving him a hard time. I put the gas in his tube because I wanted him to get in trouble so that he could learn his lesson. I'm sorry sir." I reply stuttering on a few words.

"Thank you for being honest. I understand that you wanted to stand up for your new friend, that is a good trait to have. You have a good heart. Despite that, we never hurt other people no matter what they do to us. Even if they really really deserve it, you hold back. It's called being the bigger person. I will be having a chat with Marcus about this, but there will have to be a punishment for you. What happened today was dangerous and we can't have it happen again. You will spend the rest of today cleaning the science room out from the explosion. We will give you everything you need and a teacher will be there to assist you." He says understandingly.

"Okay." I reply quietly, but loud enough for him to hear.  As I walk out of his office, Marcus gives me a death stare that gives me goosebumps. Thank God the principal called him in while I was leaving. I spend the whole day cleaning up the science room as a teacher watches over me, using gloves that are way too big for me. I don't think they are used to asking kids to clean up explosions. I always have been different.

School drags by, and as I'm cleaning I wonder how Lucian's first day is going. I wonder if he joined Marcus and his friends yet or if he's enjoying his classes. At recess and lunch, I sit in the library, as I can't find Lucian and I just want to read. I peer down each aisle in the library looking for the old classics. Encyclopedias, fairytales, Lucian, classi- wait,  Lucian? It seems that he is standing in the classics aisle, my aisle. He hasn't noticed me standing here yet, he just continues to look at the books at his shoulder level, holding what seems to be Wuthering Heights.

"You lost?" I joke, making his head turn around.

"No actually, I've been trying to find this sections for the past ten minutes." He laughs, his eyes going wider when he sees me. His brown eyes are quite dark, I haven't seen anyone with eyes like that before.

"You like these kinds of books?" I ask, very interested in his answer. He peers over to the bookcase one again.

"Yeah, I have a small collection of books at home that I read every now and then. Some old ones and fantasy books. Fantasy is my favourite. The only problem is I'm a slow reader." He exclaims while smiling. His answer makes me happy. I've noticed that he holds his hand behind his neck a lot when he talks, a habit I'm sure.

"Well, if you like old books and fantasy, you should read Frankenstein. It's really good." I inform him. I've always loved Frankenstein, the way he is different from everyone else and searches for more from life, refusing to give in to his supposed nature, until, well, the end. But who cares about that bit. The middle is the best.

"Yeah, I've heard about it. I might get it. Is it here?" He questions.

"Yeah, right.... here." I flick through the books on the right top hand shelf and point to it, although, I'm too short to reach. He laughs at my attempts to grab it with the edges of my fingertips.

"Well, you're a little short aren't you." He giggles.

"Hey! I am not short! Just, lower than the average height." I try to justify myself while laughing.

"That's just another way of saying you're short." He smiles.

"Fine." I fake pout. he reaches up easily and grabs the book, then we begin to walk over to the library desk.

"You realise if this book isn't any good, I'll be blaming you right?" He humours me, and I punch him in the shoulder jestingly. Once the librarian sets up his account since he's new, we walk out and go to the oval to the left.

"So I was thinking," Lucian starts. "That maybe we could go to that park you were telling me about this morning after school? I want to get to know the area and I want to see these 'giants' you spoke about." He asks referring to my earlier comment about the park near our house. I find it nice that he remembered, and that he would even want to go with me. I enjoy talking to him, how strange. He isn't like other kids from my school, he's reserved, and funny. Not mean and shallow like most people here.

"Sure, we could walk there after school?" I suggest happily.

"I'd like that." He replies. We walk in silence around the oval for just a moment, watching the lunch time sports groups play on the field.

"Hey uh about this morning," Lucian starts. "I'm sorry you got in trouble, I asked if I could go in and help you but they said it was a detention or something. It was cool what you did, and Marcus definitely deserved it. Did he get in trouble?" The question hangs in the air as I search for a response.

"I think he is in trouble, but for his excessive use of swearing in class. He gets in trouble for it all the time." I answer plainly.

"Yeah. Why did you do it?" He looks at me curiously.

"Well", I fumble for words. "I didn't like the way he was treating you." I reply flatly. His face looks caring, but I can see the surprise.

"Well, I didn't like the way he was treating you either. You should stand up to him more, it's hilariously entertaining. Also, don't worry about me, I can take care of myself." His words would sound harsh if they weren't followed by the charming smile and friendly tone that he seems to use.

"I'm glad to see you found some comedic value out of my traumatic rebellion experience." I joke. This kind of stuff is fun, just joking and making each other laugh.

After lunch, Lucian disappears into his last class, and we are almost late because he couldn't find a way to stop talking about how funny this mornings events were and how ridiculous those boys were the rest of the day in his classes. Apparently Marcus's right hand man got his finger stuck in clay somehow, fast drying clay. I'm disappointed to have missed it. Only kids like them could find a way to get their hands stuck in something as uneventful as clay.

For the rest of the day, as I scrub away at the tables and chairs of the science room, I think about how my day has changed from what I thought it would be earlier. Now, I'll be walking with Lucian to giant valley, I like to call it. I call it that because of the gigantic trees that surround the premises, and the large hill that goes off into the car park down below. There is a tree, a very beautiful and large oak tree that stands alone on top of the deep green hill. There's something about it's independence and the way it stands so boldly at the top of the most beautiful view that makes me feel connected to it. I'm probably just weird... yep, definitely, I just compared myself to a tree. I think those fumes are getting into my head.