A few more class periods came and went, and by the time I had my last class, AP calculus, I was about ready to murder someone. That wasn't any different from a typical day of school, but at least I would be alone for my favorite class. It was always easier to focus when there was no one who cared enough to distract me from my studies, plus it was pretty relaxing to not have to talk to anyone for nearly an hour.

I took a look around the classroom, and no posters or decorations lined the walls. The room didn't exude friendliness (and neither did I), so I figured this would be a nice place to end the school day. I always liked to read those inspirational posters in the classes I didn't like, but math was my favorite, and I didn't need a distraction.

"Hey! I guess I'm in your class," Viktor said. I hadn't noticed him walk in, and before I could stop him, he took the seat next to me.

Yay.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

Viktor took a lot of shit away from me, and I would have been damned if he tried to take my focus and good grade away in math.

"Not really, but it's the last class of the day, and it's nice to see someone I know. I only have one class with Matt," Viktor said.

"I figured you to be the outgoing, friendly type."

He nodded. "I usually am, but this time it's just different."

"Well, you seem to be having an easy time talking to me."

"That's because I know you. But everyone here is pretty nice, and they talk to me." Viktor smiled.

I chuckled. "You don't know me."

"You're my best friend's sister, you only like to talk to your friends, and you're allergic to peanuts. I feel like I know you pretty well," Viktor said as another (vaguely) familiar face slunk into the classroom, and I struggled to put a name with it. Red hair. Skinny. From the park. Louis? Logan? Larry?

He approached me. "Amanda, right?"

I nodded. "Here, sit by me."

He smiled, which made him seem happier than our previous meeting. "Thanks. It's a miracle I found this place."

"You're new too?" Viktor asked.

"Yeah. I'm Lukas."

Lukas. Duh, me.

"I'm Viktor. Nice to meet you."

Lukas's eyes narrowed on Viktor, and he said, "Yeah. You too."

Something was off. The way he looked at him screamed that Lukas didn't like him for whatever reason, and everyone seemed to like Viktor besides me.

I didn't actually mind that he was jumping on my hatred train, but he at least needed a semi-valid reason to get on board.

I ignored the signs and kept talking to the two of them. "Canada and Sweden both have cold weather, so you can bond over that, I guess."

"What part of Canada are you from?" Viktor asked.

"Saskatchewan," Lukas replied.

Viktor's face lit up. "Oh, that's cool. I went there for a hockey tournament when I was about ten. Did you live close to Regina?"

"Just north of it," Lukas said.

"We actually got caught in a snowstorm at the airport, and we spent three days there before we could go back to Sweden. My sister actually was so sick the last day, and it was terrible. I loved it there overall, though."

I shook my head as he contradicted his earlier statement that he was struggling to talk to people, and Lukas didn't reply to him.

I wasn't sure if it was the pressure of a new school that was causing Lukas to shut Viktor out, but part of me found it satisfying thanks to my dear friend schadenfreude, but the other part of me was upset.

Hating on Viktor was my thing.

Viktor turned to me. "Oh, I figured out how to remember your name. I thought of it in art class when we were learning about pencils."

"It's about time," I replied.

He laughed. "It's one of the smartest tricks I've ever thought of. Your name is Amanda Jayne, which almost rhymes with candy cane. Get it?"

"You're pretty damn proud of yourself, aren't you?"

Viktor nodded. "A little, yeah. So from now on, your new nickname is Candy Cane."

I held up my hand. "We are not doing nicknames. It's just Amanda."

"Too bad. You're Candy Cane now."

"Look, you can call me Candy Cane in your thoughts all you want, but that's not my name, and I think it's stupid, and I won't respond to it."

"You just did, kind of."

I paused and glared at him for a moment. "Then I guess I'll ignore you for the rest of your life."

"You won't do that, Candy Cane."

"I think that we've already established that I'm pretty fucking stubborn, so don't even test me. I will ignore you."

Viktor laughed, and I didn't say anything else.

"Candy Cane?" Viktor said.

I kept my mouth shut.

"Candy Cane, please talk to me."

I let out a huff and rolled my eyes. "Would you stop with the stupid nickname already?"

Viktor smiled. "I like it though. I figured you would too, since I finally know your name."

"Well, I don't." I crossed my arms.

"Alright, fine. I won't call you that anymore."

I put on a smile, though I wasn't amused at all. "Thank you."

"No problem, Candy Cane."

And I thought that math would be relaxing way to end the day. Oh, how young and naive I was.

As satisfying as it would have been, I didn't even bother to kick his ass or tell him to fuck off. I had been in a few too many verbal altercations and disputes since my freshman year at Madison High, and the last thing I needed was another reason to go visit my old friend, the assistant principal Mr. Wainwright. He didn't like me very much. He thought I was a mean girl.

The class started, and we all got a syllabus that told us how the class was graded. The grade was ten percent homework, forty percent quizzes, thirty percent tests, and ten percent projects. It seemed reasonable, and hopefully, Viktor wouldn't need my help.

Candy Cane didn't like tutoring people who called her stupid nicknames.

***

After the bell rang, I went to my locker. Ever since Blaine joined our misfit squad on the first day of freshman year, Blaine, Arti, and I used it as a meeting point, where we discussed important things, like plans to hang out and to sacrifice our enemies to the hockey gods.

Blaine even beat me to my own locker and smiled at me. "You wanna hang out today? Big Time Rush is on Hulu, and we could probably finish the entire first season if we get started on it, like, now."

I smiled back. "I'd love to, but we can't watch it without Arti, and I'm sure she has more important plans, such as Viktor."

"I don't know, I think she took a step in the right direction earlier when she sat with us. Maybe we should at least try to invite her," Blaine said.

"Does that seem desperate? That seems kind of desperate."

"We are desperate, Amanda."

I hesitated. "Right. God, this is not like me at all. I normally don't give a shit ever."

Blaine laughed, and I hoped he knew I was being serious.

I stuffed a few textbooks into my locker, which I always kept stocked with snacks, a planner, and a mirror. Even though it was only the first day of school, some teachers were overly eager to do their job and teach us.

"So I heard you, Arti, and Viktor got along pretty well today," a voice that haunted me for years said. My dear brother, Matthew.

"It was about as well as we could have, given the situation. I think Arti wants to be friends again, since she decided she wanted to sit with us at lunch, but maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part," I replied.

"You know how Amanda is. She's the eternal optimist," Blaine said.

Matt laughed. "Yeah, right."

I bit my cheek and shook my head at Blaine. "If you make fun of me one more time, I'm not going to watch Big Time Rush with you for the rest of the week."

"Shit, sorry. Didn't mean to piss you off," Blaine said.

He always meant to piss me off a little, but that was part of his charm.

"Anyway, I think the five of us should all hang out together, and we'll see if this is all behind us. I really hope it is. I'm tired of Viktor ignoring me for that little bitch," Matt said.

"You mean me, you, Blaine, Viktor, and Benedict Arnold?" I asked.

Matt nodded. "The math nerd can, in fact, count to five. I'm proud of you."

I took in a breath and counted to five to keep myself from smacking the shit out of him.

"Look, Arti may be small, but she's not a little bitch," Blaine said.

I nodded. "She's a huge bitch, and I love her sometimes."

"Okay, then why don't we set something up for Thursday evening? We'll hang out, and as long as you can keep your shit together and not cut anyone's throat, maybe everything will just go straight back to the way it should be," Matt said.

"Thursday is no good. I already told Eleanor I would go to her soccer game, and I don't want to back out of that. They don't really have anyone to cheer for them, and it pisses me off, because they're good," I said.

Blaine smiled. "Can I come too?"

"Of course. I was going to make you go with me, so that just makes it easier for us both." I shut my locker. "Can we go home now? I hate this place."

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Hi everyone! I hope you've had a good week, and I'm sorry that this took so long! I've been busy starting a new job, and I've been a little sick and stressed out. But anyway, thank you so much for reading!

So we've got a few events on our schedule now. We have a soccer game and a very nice, casual get-together planned. Will everything will work out, or will there be even more drama?