I stayed still, kind of stunned in place. His voice rang in my ears– even moments after he spoke. "I'm sorry. I can't take it... I want you to finally see me," he said softly. Turning my head to look at his face, I saw the nostalgic green eyes I used to gaze at when I was a little girl.

"Iden?" I whispered, partially to myself. "Is that you, Iden?" The boy smiled back and let go of me, slipping into the seat beside me. It took me awhile to comprehend the situation, but once I did, I clasped my hands over my mouth to hide my big smile. "Iden?! It really is you, isn't it?!"

He nodded and poked the center of my forehead the way he used to when we were kids. "Tempus fugit," he uttered, reciting my favorite Latin phrase which means 'time flies'. "So, how's life, Odette?"

I grinned happily. "Great! You?" Why was the only question I asked composed of just one word? I quickly corrected my error... "When did you get here? Why are you here– not to be rude or anything. Where are you staying? How long are you staying here? When did you get into this school? What's your schedule? I haven't talked to you in ages! What's your cellphone number? Do you have a cell? You have one, right?"

Cass raised her eyebrows at me. "Don't you think that you should introduce us, Odette?" she asked me. I gave her an odd face, showing that I forgot about them for a second. She rested her chin in the palm of her hand and exhaled deeply, closing her eyes. "You're such a hopeless little girl, aren't you?" Iden looked amused, listening to our one-sided conversation. Sometimes, I don't bother replying to Cass during an argument because I know I'll end up losing. Anyone that ever tries to out-talk Cass has probably lost their common sense. "If anything..." she continued, "...you should probably let this guy answer one question at a time instead of making him respond to an inquiry-saga."

I sighed and tilted my head towards Iden while looking up at his face. Cass didn't know Iden. She didn't know that he could answer any amount of questions because of his wonderful memorization skills... (That I may or may not be a bit jealous of.) Rocking back and forth in my seat, I waited for his reply.

He saw the impatience growing inside of me and decided to cut to the chase. "I'm fine; thank you very much. I got here about two weeks ago, but until yesterday, I had been lazing about in my current house on 2104 Carson Drive. I'm here because my father is on a business trip at the moment. My schedule's different from yours except for lunch and the classes afterwards. Yes, I have a cell, and I'll give you my number later. I don't really know how long I'll be staying here, but since I found you, I hope it's forever." I felt my face burn up at that last part, but I quickly tried to even out my skin tone.

Tyler suddenly jumped in his seat. "Wait a second!" he shouted, pushing up his glasses and making a face of realization. "I live on Carson Drive too! Oh my god! That's amazing!" I used the awkward silence after Tyler's random declaration as a time to introduce everyone to each other.

After I was finished, we ended up cracking jokes about how Tyler would probably get mugged really easily. He has this good nature that is never swayed no matter what. Kind of like... friendliness on steroids. I'm not kidding. If Tye was about to be robbed, this is what is likely to happen:

Robber: Hey, you there! Yeah, you! What's your name?

Idiot Tyler: Hello, random stranger with a ski mask! My name is Tyler Xavier Stark. I am fifteen years old and this is my phone. You know what? You can just have it! While you're at it, please take all the money in this wallet, the wallet itself, my MP3 player, keys to my house at the end of Carson Drive, car keys– even though I'm sure you'd rather ski everywhere– and my bank account information!

Robber: What if I kill you or keep you hostage?

Idiot Tyler: You...want my life...? Go and take it! I'll be happy to leave my cold, dead body to your cold, crusty hands!

...

Yup. That sounds like Tyler. It's better that way, though. Even though he's never really angry, he's pretty competetive. While playing a sport, that guy is a full-on beast until the game is over. Until then, he will most likely run you over with a steamroller if you ever get in his way. Other than that, though, he's a completely calm and cheerful sweetheart!

Lila– who happens to have noticed Iden's light brunette and lime-green-eyed beauty– was staring him up and down. Repeatedly. "So... Iden, was it? Where are you from?" Oh god, I thought to myself while face-palming.

"Well, I was born in Switzerland... then I moved to Sweden. Then, I went to England where Odette met me and stayed there until now." He smiled and nudged my shoulder. "I've been home-schooled by my mom the entire time, so I'm glad to actually be at a school now." Iden explained how he was taught a bit of Latin which is how he introduced me to 'Tempus fugit'.

For some reason, Drake was completely silent, but then again, he was eating. So, I guess it was proper manners. Tyler was still freaking out about the fact that they lived so near to each other. Cass was listening intently to the conversation, but I could tell that she was mentally waiting for secret information to use as blackmail. I was a victim of hers a long time ago, but we finally get along now. It's always good to have someone like that at arms reach. Lila was drooling over herself; I told her before that drooling's not attractive, but she didn't listen. Here I was, watching them all with interest as if they were circus performers.

The bell rang like a shrill scream. Scratch that. The bell rang at the exact same time as a girl let out a shrill scream. Everyone immediately began to murmur and form some sort of crowd around the person. She had food all over her; in her hair, on her clothes, in her clothes, and... just... everywhere. Blushing and kind of pouting, she looked at all the laughing people surrounding her. Beginning to tear-up, she ran away just when I got to the front of the crowd.

Of course, there's no way that she could've gotten all of that on her by herself. There just had to be a culprit... And there he was, sitting beside the mess on the floor.

I crossed my arms and stood before him. "Okay, just what the hell were you doing, Elliot?" The girl ran away, crying, while Elliot sat on the tiled floor, completely clean of any mess. For some reason, it ticked me off that he wasn't dirtied too. Really, I was trying my best not to wish for harm to be inflicted on him; truly, I was.

"I was just running back here when that girl popped out of nowhere and bumped into me!" he exclaimed, trying to defend himself... but failing.

"Why were you running in the first place?! I mean, are you in Kindergarten?"

"Well, sorry! I was trying to get back before the bell rang! But it did. And now we might be late to class..." He tapped his chin and inhaled sharply. "Okay. I admit: It was a mistake on my part, but I found you a nickname! I had to run all the way to the computer lab in order to search it up! You're welcome."

My friends started laughing behind me which made it hard to keep a strict face. I gave in and reached out my hand that he gladly accepted. "What is it?" I asked him. "What was the nickname you found?"

He put on a proud smile and lifted a thumbs-up. "It's 'Ode'! You know, like a song. Or a poem. Or something." Elliot looked really happy with himself. I thought about it for a second while we walked to class. 'Ode', huh?

"No," I replied bluntly. "I don't like it."

He mock-gasped and placed his hand over his chest. "Did you hear that? It was the sound of my poor heart breaking into a million little Elliot-heart pieces." Chuckling at himself, he put his hand on my head and messed with my hair.

I sighed and broke free of his arm. Then, I remembered that Iden has all my after-lunch classes. "Oh!" I said out loud. Elliot raised his eyebrow at me, so I had to explain myself. "One of my childhood friends, Iden, came. Iden has the next classes with us."

Elliot tapped his chin; he seems to do that often. "Is Iden a guy?" I nodded as a response. I don't really know many girls named 'Iden', but I guess it can be a co-ed name. All he said next was, "Oh." Pointing my thumb backwards to show him who Iden was, Elliot looked at him and mumbled something.

I was confused, but I'm like that almost all the time, so I thought nothing of it. The next class was for math. It's the same in every country, so as long as you can do math, you're bilingual... in my perspective. During my first day of school, I walked into my math classroom, saying "equations... equations galore", so since that day, I've thrown my arms into the air and spun around, shouting "equations... equations galore" every time I entered. Sometimes, my fellow classmates would join me in my tribal-sounding chant.

Like usual, I swung open the door, spread out my fingers, and twirled. "Equations... Equations galore!" Tyler, Drake, Cass, and Lila yelled with me, harmonizing with a bunch of other people that sat at their seats. Elliot and Iden were chuckling. Well, Iden was chuckling. Elliot was suppressing something way larger.

We took our seats while Elliot went to our teacher in order to find out where his seat is. Iden said that he came yesterday, so he already had his seat. I was oblivious to this, so I felt sort of horrible. My childhood friend from England came to my school and I didn't even notice. That makes me feel like a terrible person. But I'm glad he's back. However, with his looks, he'll have to get used to being surrounded by girls often. I'm included in that group of girls too, but he's my friend; I have a reason.

I sat next to Drake and Lila, Tyler sat at the other side of Lila. That was our four-person table. Cass sat at another table on the other side of Drake. Iden sat infront of Cass while Elliot was still a UFO; Unfamiliar Freaking Objection. Yes, I objected to having something so unfamiliar in all of my classes. Maybe I could switch him for Iden. Then, the world would be such a happy place for me! But alas, I cannot.

Once the teacher came, she placed him in a seat in the front row; away from me. After that whole thing was sorted out, we went through with our daily learning, got our homework, and left. Next, for me, was science. But the schedule was the same for the rest of my friends and Elliot. Since we got to pick our seats for this class too, I still sat with Lila, Drake, Tyler, and Cass– who was able to join us this time. Science has got to be my favorite class, though. No matter how much I zone out, I'm still able to waltz out of that class with an 'A+', so if you don't call that talent, then I don't know what is. It's kind of like walking into McDonalds with the intent to buy a burger, but since you found a coupon, you're able to leave with an added milkshake.

Food is capable of setting the best life lessons in the world.

Everything was going great and wonderfully perfect until I remembered that Elliot was in this class too. Not only that, but he sat in the table behind me. So, every now and then, he'd whisper something in my ear that only I could hear. And it was really sort of annoying. He only said one word, though, in a demanding tone: "Ode". Repeating it over and over again, he was forcing that nickname onto me. "Ode... Ode... Ode... Ode... Ode..." he chanted continuously.

Oh, god, I thought to myself. Do I have the willpower to wait after school to yell at him, or should I just let it all out right now and scream like a banshee during this lecture? The second option became more and more appealing as time flew by, but I'm not so weak as to lose my composure that quickly. Once class was over, I kind of jumped with excitement and banged my knee up against the table by accident. Well, duh it was on accident. What kind of person hits their knee on purpose?

Long story short, it hurt like hell. I even hit that one reflex point under your knee-cap that sends your leg flying into the air. Wincing, I face-planted the desk and grabbed onto my leg. I'm such an extraordinarily disappointing human being. Drake watched this all happen, considering the fact that he's right next to me. To my surprise, he didn't laugh at me; it just seemed like something the average person would laugh at. Then again, Drake's not all that average. What kind of thing would be seen as 'average' anyways? Ugh... I'm about to get philosophical.

Instead, Drake sighed and stood up. Slipping his hands under my thighs and behind my back, he picked me up and began walking with the rest of our friends.

 []Author's Note[]

Hello there, reader! How are you this fine day? ...Night? Eugh. Sorry this chapter wasn't so eventful... BUT there is still more to come...

So... Lesse... You met Odette, Lila, Cass, Drake, Tyler, Elliot, and Iden so far, right? Right... Right. Well, there's one more important character for you to meet! They won't be coming anytime soon, but I can at least tell you that their name starts with a "K". Okay? Okay.

What else do I have to say...? Oh! You know that girl who got a mess of food all over her? Yeah, but let me ask you this: Why did she have a whole tray full of food when the lunch period was ending? Hm? Hmmm????? Mysteries~

While you think about that, I'm going to go and write more. Or watch anime... Whichever sounds the most appealing at the moment. So, vote, comment, follow, and keep reading!

This is Iris~! Signing OFF~

        -!Ri$