I got to first period late, having had to sneak Maya down the roof and into the nearest girls' bathroom so she could fix her face as she put it. I'd never thought she looked so beautiful in her life, but she'd only rolled her eyes and dug in her bag for her makeup. I wanted to stay with her, make sure she was okay...that was until she reminded me that she could get away with being late since she was Mr. Smith's favorite, I, on the other hand, could not.

I tried to slip in unnoticed, but the second I opened the door every pair of eyes were on me. I swallowed the horrible knot in my throat and forced myself to sit, walk, breathe...

"How good of you to join us, Ms. Matthews! I hope my lesson didn't get in the way of anything!"

I shook my head. "Sorry, Mr. Smith, it won't happen again." I didn't think I had the time to tell him that his class was hardly a lesson."

He harrumphed. "It better not! Now back to what I was saying..." I tuned him out, preferring to bury my head in a textbook and hope against hope I could move faster than Sarah, therefore escaping another one of her long interrogation sessions.

Maya arrived a few minutes after me, walking in like nothing had happened, looking flawless as always. She breezed right past Mr. Smith, flashing her a smile that could melt gold before taking her usual seat in front of me. It had been unnerving to have everyone staring at me, but now that they were looking back and forth between me and the blonde, I wanted to disappear under the desk. I didn't dare look anywhere but at my book.

The second the bell rang I was out of my seat and headed for the door. I think I even managed to beat Mr. Smith out. I heard my name being called but I ignored theme and surged through the crowd to my second lesson....Creative Writing...that I had with Sarah and Maya...I reached the classroom before anyone else and dropped the bag at the table furthest to the back, I wasn't looking forward to this, but it had to be done.

The door opened and my head snapped up. It wasn't Sarah; it was some boy whose name I couldn't quite remember. I smiled at him, which he returned, hesitantly, before taking a seat in the front. Slowly more people arrived and every single one of them stared at me like I'd grown an extra head overnight. The whispering had already begun, I didn't need to hear to know they were talking about me; they weren't exactly inconspicuous with the staring.

I let my head hit the table, wincing slightly at the contact. It was going to be such a long day, I could tell. I felt someone sit down to the right of me, thinking it was Sarah I didn't bother to move. I could tell her everything she wanted without having to look at her and see the hurt, the disappointment, the disgust in her eyes.

"Hey." The voice was soft, one I knew well, but was so not Sarah's. I looked up to find beautiful blue eyes watching me with concern.

"Hey." I smiled, feeling my heart rate increase at having her so close to me.

"You okay?"

"I don't know. You?"

She sighed and sat back down in her seat. "Same." There was a long moment of silence between us that was only ruined by the ever increasing whispering going on around the room.

I put my head back on the table. "Really? I hadn't noticed. They're all being so subtle about it." She laughed quietly before shifting closer to me. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For getting you into this mess. I know you didn't want this."

"No, I didn't. But now that it's out maybe we can—"

"Riley Matthews, what is going on?" Sarah came storming into the classroom, heading straight to where we sat. I groaned, wanting to throw something really heavy at her for interrupting what Maya was going to say, and for making sure that every person was completely focused on us.

"Sarah—"

"Don't you 'Sarah' me! I want answers and I want them now." She came to a halt right in front of me, hands firmly on her hips.

"Well, whatever Smackle said is the truth."

"Smackle? Smackle didn't say a thing! She hightailed it out of the second you disappeared! So come on, spill!" I looked at Maya in desperation, hoping she'd have some idea what to do. No such luck. I was met with nothing but desperation.

"Sarah, please—"I didn't get any further because the door opened again and the teacher walked in.

"Run out of chairs, have we, Miss Carpenter?"

"No, Ms. Shepard."

"Good, then if you'll be kind enough to find one to sit in so we can get on with the lesson."

"Yes, Ms. Shepard." Sarah's angry frown would have been funny if I hadn't been so tense.

"Alright, if everyone can take out their textbooks and turn to page 39, so we can start where we left off last week..." I tuned the lesson out as Sara h took a seat in front of us. She wasn't a happy bunny but I didn't care because Maya had slipped her hand onto my leg and squeezed gently, making me bite my lip to stop the gasp that had threatened to slip out. I saw her smile out of the corner of my eye and couldn't help but smile.

I slid my hand slowly off the table and into my lap, holding our hands tightly together. It was going to be one heck of a day and I needed all the courage I could get, we both did. Just sitting there, with Maya by my side, I felt happier than I can ever remember feeling. I didn't want it to end.

So instead of dwelling on the impending Sarah-pocalypse, I picked up my pen and tried my hardest to concentrate on what was going on at the front of the class. All the while trying to ignore the shivers Maya was sending down my spine every time she stroked her thumb over mine.