~Joey's POV~

I was leaning against my locker, resting my head on the cool metal, trying to get a few more precious minutes of sleep when I heard a group of boys hooting and laughing approach. I groaned, pushing myself upright just as Alan and Spencer came into view. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I made myself livid.

"Joey, what's up man?" Spencer greeted me, ruffling my hair. Not really up for any messing around, I pushed his hands away and patted it back down into place. I looked bad enough with only 4 hours of sleep already, I didn't need Spencer's help looking anymore worse.

"Joe, no offense, but you look like a zombie," Alan said, looking up from his phone to examined my face. I burst into laughter, doubling over because of how hard I was laughing. I couldn't help it, even I knew it was true. I barely made it to school on time that morning. My mom was this close to dumping cold water on me to wake up. And to top it all off, Kenny actually did dumped the glass of water on me.

With a tiny yawn, I regarded Alan and Spencer wearily. "I was up most of the night finishing my English paper." With very little enthusiasm, I showed them the three paged printed out essay. "Mr. Seazers better appreciate it for the very little sleep I got on my part." Without warning, Spencer yanked it out of my fingers and inspected it. "Dude!" I said as I jumped up from where I was sitting to try to get my homework assignment back from him.

Spencer dodged my flying hands and laughed. "He would appreciate it more if you hadn't spelled your name wrong, bro." I ripped my homework out of his hands and looked at it.

"You're lying," I replied, sounding incredulous. Spencer wordlessly pointed at the top of the first page. I read, 'Jsosehp Stqmpee' and gasped in horror.

"No way," I whispered, gaping at my misspelled name in despair. "Nononono." I stepped back to the locker behind me and slid down it, running my fingers through my hair. How could I have missed something like that when I was proofreading? I rolled up the essay and held it tight in one hand. I didn't even want to think what the others would say. Especially CHad.

Spencer started to chuckle, and I turned my head to face him. "What's so funny Spence?" He struggled to compose himself. "Well, uh, I knew you liked to pee, but why'd you have to put it in your own name?" I bopped him in the shin with the rolled up essay, and rolled my eyes at his comment. "It's okay Joe, just print out another copy. When do you have English?" Alan asked. I groaned, knowing that there was no hope for fixing my stupid error in time.

Taking a deep breath, I shook my head weakly at my best buddies. "I have it first period," I mumbled, rubbing my face with my hands. They fell silent, finally understanding my struggle. All the hours I had spent typing and editing that darn paper, all wasted on a typo. Crossing my arms over my knees, and resting my head on top of them, I hid my face from anyone passing by.

"Here, give it to me and I'll run to the library right now," Spencer offered, holding out his hand to take the essay.

"It's fine," I mumbled, laying down, and using my backpack as a pillow, "I'll just use whiteout or something."

My moping was interrupted by the sound of Chad and Caleb's voices floating up the hallway. From what I was picking up, Caleb was complaining to Chad about something.

"...Oh stop whining," Chad was saying in a bored tone, "I gave you a ride to school, didn't I?"

"Yea, but it's still cold outside," Caleb replied. I could hear the squeaking of their shoes on the wet linoleum as they got nearer. "It's snowing pretty bad out there," Chad told us, finally reaching the group.

"Ummm, what's wrong with Joey?" Caleb asked, kicking my foot with his shoe. Chad took in the sight of me laying down on the ground, eyes half closed, and remarked. "What war did you fight in?"

I lifted my head, and peered up at my friends in mizery. "I'm fighting a battle called 'Hunger and Exhaustion' my dear friends."

"And he misspelled his," I cut Spencer off with a glare that could have killed. He immediately fell silent, and Caleb and Chad were left looking confused.

Chad searched through his backpack, and pulled out a wrapped sandwich from Subway. "Well, I can't help you with the tired part, but I can help you with the hungry part." He handed me the sub, and my stomach growled. Lost for words, I took the sandwich gratefully. Unwrapping it eagerly, I took a bite into it.

"Mmmm," I said, glad that I finally had gotten something to eat.

"Woah there, Joey. Are you in love with that thing or what?" Essence teased, walking up with Ally by her side. I stuck my tongue out at her, and wiped my mouth clean with a napkin Caleb had offered me. From the corner of my eye I saw Spencer pick something up and show it to Chad. Too late, I realized what it was.

Chad stared at me a second later, obviously trying to keep back a smile. "Wow, all these years being friends, and I never knew that was how you spelled your name." I balled my hands into fists at Chad's slick comment.

"Give me back my paper," I commanded. Spencer obeyed, and threw the assignment onto my lap.

Probably feeling bad, Ally knelt down next to me and said gently. "I'm sure if you go now, you can print out another copy." I shook my head, head still in my hands.

I heard footsteps close by. What I was expecting was Mystic's voice, looking for Caleb, or maybe even Carina's, but the voice I heard was one I never heard before. "Um, you're Essence right?" The unfamiliar voice asked Essence. Essence turned her face toward the girl, smiling.

"That's me, what's up. Need help with something?" Essence moved over to the girl's side, and Ally got up to follow. Leaving me alone for the time being. I laid back down, my head propped up by my backpack, and closed my eyes.

"Well, I got my schedule, and I was wondering if you knew where this class is?" I peeked through my fingers to see what was happening. Ally, Essence and some girl were standing a few feet away, but I couldn't see anything of the girl but wavy, dark brown hair, because Chad was blocking the way.

"Hey, dude, I think you have this class," Chad spoke up, turning back to stare at me. I was pretty sure that Caleb, Alan, and Spencer were watching me curiously too. Waiting to see if I'd answer.

"What class?" I mumbled through my hands. The girl whirled around, startled by my voice. She obviously hadn't seen me until then. She turned away before I could catch a glimpse at her.

"English 2, Seazer's class," she read outloud. I looked up from my hands and nodded at Essence.

"Yea, I have that class." The bell to signal first period rung and people bustled around, hurriedly getting to their first class of the day. I gasped and quickly stood up. "I have to fix my mistake!" I shouted as I grabbed my essay and shot from the lockers, racing towards the library.

When I got there, no other person but the librarian was there. No doubt they were already in their classes, waiting for the teacher to begin the lesson. The librarian was scanning books, and putting them in piles on her desk. I ran up to her and breathlessly asked. "Could I use the copy machine?" She stopped scanning the book she was holding to eye me suspiciously.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class?" She questioned, putting the small book she was holding facedown on a pile. Waving off her concerns, I politely repeated myself. "I'm sorry, but I'm sort of in a rush. Could I use the copy machine or not?"

She nodded, and I dashed over to the computers. I plugged in my hardrive, and pulled up my essay. I deleted my misspelled name, reading it over once in dismay, then swiftly retyped it. This time I made sure that it was spelled correctly. I pressed down hard on each of the letters, saying them outloud as I typed.

"J.O.S.E.P.H S.T.A.M.P.E..Oww!" I yelled, startling the librarian as I looked at my throbbing finger.

"What did you do, Joey?" A feminine voice giggled from the counter behind me. I whirled around to see Essence smiling at me, handing a book to the librarian.

"Oh, umm, I guess I was typing too hard and-" I paused and looked at my finger again in embarrassment. "I hurt my finger." Essence chuckled and walked over to me.

Stopping just behind my seat, she glanced down at my left hand, a tiny smile on her face. "Fixing your misspelled name I see," She observed, looking at the computer I was using. I nodded and clicked 'Print' on the computer and I walked over to the printer to wait for the three pages.

"Joey," Essence chuckled. "You didn't need to reprint every page of your essay! Only the first one!" I blushed in embarrassment for the second time since she had arrived.

"Oh, I guess you're right Essie," I chuckled, taking the warm papers from the printer, stapling them together, and hurried out of the library, determined not to arrive late to class. Again. I walked into class right when the bell sounded for the school day to start. The teacher, Mr. Seazer's, glared at me as I took my seat in the second row, close to the middle of the classroom.

"You were almost late, Mr. Stamper. I was afraid I was going to have to give you detention!"

Struggling to pick up my essay as he approached, I kept my head down to shield myself from my classmates. "I-I'm sorry sir, I had to fix a mistake on my paper," I stammered, showing him the old copy and handing him the new one. Mr. Seazers chuckled as he scanned my old writing assignment.

"Spelled your name wrong, Mr. Stamper?" The class started buzzing with chatter as I sank down low in my seat, trying my best to vanish into thin air. Just what I needed. "Okay class, settle down. We have a new student joining us today!" Seazers announced.

Instead of falling silent, everyone around me grew louder at his words. It got so out of hand that Mr. Seazers had to whistle to get everyone's attention. Even I stopped trying to be invisible to catch a glimpse at the new student. A girl got up from behind Mr. Seazers' desk and went over to his side. She said something to him that I couldn't hear, and he nodded. "Alright Ms. Rier, take a seat in that empty desk." He pointed to the desk in the row in front of mine, two desks from my left. The girl gathered her books and started for her new seat, when a boy shouted from the back.

"I call dibs!" The room erupted into laughter, making her flush a shade of pink. Ignoring whoever had spoken out, she continued walking. As she passed right in front of my seat, goosebumps ran up my arms. She somehow seemed familiar, but I was sure I had never seen her before.

As soon as she had taken her seat besides Lilly Ryder, a girl I had never spoken to except for that time I needed a pencil, Mr. Seazers started the class lecture. I liked English, and apparently I was good at it because I got into the advanced class. But it was hard to focus with the people next to me whispering in excitement. I glanced over at the girl as I finished reading a passage in my book and wondered if I should introduce myself to her after class. Going against it, for fear of being too awkward, I continued reading my textbook.

~Anissa's POV~ (Time Skippy)

I was looking down at my schedule, trying to locate the gym when a door in front of me opened and two familiar looking boys stepped out of the classroom. "You walk so slow Chadwick," the curly haired boy from yesterday called into the classroom. He leaned against the door for a moment before he got impatient. He let it close right as Chad was coming out of the room and got smacked on the side of his head with the door. I was trying to hold in my laughter when Chad spotted me.

"Hey, Anissa, right?" Chad asked me, smiling sheepishly as he rubbed his head. "We've got to stop meeting like this," He walked over to where I was standing, a couple feet away from the door.

"Hi!" Caleb said politely, waving at me from behind Chad. I chuckled and waved at them both, holding out my schedule.

"Could you guys help me find my next class?" I asked them, showing the two boys the small slip of paper, pointing to the class I needed to go to. Chad's eyes lit up as he read the small letters.

"Hey Caleb, Anissa's in our gym class!" He looked at me then back to Caleb, who was smiling.

"You're going to love our gym class!" Caleb grabbed me by the arm and started pulling me in the direction of what I assumed to be the gym. When we arrived there, he pointed me towards the gym doors.

"Caleb and I have to go change," Chad told me coming up beside us, "And you should go talk with coach." I nodded, thanking them. I opened the double doors to be greeted by the awful mixture between sweat and floor cleaner. I briefly swept the crowd, looking for the teacher and I noticed a familiar looking girl talking to a girl I haven't met before. I walked over to her and I tapped her on the shoulder.

She girl turned around and gave me a huge smile. "Hey, are you following me around?" I laughed, and returned the smile.

"I knew you looked familiar. We just had Spanish together." Essence nodded and looked at her friend.

"This is Carina, Anissa," she introduced us. Carina gave a warm smile, extending her hand out.

"Nice to meet you, Anissa!" I shook it and I turned to Essence.

"Where's the teacher? Chad told me I should talk to them." Essence's eyes widen, but she pointed behind her.

"Coach should be over there," She smiled at me as I walked in the direction she pointed. I tapped the woman's arm and she turned around, smiling at me.

Looking down at her clipboard, she smiled kindly. "Ah, you must be Ms. Rier, the new student," my new gym teacher extended her hand and I shook it, smiling warmly at her.

"I am," My eyes scanned her friendly features. To her kind, grey eyes, to her warm smile. To the way the skin outside her eyes crinkled when she smiled.

"My name is Mrs. Rellis. But you can call me Coach Rellis," She introduced herself, standing up straighter, volleyball tucked under her right arm. My eyes lit up at the sight of it. Coach Rellis chuckled.

"You like volleyball, huh, Ms. Rier?" She said as she was digging through her pocket for something.

"I love volleyball! I played it at my middle school 7th and 8th grade!" Coach Rellis handed me a key then.

"Take this and go into my office to get yourself a gym uniform. You should see a pile right when you walk in. We'll be starting shortly," She explained, smiling at me as I turned around and rushed out the gym doors to the girls' locker room.

I entered the locker room and found Coach Rellis' office. I unlocked it and I immediately found a pile of black shorts and burgundy shirts. I searched through it until I found a pair of shorts and a shirt in my size and I dressed quickly, choosing a random locker to put my stuff in. I put my hair in a ponytail as I hurried out the door. I came in when Coach Rellis was starting to divide the class into teams for volleyball. She saw me enter the gymnasium and waved me over, smiling warmly. You will be on team 5, Ms. Reir. She pointed to a group of 3 girls and one boy and I walked over to it. At the mention of her team, a girl turned around and she smiled at me.

"Oh my gosh, Anissa! I'm so happy you're on my team!" Essence exclaimed as I reached the small group, hugging me tightly. I laughed and looked at the rest of my team. One of the 3 girls had dark skin and beautiful dark hair, pulled neatly into a bun. She smiled at me and introduced herself.

"I'm Taisha," She waved at me kindly. The other girl stood next to her quietly. "And this is Aubrey." Aubrey had straight, red hair that was pulled up into a high ponytail. She had freckles dotting her cheek bones and the bridge of her nose. She had light, ice blue eye that pierced my soul when I looked into them. I quickly looked away and to the only boy on the team. He was the tallest of the group. He had thick, light brown hair and kind, dark brown eyes. His hair looked windswept and was swept to the right side.

"Hey," the boy smiled at me warmly. "I'm Ethan." I chuckled and waved shyly at him. Coach whistled to signal that the volleyball matches were about to start. Coach Rellis explained that the odd numbered teams-1,3, and 5-were to serve first.

Everyone got into their positions, the ball somehow getting placed into my hands for the starting serve. I glanced at Essence, eyebrow raised, surprised that they'd want me to be server. She gave me an encouraging smile, and I walked over to the back right of the court to my spot.

I looked across the net at the team we were versing, the ball in my hands, waiting for the whistle that would signal the start of the match. As I waited, I scanned the opposing players. It was a group of three boys and three girls, and they all wore the same expression of determination on their faces.

Rule number one of volleyball: know your opposing team better than your own. From the looks of it, two of the three boys would be extremely good spikers, and one of the girls was a volleyball player herself. I took in a deep breath, closing my eyes, and then opened them, waiting for coach to blow her whistle.

A second later, I heard the whistle, and prepared to hit the ball. I stood with the volleyball in my hands, my legs shoulder width apart, my left leg out in front, my knees slightly bent. Most importantly, I put most of my weight on my back leg, assuring me a powerful serve.

I inhaled deeply, and exhaled quickly. In a flash of movement, I threw the ball up in the air with my left hand, and bent my right arm back. when it fell down to a position where I could hit it, I gave it my all, watching it soar up over the net to the other side.

when it successfully made it over the net, the player in back center called, "mine" and bumped it back over the net. It was coming directly towards me, so I bent my knees, got my hands ready, and set the ball up. from there, the player in front of me, Aubrey, called it, and set it up for the person on her left. Ethan then jumped fairly high, and spiked the ball back.

We cheered as Ethan's spike got us a point, and continued on with the game. As the game went on, both teams got more brutal, and I had to retreat from trying to hit the ball at one point from how forceful the hit was. "Seriously?" I shouted back, just nearly avoiding the hit. The dark haired, green eyed boy from the other team chuckled.

"Sorry newbie, I'll just have to be more gentle next time!" He called back, his friends chuckling. I glanced over at Aubrey, who was next to me, and she shook her head, as if to say 'what can you do?' Not having any other choice but to let it go, I resumed playing the game.

By the time class ended, everyone was sweaty and worn out. Ethan, Essence, and I said our goodbyes, and Essence and I headed toward the girls' locker room. It wasn't until then, when the adrenaline of the volleyball game was starting to fade, when I realized how exhausted I really was.

Thank god I have lunch after this.

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A/N 

Hey guys! So sorry for the late update!! The summer turned busy for the both of us but we finished finished this long awaited chapter! And thank you all for 200 reads, I love you guys so much!! Be sure to vote and comment if you liked it!! Enjoy and see all you beautiful people later!! Bai!!