My alarm clock woke me up. I slammed the OFF button and rolled off of bed, landing on the floor. I groaned and got up. I got ready and left the house in an hour. I didn't have time to make myself lunch, so I grabbed ten dollars.

"Morning," Adrian greeted me in Math. "How was the rest of the school day?" He questioned. It was as if the hug at lunch had never happened.

"Eh, I don't remember much. I'm still trying to get my head wrapped around everything that's happening." It was true... partially. "Is Franky still out?"

He nodded, his black hair bouncing a little so I could see glimpses of his left eye. "She's not really getting much better, though..."

"How do you know all this about her?" I wondered.

He nodded his head over at Madison and a group of girls that looked like they were desperate for her attention and approval. I wondered how I could have ever missed them. "She talks really loudly."

I laughed, but stopped quickly when the school bell rang. Mr. McMath started class, and I tried paying attention. Anything to get all this drama out of my head.

The bell rang, and I rushed out of first period. "Hey, hang on!" Adrian called, scrambling to gather all his things and catch up to me. "Come on, Dani!" He whined, trying hard to catch up to me. I didn't slow down. Finally, he did manage to catch up to me. "Why?" He panted.

I shrugged. "You're slow."

He scowled at me as we entered Orchestra. I stuck my tongue out at him and took my seat, getting my violin prepared. The teacher, who was actually pretty nice if you weren't tardy, started class as soon as the bell rang. As we tuned our instruments he passed out a new piece. Pictures at an Exhibition. It looked insanely difficult.

"Today we're starting a new piece. It's called Pictures at an Exhibition," The teacher - Mr. Apollo - announced. "It looks difficult, I know, but with practice you can get it."

There were a bunch of groans, but I was pumped. I wanted to play this piece. My violin was one of my few escapes. But we didn't play. Instead, Mr. Apollo just talked about the piece, and why it was written, and what each picture was of. He even showed us pictues. The Gnome was disturbing.

The bell rang, and he looked shocked. "Well then, we'll continue this tomorrow. Pack 'em up and put 'em away," He told us, which we did immediately.

I was off to third period. And pretty soon it was fourth period. And then lunch.

Adrian cornered me again, except this time he managed to do it at the lunch table. "Did I freak you out yesterday?" He inquired, trying to look into my eyes. I wouldn't let him. I kept looking down. He sighed. "I guess I did..."

"No, no. It was just... surprising," I replied quietly. At least he didn't chose to ignore it and never think about it again, I told myself. I held up my lunch money. "Could I go get something to eat?"

He laughed, nodding. "Sure. I'll come with you." I shrugged, not really minding. At least not until I heard people whispering as we walked by. "Is it just me or..." He trailed off.

"You're the hottest guy in school, Adrian. You just broke up with the most popular girl in school for what seems like no reason. Now the new girl is walking around and hanging out with you. Put it together. They're probably thinking we're going out," I said, sounding much colder than I ever thought I could sound like.

"Woah, you're kind of scary."

I sighed. "Sorry. It's just... I move a lot, and usually it's to the schools where the new kids are talked about. They're the talk of the school until either the semester ends, or another new kid comes. It's an endless cycle. And most of the kids who stay at those schools long enough becomes one of the bullies. It's horrible and vicious."

I grabbed some food - I didn't even look - and paid for it. I went back to the table, not really hungry anymore.

"Wow. I didn't know new kids went through all that..." Adrian whispered, sitting down next to me with some food. "I've lived here my whole life, and usually Madison bullies away all the new kids. Most leave after a week. The ones who stay become like her." He pointed to a blonde, who was sitting alone only a few tables down. I hadn't realized it before, but there were a lot of people like that all around the cafeteria. "They become loners, trying to keep their heads down."

"I never noticed all these people..." I whispered. "I've been so absorbed with what was happening with me... I never noticed." I felt ashamed of myself. I pushed my tray back, no longer hungry. I have to do something about this, I thought to myself.

"Eat. There's a lab in Science today. You may want some food in your stomach so you're alert."

I nodded and pulled my tray back to me. I nibbled on my burger and broccoli - which was actually pretty good - until the lunch bell rang.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Dani," Adrian said, smiling a little sadly and waving.

I smiled back and waved. I caught up to the blonde girl. She looked like she was heading to my Science class, too. "Hi," I said, a little nervous. I wasn't a person who talked to people I didn't know.

She looked surprised and looked around. "Me?" She asked.

I smiled a little more and nodded. "Yeah. I noticed you were sitting alone during lunch today. Would you like to sit with us tomorrow?"

She narrowed her eyes a little. "Why?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm Dani. This is..." I thought about it a bit. "My third day here. I think. And Madison thinks I seperated her and Adrian, so she's currently out to get me. I'm not pulling a prank on you."

She looked surprised again, and then recognition crossed her face. "You're the person she tripped yesterday in Science!"

I nodded. "Yeah... it hurt a bit." I grinned a little. "But it doesn't matter to me. I've been to enough schools to know about all this. It'll go away after a while." I didn't believe myself. Especially not with how deep into this drama I've gotten.

Her blue eyes clouded with concern. "Do you want to be my lab partner today? I heard we were using chemicals in todays lab..." I nodded, smiling, and she seemed a little nervous. "Okay. Let's just make sure we have a table away from Madison."