The following week was torture.

Rumors of Blake and I being caught together spread like quick fire the day after the stupid party. It grew more with every whispered conversation.

Soon the conclusion was that Blake and I had slept with each other and was caught in Ian's room doing the deed.

I knew for certain that Ian was the one spreading the stupid rumor. I didn't even need confirmation because it was Ian.

My hatred for him didn't damper if anything by this development. In fact, if anything, it grew tenfold.

Why was he out to get me? Why me of all people?

"Is it true?" Lisha asked me for, since the last count, the tenth time this week.

Her expression made me want to get in my car and run Ian down before I poured concentrated sulphuric acid all over him and his prized Letterman jacket.

I could tell Lisha was torn between trusting our friendship and believing the rumor that seemed to be the story of the year in our small town.

"It's not," I replied firmly, my eyes stared intently at her, trying to show her how honest I was being.

She stared back me for a couple of seconds before she could form a reply. "Really?" she asked, her face brightening up a bit whilst still remaining apprehensive.

"Yes. I'd never do that to you, Lisha. You or Gianna mean the world to me. I would never let what happened to Rynna happen to us," I said, giving her a hug. She squeezed me back in return to let me know that she believed me just as Ian and his  mindless group of friends passed by.

I glared at the two people I hated more than vegemite at the moment.

Neither of them chanced a look at us.

If only looks could kill.

* * *

I sighed loudly as the bell rang, signalling for next period. 

Grabbing my Calculus textbook, I almost ran out the door.

After an hour of having to shove equations of integration into my brain, I had hoped for a free period in order to get my bearings. Unfortunately, the accursed teachers had put Biology right after Calculus for me.

Another period that was going to be devoted to nothing but eternal torture from Ian and Blake.

Just get through the day without murdering someone, I muttered under my breath as I strolled down the halls.

As I turned the corner, I spotted Grey standing by his locker with a group of soccer players with him.

After the incident at Ian's party that night, I'd left the party without telling Grey I'd be leaving.

And ever since, I still hadn't gotten around to apologizing for ditching him.

I walked over to him, trying to think of a way to word the truth.

The smile that had been on his face as he talked with his friends disappeared once his eyes met mine.

His smile was replaced with a nonchalant expression.

"Hey Grey," I tried to smile to act like I wasn't fazed.

"Uh...hey Sky," he said half-heartedly. His voice sounded like it took everything in him to sound glad to see me.

"Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Yeah sure," he mumbled out, before turning to face his friends. "Guys, see ya later?"

"Hey guys," I threw at his friends as they muttered their greetings, stalking off when Grey shot his version of a glare at them.

"Sorry about that," he apologized as he leaned against the locker.

"Nah, its fine."

"So? You wanted to talk?"

"Oh right. Uh...yeah. See," I started, "About Ian's party...I..."

"It's fine, Sky," he interceded, "You had stuff to do. Besides you had a good time and that's all that mattered, right?"

"But..."

"It's fine, Skylar. Shall we go to class?" he asked, adamant of leaving behind the incident.

"Okay," I muttered, walking next to him, shoulders sagging back in defeat.

The bell rang for second period just as Grey and I entered the classroom.

Grey made a move to head for his designated seat with Ian.

I grabbed his wrist instinctively.

"We're good, right?" I simply asked as I looked at him imploringly.

His brown eyes lit up in a forced smile that told me it would take some time for a guy to forgive you after being ditched in the middle of a date.

"Uh..." he paused as he seemed to try and fit words together to form a sentence, "Yeah. We're g-good."

"Thanks," I smiled at him. "See ya later then?"

"Yeah," he said as he eyed his wrist still encased between my fingers.

"Oh right," I released his fingers, smiling at him as he walked away after sending me another forced smirk.

Mr Daniels or otherwise known as Mr Dee was the Biology teacher. He had thankfully replaced Mr Steward who had retired due to some psychological issues that I had always suspected he had ever since freshman year. 

I never liked Mr Steward, even after the three years we'd spend together as teacher and pupil.

But then again, who can blame me right?

The guy didn't let us do practical work at all. It was studying with our noses buried deep in textbooks.

Mr Dee was currently busy with a student, so I stood by waiting for them to finish. I studied the guy he was talking to, surprised to see a new face.

From the back, his physique was great. With a toned and muscled body that his white shirt couldn't even hide, it was obvious that he was into sports.

His hair was a dark brown that it almost looked black. It was carefully mussed, maybe with the aid of some hair product. He looked belonged on a fashion editorial.

He was bent over, listening to Mr Dee; his white shirt was hugging his body perfectly. The shirt was slightly rising up, revealing a tanned, toned backside.

"So Mr Bon-files," Mr Dee pronounced carefully, yet still failing to say it properly.

I stifled a giggle that threatened to break free from my lips.

"No sir. It's spelt B-o-n-f-i-l-s, but pronounced Bahn-Fiz," the guy corrected. His voice was faultlessly masculine and warm with the right hint of huskiness.

"French," I muttered under my breath absentmindedly as I heard his accent.

"Uh..." the guy said as he turned around, fixing his eyes on mine, "Yeah. French."

His eyes were like tiny orbs of storm with flecks of blue and they were surrounded by thick, black-as-night eyelashes that most girls would kill for.

Although I was wearing boots, he still towered a good five or six inches over me. His lips were tugged up in an amused smile as he looked at me.

Then it dawned on me that I had been ogling him like a star-struck idiot.

"Oh...uh...sorry," I mumbled, "I was... just...uh never mind."

Way to go, Skylar! Just sound like an eavesdropping lunatic that doesn't know how to form words properly.

"Well then," Mr Dee continued like I hadn't said anything, "Mr uh...you know...you can sit next to Mr Karma. He's the only one left single."

"Great. Thanks," the guy said as he smiled at Mr Dee then turned around nearly running into me as I moved forward hastily, trying to catch Mr Dee before he began class.

"Sorry," the guy said as he smiled, displaying dimples on both cheeks.

Unfair.

"It's fine," I said, flustered and taken aback with just how unreal he looked.

"Uh... Ms Khrest," Mr Dee interceded as he tapped his fingers impatiently on his wooden desk, "You wanted something?"

"Oh," I flushed as I watched the new kid head and sat down next to Drew, "Can I switch partners?"

"Oh really?" He sounded amused and that was one of the many reasons I preferred him to old lunatic Professor Steward. He was always so patient and friendly, until of course, he decided to spring surprise pop quizzes on us.

"Yes. I like a peaceful and non-awkward environment."

He looked me over skeptically before he sighed, knowing how stubborn I could be. "Oh, alright." He looked away from me. "Mr Bonfils, sorry for the inconvenience but please exchange places with Mr Flynn," the teacher said, pronouncing Bonfils name to perfection.

"Uh...sure," the new kid said, confusion clearly etched onto his face before he headed for our desk.

Now I was surprised.

How the hell did he know who Flynn was?

Blake hadn't yet gotten over the shock and hadn't even moved. So how did he know who Blake was? Wasn't he a new student?

"Thanks Mr Dee," I threw at our teacher before I headed for my desk.

The new guy was already at the seat Blake had vacated and was looking at home.

My eyes landed on the table behind us and instantly I felt my day already brightening. Ian wasn't in class today and I was free of his childish tantrums.

I sat down at our table and just sighed in relief at the thought that Ian was not in class today.

"Now, if there aren't any more necessary exchanging of sitting arrangements, I would like to begin our discussion on mitosis and meiosis," Mr Dee said as he started handing out worksheets to the entire class.

I flipped through my textbook and opened up o the page that we had left off at last week.

"Mitosis? Meiosis? This is going to be a long class," my new partner muttered to himself.

That was when I realized that I'd made him sit with me without his permission. But then again, he was a new student and had no say in the matter However, I still felt bad. 

I turned to face him, and watched him just boredly playing with his pen as his eyes studied the charts on the wall. "I'm so sorry that you got stuck in this."

He looked at me and again, a confused expression on his face. I tried not to stare at how interesting the shade his eyes were.

When he didn't say a word, I continued hastily, whilst keeping my voice down of course as Mr Dee had begun the class. "I can ask Mr Dee to change you back to Drew if you want. Someone else can sit next to me."

His confused mask dropped and he smiled slightly. "No," he started, "I didn't mean you. I ...uh... I was just muttering something that had nothing to do with that."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I have no problem sitting next to you."

"I'm sorry..."

He furrowed his brows together. "What for?"

"Uhmm.... being nosey, I guess."

"It's fine," he chuckled lightly, "I'd be pretty nosey to if some stranger started muttering stuff like that. Name's Zac. Zachary Bonfils," he added, holding out a hand.

"Skylar Khrest," I shook his hand weirdly, having not experienced this before. After all, who goes around shaking people's hands nowadays. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Skylar," he replied, his face slightly turned up in an amused smirk then instantly returned back to an all-out 100-watt grin.

"You can call me Sky," I offered.

This seemed to make his mood brighten even more. "Sky? Oh okay. You just moved here?"

My expression clearly displayed my confusion.

"Umm...Isn't it the other way around? I mean you are the new student. So that clearly means that you just moved here since I've never since you around in school," I stated, as I watched him.

He was cute, hot even but that doesn't mean that he couldn't be a delusional guy, right?

"In that sense then technically yes, I just moved here," he replied, weaving the confusion in me even more.

"But?"

"But, well...you see I grew up in Larin but then my family and I moved away four years ago to NYC which led me to asking if you just moved here."

"Oh."

"So what's your story?"

"What do you mean what's my story?"

"How did you end up in Larin of all places? You look like a big city girl," he commented, as he studied me closely, ignoring the glares that Mr Dee was shooting us for thinking that his class was meant for long introductions.

"I'll take that as a compliment," I said, "Okay; you got me if you think Texas is a big city. One day my dad just came home as said that we were moving to Phoenix."

"Just like that? No explanations?"

"Uh... well yeah. He is our dad. So he technically has the authority to do that. He just said that he had to come work for a big company here."

"Which company?"

"Uh..." I wondered if I should even be sharing these details with him, but pushed it aside as I saw his expression. He really looked like he cared what I was going to say. "RodCorp."

"RodCorp?" he asked, a tone of surprise, like he wondered why he didn't know of this minor detail in my life then he continued to ask, "Ian's dad's company?" stunning me now.

How did he know that?

That was true.

Ian's dad was the CEO of RodCorp.

A fact that I had only found out a year after we moved into town, when dad took us along to a dinner with what I thought was with his boss and family.

But then I was doubly stunned when I saw Ian sitting there along with his family. I'd thought of it as a coincidence but then stood there shocked when my dad headed over and shook Mr Rodgers hands.

I still sat there stunned as I stared imploringly at Zac.

"Uh... yeah," I muttered after he waved his hand in front of my face, trying to pull me out of my daze.

How the heck did he know that?

"How did you know that?" I voiced out as I stared at him again, "How did you know that Ian's dad owns RodCorp?"

"I...uh," he rubbed the back of his neck and he smiled almost nervously.

"Do you know the Rodgers? Ian specifically?" I asked him again, seeing that he was lost for words.

"Ian Rodgers? Uh...yeah. We grew up together," he stated, his face burning up like he had said that he was a terrorist.

Which, I had always thought was better than what he had just confessed to.

I was never ever going to get along with Ian or his friends.

I'd get Harry Styles to date me before that happened. Something impossible seemed possible when it came to 'the jerk crowd'.

"Really?" I asked, sensing that my conversational side was shutting down.

"Yeah," he said, oblivious to me inching my stool away from him. "He and I are grew up together. We're what bffs are, in girl terms but way more muscular," he joked, as I forced back a grin at him.

"Oh, cool," I said, hiding the sarcastic nature to my comment.

"You want to grab a burger after school? I still need a guide for Larin. Things have really changed."

"They sure have," I muttered under my breath, referring to our case. We were never ever hanging out again.

"I'm busy today," I added.

"Tomorrow?"

"Busy too."

"Th-"

I cut him short. "Busy then too and for the whole of next month."

"Oh. Got it." He finally caught the gist as he turned around and listened to Mr Dee's lecture.

I kind of felt sorry for him. Kinda but not enough to make me take back everything I'd just said.

Because he was Ian's friend.