“Jocelyn!”

Said girl jumped in her seat, eyes widening in surprise as her name was called. The young woman blushed faintly and straightened herself in her desk, her blue gaze lifting to meet her teacher’s stern glare. “Yes, Miss Nichols?” She asked quietly, wishing that she could shrink in her chair to avoid her teacher’s eyes, but luck was not on Jocelyn's side, the woman continuing to glare steadily down at her from her post at the front of the room. It was only first period and already her day was already taking a turn for the worse, Jocelyn a firm believer that her first class was always a predictor for how her day would go. So far, it wasn't looking good for her, and the redhead had to do everything in her power not to groan in misery. 'I can get through this, just smile and pretend that her head's going to explode at any second. That'll work.' The girl mused to herself, a ghost of a grin flickering over her lips, fading before the teach could notice.

“I asked if you could come up here and solve the equation on the board. If you had been paying attention and not day dreaming, you would have known that.” Her teacher snapped, causing the classroom to fill with the sound of laughter from her classmates.

Jocelyn’s eyes narrowed at the class’s amusement, but she sullenly rose from her chair and went to the whiteboard in front of the room. In a few seconds she had solved the equation, turning back to her teacher with a smirk. “There, happy?” Jocelyn replied, her narrowed eyes now directed at the woman who had caused her embarrassment. 

“Very well, go back to your seat, and try to keep your head out of the clouds.” Her teacher commanded with a nod of her head in the direction of Jocelyn’s desk.

As the girl walked through the aisle to return to her seat, she mimicked the woman silently, causing the kids she passed to suppress a laugh. When she finally returned to her desk, she dropped down into her seat, flashing the woman an innocent smile.

In the seat beside Jocelyn sat her closest friend, Tony. His dark brown eyes were glued to Jocelyn, and he could not keep himself from snickering quietly, disguising the sound as a cough behind a closed fist. Ms. Nichols shot the two another stent gaze, but quickly turned back to the whiteboard to begin explaining the next equation she had written.

Jocelyn was trying to pay attention, at least give the appearance that she was paying attention, but a light swat to her arm pulled her attention away from the lecture and back to Tony. Arching a brow at the boy, she shrugged in a gesture meant to ask him what he wanted. Class always went the same way it felt. Jocelyn would try to pay attention to the teacher, but her friend would forever pull her away from the lesson being taught and onto some piece of gossip he had overheard that morning, wanting to share some tidbit with her that she honestly could care less about. She didn’t like most of the people that she went to school with, and they did not like her in return. The shared animosity should have made her life easier, but it did the complete opposite. She was willing to live and let live, her peers however, were not. 

Tony simply grinned and gave her a thumbs up, clearly amused by her antics. Jocelyn rolled her eyes in response and tried to turn her attention back to the teacher, but Tony was not finished with her yet. Swatting her arm again, he leaned over the side of his desk and whispered to her. “Hey, there’s a rumor going around that there’s a new guy in school.”

Again Jocelyn rolled her eyes at him and shrugged her shoulders. “So? What’s that got to do with anything?” She whispered back, casting a sidelong glance toward the front of the room to make sure that their teacher wasn’t looking at them. Taking note that their teacher was still busy writing on the whiteboard with her back to the class, she reached over and gave Tony a punch in the arm. “Stop bugging me about new people and let me pay attention! I already got in trouble once.”

Tony grimaced and rubbed the spot where Jocelyn had punched him. “Oww!” He hissed out, shooting a glare in her direction. “I just heard, I thought I’d share some gossip.” 

“Who cares about gossip?” Jocelyn retorted. “And who cares if there’s a new guy? There are too many guys at this school as it is.”

“Well, excuse me for being nice. Next time I’ll keep my big mouth shut.” Tony responded, sitting back in his chair and turning his attention back to their teacher.

Jocelyn shook her head and sighed quietly, her blue gaze returning back to the front of the room. Now that Tony had brought it up, she was curious if the rumors were true, and if there really was a new guy in school. It seemed kind of dumb to her, the school year was already halfway over, and graduation was right around the corner. What was the point in transferring schools so late in the game? It didn’t matter to her, but now she was curious what this person was like, and why they had transferred. Curiosity becoming fodder for more thoughts, the redhead began to let her mind drift to see if she had come across any unfamiliar faces that morning. She came to the conclusion that she had not, but that did not stop her from continuing to think over the matter in more detail. 

Narrowing her eyes into a glare, she glanced over at Tony, annoyed with the fact that now she was distracted by the thought of some guy who would probably join the rest of the popular kids and make every last day of her senior year a nightmare. Resting her head on her upturned hand, she sulked, hoping that the rumors weren’t true and that she could continue the rest of the school year with no increased amount of torment.

Just as Jocelyn was about to doze off, the bell sounded, and she was startled out of her weariness. Blinking her eyes, she glanced over at Tony only to see him dashing out of the classroom without her. She frowned faintly and slid out of her chair, slinging her backpack over her shoulder as she rushed after him. “Tony! Wait up!” She called, but he either ignored her or didn’t hear her, because he continued on his way down the hall without slowing down. 

With a sigh and a frown, Jocelyn slowed down her rushed pace and walked steadily to her next class. She would worry about Tony at lunch, for now she was going to go to class and try to keep out of trouble for the rest of the day. Walking into her English class, she went to her assigned seat and sat down, yanking the straps of her backpack from off her shoulder to let it fall to the ground beside her seat. By the time the bell rang signaling the start of class, she was sitting with her notebook open and her eyes focused on the whiteboard, waiting patiently for the teacher to begin talking.