[center][h1]Collab[/h1][/center] [center][h3][color=MediumSpringGreen]Seth[/color][/h3][/center] He had been absentmindedly staring off at the back of the blonde's head before him when she suddenly swung around at him with a smile that could light up all of the Pacific Northwest. Yes, Seth sat behind her in most of the classes they both had which was pretty much all of them besides a couple. Where she broke off for P.E., he went to a computer class followed by Chemistry. Afterwards, they both finally finished the school day with English. Right now was History with Mrs. Lovell, whom was rated amongst his peers as one of the stricter teachers to have. All was well as long as one did their homework and answered the questions she threw out every so often. Well, that was the problem, Seth was known to never do his homework but still managed to remember enough to ace the exams easily. She hadn't picked on him for that yet, but he felt her stare as the rest of the class submitted their homework on her desk earlier. Mumbling a silent [i][color=MediumSpringGreen]"Thanks"[/color][/i], he quickly grabbed the stack of papers [i]and her hand[/i]. Seth cringed to himself, feeling awkward as he repositioned his hand and slowly grabbed the papers from her. [color=MediumSpringGreen]"Sorry, thank you, Dionne."[/color] He quickly apologized in a hushed tone. [hr] [center][h3][color=moccasin]Dionne[/color][/h3][/center] [color=moccasin]“It's totally fine,”[/color] Dionne said, amused at the boy's reaction. Had it been Cavan or some other boy in her circles, they would have gladly taken the chance to smirk or gloat, and some courtesy was refreshing. She hesitated, wanting to say something more, but her thoughts were interupted by Mrs. Lovell's sharp voice calling for order in the court. "Good morning, students," Lovell said, adjusting her horn-rimmed spectacles. "I trust you all had a lovely weekend? Please get your pencils or pens out and ready, and that means you, Mr. Blakes." Dionne rolled her eyes, straightening the packet on the desk in front of her and testing her pen to see if it worked. It did. [i]This is going to take a while,[/i] she thought, thumbing through the pages in the lengthy print-out. Sighing, Dionne looked up and started taking notes. [hr] [center][h3][color=MediumSpringGreen]Seth[/color][/h3][/center] After a long 45 minutes of mental torture that was History, the bell chimed and the class was quickly dismissed. Through all the shuffling Mrs. Lovell shouted, "Please don't forget tonight's assignment! It'll prepare you for the lesson quiz at the end of this week!" Seth groaned to himself as he stood up and began to leave the classroom. [i]"Seth."[/i] Mrs. Lovell's voice snapped at him and he wheeled around, expecting a lecture on the importance of doing homework. Instead, he saw red eyes that seemed to gaze deep into his being. He felt warm and something in him wanted him to leap at the woman and beat her down. A nasty aura seemed to emnate off of her. He glanced around, Dionne was still in front of him but she seemed to be packing her things and was distracted. His mouth felt as dry as a cottonball. However, as soon as he blinked the world returned to normal and Mrs. Lovell no longer had the piercing red eyes any longer. "I have high expectations of you. I'm no stranger to issuing remedial classes if need be." Seth nodded quickly. He felt clammy as he pushed past Dionne and left the classroom. [hr] [center][h3][color=moccasin]Dionne[/color][/h3][/center] Dionne watched Seth leave, surprised at his change in demeanor. Looking at Mrs. Lovell, Dionne flashed her a friendly smile and waved. [color=moccasin]“Bye Mrs. Lovell!”[/color] she said, picking up the last of her things and heading for the door. [color=moccasin]“See you tomorrow!”[/color] The rest of the day passed in a blur for Dionne. PE was the usual, Ellie staring dreamily after whatever football player happened to walk by and completely neglecting to follow instructions. Break and lunch went by with an apple and a homemade lunch respectively, as did Dionne's French and math classes. Her aptitude for the former was markedly better than for the latter. Finally, after her biology class, the day was drawing to a close with just one checkbox left on her schedule: English. Dionne entered her English classroom with a yawn, one hand covering her mouth and one supporting the surprisingly heavy textbook of various pieces required for the English class. A grin spread across her face when her eyes drifted to the teacher's desk and found a stranger sitting there--a substitute. Her giddiness faltered when she realized that the man was staring at her, eyes completely frozen on her person as she moved towards her desk. Although unsettling, Dionne brushed it off and sat down at her seat, glancing left towards Ellie in the corner. And who but Seth Sterling was she to find in the corner next to her friend? Dionne sent both of them brilliant smiles before looking back to the substitute expectantly. His eyes were still aimed straight at her, his gaze unwaveringly flat. [hr] [center][h3][color=MediumSpringGreen]Seth[/color][/h3][/center] After the encounter with Mrs. Lovell earlier that day, Seth felt frazzled for the rest of the day. As usual, lunch consisted of monday's fake lasagna and vegetables on the side. Though, he wasn't complaining. He didn't really have to pay for food thanks to the application his mom had filled out earlier in the school year. All throughout lunch, he kept thinking back to the scene in History. He had to have been imagining the red eyes and the evil features of Mrs. Lovell. He shook his head, spooning a forkful of lasagna into his mouth. [color=MediumSpringGreen][i]Yeah...I didn't really get much sleep last night either.[/i][/color] He thought to himself, convincing himself it was the lack of sleep. He felt his head, noting that he still felt warm and his heartbeat still quick. Thankfully the rest of his classes proceeded without a hitch and he was able to calm down by the time English came around. As he walked in, he glanced at the substitute perched at the teacher's desk. His gaze was met by his and it seemed to follow him as Seth took his seat in the corner of the room. The raven haired student sighed to himself as he sat down. Just another hour remained before he could get on the bus, get home, and dive into his video games. He felt a small glow of excitement upon this realization, right as Dionne walked in. Seth watched her as she seated herself and was considering asking her if she had happened to see what he saw, when there was a giggle next to him. It belonged to Ellie, one of Dionne's constant companions. He raised an eyebrow at her and she made a heart shape with her fingers. "Crush?" She mouthed. "Oooh I'm so telling her, oooh~. I saw you glance at her this morning too." Seth quickly shook his head, [color=MediumSpringGreen]"No. No. No! I was thinking of asking her a question that's all."[/color] He quickly muttered. "Oh? What is it?" She asked curiously. Seth stared at her and turned away, [color=MediumSpringGreen]"It's nothing...Just a personal question."[/color] He said, wanting to leave the conversation with that. Right then and there, as they turned to their own devices, Seth caught [i]her[/i] grey eyes once again. Dionne smiled at them but he couldn't tell if it was specifically directed to himself or Ellie. Ellie seemed to have a knowing look in her eyes as she returned the smile at Dionne. Seth looked down as the substitute, Mr. Argus as he introduced himself, spoke to the class with a deep tone. "Yes, uh, I am Mr. Argus. I have an assignment which will keep you busy for the duration of this class. You may have groups or partners in this assignment, but please do not get too rowdy. If you do not get this done by the end of class, then it will be an automatic zero." The tall man ambled around the room, passing out packets of classwork. His eyes seemed to linger on Seth as he passed by. Seth took the packet and started to work immediately. A lot of the questions were from previous lessons, so it was basically a recap of everything up to a couple weeks back. [color=MediumSpringGreen][i]Easy...[/i][/color] Unsurprisingly, Ellie had grouped up with Dionne, along with a few others from the football team. Go figure. The time seemed to fly by and Seth managed to complete the packet about halfway through class. He sat there, continuing to reflect on the day. For the first time in a long while, he intended to skip the video games tonight and sleep like a normal human being for once. Maybe he could avoid the wrath of the devil too if he did his homework. Nah...that was pushing it. The day Seth would do his homework would be the day his world would end. A "normal" Seth would arise and take his place. The thought of that possibility made him cringe. He casted his eyes to Ellie every so often, fearing she'd tell Dionne about his suspected crush on her. Well, as far as he knew Dionne, she'd probably just laugh about it and move on. Although, curiously enough, he didn't see her intimately close to any of the guys in the school. Was she really single? Seth had a hard time believing the thought. Maybe she had a long distance relationship going on? Never mind that...Seth averted his eyes away from the group and happened to catch Mr. Argus' gaze one him. His stare was unwavering, much like a statue's. It was unsettling to say the least and had Seth fidgeting, checking himself to see if there were anything on him. Nothing. The final bell soon rang and everyone turned their papers into the substitute. "Mister Sterling, Miss Fontanne." His deep voice boomed out. Ellie glanced at Dionne and gestured she'd be waiting outside. The class cleared out, casting the pair curious glances as they walked out. For some reason, Seth was expecting to see a repeat of earlier. Fortunately, that never happened. [hr] [@Dusksong] Edit--10/26 19:52 PST, Edited post for consistency.