Learn Again

Two

A/N: Say hello to Alex, he's the photo on the side. I was kind of torn between that photo and Fred because they're so deliciously hot. I went with Alexander Ludwig in the end because I realized that Fred has no common features with Alex. I think Alexander Ludwig has blue eyes, so just imagine him + green eyes.

Grace breathed a sigh of relief when she got away from the group of raucous teens standing in the hallway. It was pretty obvious who they were—they were the popular ones; the crew. She knew exactly what kind of people they were—she had been one once, before Finn. It had been one of the lowest points in her life, and she was determined to never relive it.

She took a deep breath, and continued walking. Grace looked down at the crumpled piece of paper in her hand. She had accidentally clenched her fist in her anxiety. She looked down and read her schedule. First period was...Trigonometry, room 170. Glancing around, she noticed she wasn't far from it. Good. She wouldn't be late on her first day, like in the movies.

She stepped into the classroom with an apprehensive feeling in her stomach. Being the new girl was never a good thing, and this school hadn't struck her as particularly friendly yet.

The teacher nodded at her. "Isabelle Russo?" he asked, studying her. He was aged, probably in his mid fifties. Reading glasses hung around his neck, and his eyes were wrinkled. The few hairs on his head were grey with age.

"I prefer Grace," she corrected.

He nodded. "Grace, then. My name is Mr. Brown, I'll be your trigonometry teacher for the rest of the year." He then turned to the rest of the students, who were glancing at them curiously. "Class, this is Isab—I mean, Grace. Please make her at home." He looked around at the class, and then zeroed in on one student that was talking, narrowing his eyes. "Mr. Hunt," he called.

"Yeah?" the boy turned around lazily. Grace caught her breath. It was the boy from her locker.

"Since you seem so interested about the new student that you feel the need to converse about it with your friend, perhaps you would do me the favor of showing her around?" his voice raised a pitch at the end, as if it was a question, but his glare and body posture showed that it was anything but.

He looked at her, and then grinned. "Sure, anything for you, Mr. Brown."

Mr. Brown seemed to not catch his sarcastic tone. He turned back to Grace, frowning. "Ms. Russo, please sit in the seat next to Alex. He'll show you to your classes after this period. I'm sure he'll be very gentlemanly," he glared at Alex, "and you'll have no problems." Alex smiled angelically back, the perfect picture of innocence.

Grace rolled her eyes. Just her luck. It was her first day and she already managed to catch the attention of the most obnoxious guy in school. Unwillingly, she slunk to her seat in the corner. She was determined to ignore all the advances of the cocky boy that sat next to her.

A few minutes before class was over, Alex kept poking her in the arm in the pencil. She steadfastly ignored it, but he stubbornly kept distracting her. "Grace," he whispered. "Hey, Grace." Poke poke poke. "Grace!"

She whirled around. "What?" she hissed.

"Ms. Russo, do you have something to say to the class?" Mr. Brown asked silkily. He paused, waiting for an answer. "And how about you, Mr. Hunt?"

Grace quickly shook her head, but Alex nodded and said, "Yeah. Grace here keeps asking me out. I told her that I have a girlfriend, but she just won't stop!" he huffed. "These girls are crazy." He shook his head. "Hormones."

Grace felt her heart sink a little at the word girlfriend, but then she gave herself a mental shake. Why would she care if he had a girlfriend? He could have ten for all she cared.

"Detention, both of you, right after school. My class," he snarled. "Skip it and it's a week."

Grace ducked her head, ashamed. First period and she already had a detention? She wasn't off to a very good start.

Right after her thought, the bell rang. Grace released a sigh that had been building up inside of her. This class couldn't have ended soon enough, she thought.

She sprinted quickly out of the class, but to her displeasure, Alex caught up to her. "Hey, you, Russo!" he called. "Wait up, I'm supposed to show you around."

"Do you usually do what the teacher tells you to do?" she snapped, whipping back to glare at him.

"Nope, but for you I'll make an exception," he replied, flashing a heartbreaking smile. She almost smiled back, but caught herself in time. Don't want to get into that again, she reminded herself. New school, new person. No romance for me.

"I don't need your help. I have a map," she said shortly, hoping to get rid of him. She waved her schedule in front of him, on which the back had a map.

It didn't work. He grabbed her schedule out of her hand and read it. "Great!" he said, his face lighting up. "We have five of our periods together."

"Wonderful," Grace breathed sarcastically. "Everything I had hoped for." She closed her eyes, bracing herself mentally. Hopefully, she would make a friend soon, and could ditch the luggage. But for now, she was stuck with Alex, as she couldn't read a map to save her life.

He grinned at her, clearly not catching on. "I'm sure we'll be great friends, if you know what I mean," he winked. She gaped at him, astounded at his brash attitude, but before she could retort he had skipped off, leaving her no alternative but to follow.

Today would be a long day.