Adam began doodling in his lab notebook about half-way into the lesson.  He was a shite artist, but he didn’t think he could take another moment of Mrs Ford’s monotone.  Chemistry was unbelievably boring.  Momentarily his eyes wandered, and of course landed on<span style="font-style: italic">her</span>.  Sasha.  She was probably the smartest girl at their school, but he didn’t think she ever had any fun.  What did she do with her day besides scribble notes and… well… girly things?  She was easy on the eyes, at least.<br/><br/>Eventually, the bell snapped him out of a would-be nap.  He rose and stretched, picked up his notebook and made to exit the classroom.<br/>“Lab partners tomorrow!” The old woman crowed over their heads.  Adam groaned.  The last thing he needed was a lab partner.  He prayed he wouldn’t get paired with some nerdy kid.  He watched a scrawny ginger boy with a massive backpack scramble out of the door, almost bumping into Sasha, and shuddered.<span style="font-style: italic">Anyone but him.</span><br/><br/>He caught Sasha dropping something on the floor, and she scooped it up quickly as if it were an adult magazine.  She stuffed it into her bag and left.  That was weird.  He shrugged, and continued into the hallway with the rest of the tools populating it.  His next class was thankfully with Peter, who joined him near the stairwell.  Adam wrinkled his nose at him.<br/><br/>“Did you shower?”<br/>“Nope,” Peter grinned.<br/>“You’re nasty, dude.  You know that?  You know who doesn’t shower?  Freshmen.  And you just stooped to their level.”<br/><br/>Calculus was more enjoyable than Chemistry.  Their teacher was the exact opposite of Mrs Ford- he was young and enthusiastic, and at least he kept things interesting.  Peter was actually quite good with numbers.  The two had developed a sort of morse code by tapping their pens on their desk.  Adam, who sat behind him, would always prod his back when he needed an answer.  Peter responded by scratching his ear and then tapping his pencil with the answer.  It was genius.  It was beautiful.  And it was the only class Adam had a passing grade in.<br/><br/>After Calculus, it was already time for lunch, and Adam was starving.  They were on the first floor, however, and the lunch room was located on the ground floor.  Already, herds of fourteen-year-olds had bumrushed the lunch lines.  Thankfully, Adam knew he was bigger than them.  They chose a spot close to the front and climbed over the metal bars which confined the hungry students.<br/>“Hey!” a kid complained at him.  Adam just smirked back, almost daring him to do something about it.  The kid was shy, and just glared at his back, unwilling to say anything more.  They collected their lunch and decided to eat outside for a change.<br/><br/>They instantly regretted that decision.<br/><br/>“What’s this?” Their flyer was shoved into their faces.  It was Cady, Peter’s ex, and the reason their band had recently tanked.  “Aww, can’t swim without me?  You know,<span style="font-style: italic">nobody</span>is going to want to join your crappy garage stunt.  And even if there is, they’ll never be as good as I was.  Too bad.”  She threw her blonde hair back and flashed Peter the most pathetic look he’d ever seen.  She’d even pushed out her bottom lip in mock-pout.<br/><br/>“I’m actually glad you quit, your voice started getting really scratchy after George was shoving his c--,”<br/><br/>Adam was cut off abruptly when George appeared and shoved him down.  He reeled back and the back of his head hit the door with dizzying force.  His vision went fuzzy, but he could tell there was a small crowd forming.<br/><br/>“You wanna finish that?” George dared him.  Adam wanted to laugh.  George’s dad owned a dealership.  It was more than likely he was<span style="font-style: italic">paying</span>Cady to be his girlfriend.  The guy was a gorilla.<br/><br/>“Honey, you were never ‘good’,” Peter chipped in, helping Adam up, “I asked her the same question for months.  She never did finish.”<br/>Adam could kiss him.  The scowl on Cady's face was priceless.<br/><br/>“C’mon, let’s just bail.  Don’t feel like throwing punches today,” Adam hissed in Peter’s ear, and the boy nodded in agreement.  They both brushed off their jeans and walked away, the disappointed crowd parting to let them through.<br/><br/>“That’s right, pansies,” George howled after them in triumph.