Chapter 9

I know what you're all thinking. 'This is a romance story, isn't it? Where's there's the romance?' Good question. The thing is… I'm not very girly. I'm not very pretty or at all attractive. And I'm not just saying that, although I do have a rather nice complexion. That mixed with the fact that, growing up, the only person I hung out with that was interested in guys… was a guy. Plus, Ran and I have completely different taste in men. The chances of me being interested in a guy, and having him be interested in me, are slim to none.

I feel really weird telling you this. Anyway, I just thought I would point out some random drone for my introduction to the chapter that might possibly, maybe be the beginning to the "good stuff".

I spent almost all of my time with Adrian. That's to be expected because I don't have any other friends in this stupid school. We're either in my dorm-thing or in the lunch room. I've never been to Adrian's room; he's never invited me… Does that make me sound like a vampire?

Anyway, so we sat at our table (which was always open, the preps had deemed it "contaminated" though I doubt they used such a big word) doing homework because Evil Incarnate was making out with some random jock in our room.

Gross, I know.

Ahem! We were doing our homework, World History to be exact (which, FYI, I am a wiz in), when something hit me… not literally.

"Hey Adrian, Fall Break's coming up soon. You doing anything?" He shook his head before writing the definition of "plebeian" down on his paper.

"Nope. Not that I know of. Prob'ly just go home and hang out with my mom." Surprisingly, this was the first I'd heard of Adrian's family. We didn't really talk about his personal life, which is cool- everyone's got a few skeletins in their closet. I nodded, even though I was incredibly curious- if he wanted to tell me he would.

"Well, I just made plans for you. You're coming home with me to meet the guys. And," I said, waggling my eyebrows goofily to show I was kidding, "I can set you up with Ran if you want. He's a real nice guy." He just blushed and got back to work, smiling slightly and shaking his head.

"What's a consul?" he asked a few moments later, tapping his pen against his paper.

"An official that leads the army into war," I mumbled without looking up. I figured I was missing a part of it, but our teacher wouldn't care.

"Hey, Alice…right?" I was slightly flustered; no one had voluntarily talked to me in quite a while (not including Adrian, he's a special case).

"Aliece," Adrian corrected without looking up. I did, look up that is, and bit back a gasp. The guy in front of me was…. while not trying to sound shallow the only true way to explain him is with slang … he was hot! He had shaggy black hair that just passed his ears and covered his eyes ever-so-slightly. He had a boyishly goofy grin, even after being corrected on something so incredibly obvious as my name, and pleasant features. He wore a black shirt and baggy, dark jeans.

"Right, right," he stated in a deep, light voice… if that makes sense. I raised my eyebrows at him, asking him what he wanted without speaking because I didn't trust myself not to squeak. "This history junks really got me in a stiff. I heard you were a whiz at it though, would you mind helpin' me a bit?"

In case it's unclear to you, my eyes were growing steadily wider with each word he spoke… so was Adrian's grin. Curse him for mocking me so openly! I made an unclear 'mmh' sound in the back of my throat… well, it was clear to me, but obviously not to him. See, to me, that 'mmh' meant "Holy crap. I'm going to tutor an incredibly attractive guy… He's going to end up being an idiot and I'm going to end up hating him. Why am I tortured so!?"

He didn't seem to pick up on that. He gave me a look that said "Make up your mind, woman!" so I did.

I squeaked out a "Sure… Have a seat." To which he smiled (to which I blushed. Curse my red blood cells!) and obeyed. "What are you having trouble with?"

"Okay," he stated, setting out his books, "This… Mario guy-"

"Marius?"

"Yeah, him. How exactly was he the cause of the Roman republic falling and the empire starting up?" So, I started my spiel about Marius, plebeians, civil wars, and triumvirates. The sad part, was that I was able to sum up the entire last two or three lessons without once looking at my notes. The guy (I just then realized I had no idea who he was) stared at me with wide eyes.

"You remember all of that?" I blushed, slightly ducking my head and nodding.

"Sorta." Adrian chuckled on the other side of me.

"Don't worry, once she stops trying to be an intellectual she's almost like a normal person… almost." I smacked him, but the random, hot guy just laughed. I really wanted to ask who he was, but that would make me look like an even bigger idiot and I don't think I could have taken that.

"Ha, that's cool. Man, I bet you ace every class, huh?"

"No, not really. I'm too lazy to do my homework most of the time, so I have to make up for it with good test scores." He laughed again, patting me on the shoulder while saying "Thanks again" (even though that was the first time he'd said thanks) and walked back to his fellow "punks".

Right after he left I fell back into my normal disposition. I said all that stuff about being myself and I completely clam up because of a guy. Man, I'm pathetic. I side glanced at Adrian and saw him smirking at me knowingly. I punched him.

Author's Note: cries I am SO sorry! I almost completely forgot to write this. Well, school really sucks and that just holds me back, but all the stupid whores at school gave me the synisism I need to write this. And see everyone? Romantic Interest! I feel really special now, because I hope I can start this back up with sooner posts. Although, I might not, because I don't have much planned from here 'til the end completely planned. Don't you hate that? When you know what you want to happen, but you don't know what you want to happen inbetween? Grrrr!

Katy: Well, I guess this chapter kinda sorta answers your question. Adrian'll meet everyone soon. And so will you!