The rows of desks were all in neat rows, and the teacher stood in the front, talking about something. Annabelle Jewel sat in the back, in perfect posture. She took the notes, all her writing neat and straight. She wore school girl shiny black shoes, a red skirt stopping at her thighs, and a white collared short sleeved shirt with a blue tie. Her hair was black, and braided in two. She was neat, everything in her life was neat. This was normal in this private school. Everyone was neat, but she was most neat of all.

She hated delinquents, and she hated noise. After class was over, and the bell rang, she packed up. She took her bag, and she walked out. No one talked to anyone in the hallways, it was not allowed. Light shone through the large windows, and landed on the floor in neat beautiful patterns. Annabelle glanced at a boy who had a Mohawk, and didn't wear uniform! She gasped, and gaped… losing balance, and falling on the floor hard. "Ow," she mumbled… standing up and taking her bag.

The boy walked towards her, "Do you know where room 50 is?" She kept gaping at him. "Your hair!" she said, pointing to his Mohawk. His eyes lowered, and he shrugged. "I like it," he told her. "But it's-" she bit her lip, she didn't know what it was. Was it bad? Was it good? Was it taboo? What was it to HER? "It's against the rules." She said weakly. "No it isn't," the boy said, he took out the school handbook. He flipped it to a page, and put it in her face. She read rule 04- any hairstyle is allowed. She glared.

"Well, you're not wearing uniform," she said. He shrugged, "The principal let me pass for today, I've not bought one yet." They stood in silence, as people glanced at them. Annabelle suddenly felt drawn to him, he was so different. Everything here was so boring. Whatever, she said, shaking her head. This was just a phase! Lately, she had been feeling so bored with life… so bored with keeping everything above the margin. She had always been careful to follow each rule, to shape every letter delicately.

The bell rang, and she gasped. She was late for class! She ran, ditching the boy. "Sorry!" she shouted as she ran to her class. She opened the door, and she was hit with an awkward silence. Teacher Madeline, a prune like lady with pursed lips glared at her. "S-sorry…" she said, "You've shouted that all over the hallways, Ms. Green." Teacher Madeline said coldly. Annabelle closed the door gently, and walked through the rows.

Through the whole lesson, Annabelle had the boy on her mind. What was he? She glared at the paper, angry that she was getting tossed off and distracted by a juvenile.

But this was a very strict high school. She groaned, and closed her eyes… she was getting a headache. Then, her eyes shot open. "Uh oh…" she said weakly, and looking around at the staring classmates… and the piercing teacher standing above her, scowling down at her. Annabelle gulped…

"Hi?"

The teacher spoke icily, "Were you day dreaming?" Annabelle shook her head, "No!" The teacher glared at her, "Detention!" Annabelle gasped, not detention! Others students didn't dare say anything, some pitied her, and others thought "glad I'm not her." Annabelle watched the teacher walk away, and go back to teaching. She felt like crying, she didn't want detention! Would this be on her permanent record? Would this scar her for life? She whimpered, everything was so out of order today… so sudden.

And the boy… what about the boy?

After school, Annabelle rubbed the board eraser across the board… warm brown light shone through the windows and reflected off her face. "You have detention too?" a voice asked, she turned to see the boy. She dropped the eraser at surprise, and she quickly scrambled to pick it up. "Yeah." She said, not looking into his eyes. He raised an eyebrow, and went over to her. "What are you in for?" he asked. "Well…" Annabelle said, "I just sort of fell asleep in… class…" The words felt dirty coming out of her mouth. He laughed, "I see…" As the two of them erased the giant boards on opposite sides, there was an awkward pause.

Annabelle glanced at him, and quickly looked away. "You know what sucks?" he asked. Annabelle gasped, "You said suck!" He looked her in the eyes, and Annabelle tried to avoid his gaze. But she couldn't! She looked up, and his eyes hit hers. She gulped, the eraser dropping on the floor. What was she doing?! Her heart beat so fast, and she was out of control. She didn't even know his name! She nervously scrambled to the floor to pick it up, oh no! She couldn't find it. She looked around the teacher's desk.

Nothing!

"Here," a voice said, she jumped back when she looked up and saw his face right in front of hers. She stood up, and took the eraser. "Thanks…" she said… her face a hot tomato red. She knew she was blushing, but she wanted to deny it… just deny it. "Y-yeah…" she said, rubbing the rest of the board. They stood in silence. "So what's so horrible?" she asked. "Well, everything is so strict… I don't know… it's just it's my first day… and it s- it's pretty stupid." The boy answered. Annabelle grinned at him, and she remembered her first day of school here. This school was extremely different from public schools, it was strict, and if you dared to even slouch in class, you would get yelled at.

"Yeah… this school is pretty… unique. " she told him. She finished rubbing the board, but she kept rubbing the blank spot. "Hm, yeah… well, my name's Duke, what's yours?" he asked. "Annabelle," Annabelle answered, and she smiled at him. He smiled back, and Annabelle's heart quickened. Annabelle put the eraser back neatly on the board table. "I'm finished, bye." She said, and she left the room… her heart begging her not to leave, but she had to. Duke watched Annabelle leave, and he frowned at the board. He had a weird feeling about this girl. Of course, he's seen tons of girls like her.

Girls who followed the rules, and hated riots. Girls who followed strictly to their parents. But he had a weird feeling about this Annabelle. He couldn't explain it, but it was a strange feeling…. Something unexplainable. Duke glared, rubbing the last spot on the board. He thought he knew the human psyche very well, like an old friend… but what was she? He swallowed, and pondered on Annabelle. He had her, he knew he had her, but he just didn't know. He didn't know.

He took his bag, and walked out. He walked out, and he saw Annabelle walking in the distance, not knowing that she was behind him. She walked past the giant metal gates, and he considered running after her and asking if she wanted to go eat or something… but he waved the thought away. She probably that he was a pestilence or something… with his Mohawk and all. He watched her, the wind slowly blowing on his face.

He walked through the gates, and then took his Ipod out. He listened to Sex Pistols, while walking to the hospital. The clear glass doors went apart, as the sun sat on the hills… red floating in the sky. "Hey Duke!" Nurse Joy said, "Hey Joy," he answered. She took his bag, and placed it in a drawer. She handed him a pink apron, and he slipped it on. "Thanks for helping out," she sighed. She gave him a schedule. "Mr. Jenkins needs some cheering up," she said to him. "Aw, what's wrong?" Duke asked.

"Well…" she glanced at the green hallway to her right. She leaned in close, "He just got dumped." Duke frowned, poor guy. "That really sucks," he said. She nodded, "Yep, so how was your first day of school?" He laughed. "You sound like a mum," he told her. She slapped him playfully on the arm, "I'm 27!" He rolled his eyes, "It was okay… I met this girl… Annabelle's her name." She blinked, "What's she like?" Duke looked up at the green walls, "I… don't know… I guess she's really neat, and stuff." Joy laughed, "And I thought you knew EVERYTHING about EVERYONE."

Duke glared at her, and feigned anger. "How dare you!" he said. Joy waved her hand, "Go help out Mr. Jenkins now," she told him, and she went back to her computer game. Duke opened the door, "Mr. Jenkins!" Mr. Jenkins was an old man, sitting in a bed. The sky was dark now, and the city lights were on. Mr. Jenkins didn't answer, as Duke closed the door. He took out a book from the drawer, and sat down next to the bed. "What's love, junior?" Mr. Jenkins asked before Duke could start. "I don't know," Duke said, he was only a freshman in high school. He didn't know anything about love.

He thought of the girl… that Annabelle. Would she know? He frowned out the window thoughtfully. "Love hurts," Mr. Jenkins said softly, his voice thin. "Well, yeah…" Duke said, scratching his head. Mr. Jenkins glared at Duke, "Don't ever fall in love, Duke." Duke gazed at him, and he frowned at the floor. "I won't." he said. "Promise me, you won't…" Mr. Jenkins said. "I won't, Mr. Jenkins, you know me…" Duke sighed. Duke never had a crush… let alone fall in love. He doubt that he would anytime soon in the future.

Mr. Jenkins was silent… as time rolled on. Duke finally started on the book, but both of their thoughts were somewhere else in the universe.