Bonjour,

Here's the next chapter, I hope you like it.

britty-sum41; I agree with you on the character overboard thing. I have a feeling I may do it later on in the future but I'll try very hard not to. You can just warn me if you feel my character is slipping, it would be very much appreciated. Glad you like it so far and that you feel it has potential. However, it is still early but be assured that there will be more plots/twists to come later. I will try and make them as original as I can, no worries. Hope you'll still be sticking in the later future xD Thanks very much, your review is greatly appreciated!

under the influence; No worries! I'm not offended/upset or anything, I'm cool! Promise:P

Dreaming in X-Ray; Sorry if I'm confusing you! I don't mean to confuse you if you are confused! I know, it's kind of mixed up between Norah and Dante but I agree, they are lovely. Thanks very much, hope you'll continue to love the story!

walkingxtragedy; Yep, I'm doing a kind of switching between each point of view in case you feel like looking at how the other person is feeling about current situations. The reason he is surprised will hopefully become clearer in the later future but if you still don't get it then send me a personal message and I'll explain it to you. I agree with you on the 'girls are usually cleaner' thing. No offence to anyone by the way. I'm a bit of a neat freak myself. Sometimes. (Again, sorry if I offend you by the name 'neat freak', I've been kind of obssessed with the word lately...) Glad you like the speed of updating although it may slow down a little now. I was very eager to post the first two/three chapters to see people's reaction on it and whether or not I should continue so I had those typed up already. I'm in the middle of Chapter 4 now so...yeah. I will try my hardest to keep the updating at about the same speed anyway. Glad you like the lengths of each chapter. I get a little irked when some chapters are too short although I admit that I do sometimes write short chapters. Oops! xD
I know I'm awesome. Give me a cookie. xP (Joking)
Thanks so much for the review!

LaylaLivesLoosely; Interesting penname :) I hope you will continue to like the story as it progresses on. Fingers crossed :P

HUGE thanks to all of you reviewers! All reviews are greatly appreciated, please continue with R/R!

Enjoy!

-Tears of Autumn-

"So the letter x is equal to the letter y because…" I started then trailed off as I waited for him to continue and finish off the equation.

"The letters x and y are next to each other in the alphabet." he grinned down at me from his place in the seat next to the counter. I groaned inwardly and dropped my head onto the table which was littered with papers. Algebra papers.

How I hate it. I'm cursed with the ability to actually solve equations. God definitely hates me.

Dante and I have been stuck, sitting here, for one hour already and in that hour, Dante has made me into a complete wreck. The stupid dickwad pretends that he doesn't know anything, therefore, making me repeat everything. It is so tiring and I hate him, I truly do.

I took a few deep breaths ignoring a grinning Dante beside me, obviously happy about the fact that he pissed me off so easily. I lifted my head off the table and sighed. It was 6 already. I had a huge important test that I needed to desperately study for tomorrow and I wanted an early night. I turned to Dante.

"Okay. I know that you know this stuff. Stop playing the ass around here, alright? Unless you want to flunk then you have to shape up. And quit the funny man act. It's not going to earn you millions of dollars. Jeez, I've had enough of you already. I have a damn test to study for and I want an early night. Look, let's call it night, okay? Tomorrow, I'm coming over to your dorm for your tutoring at 4:30, yes? Okay, great." I rushed then stood up, quickly gathering everything and stuffing it all into his backpack without even hesitating.

Everyone would call me insane to try and make Dante leave so quickly. I don't even get it. He's not hot. Braden is. He's just an asshole. Braden's just…a great guy.

I raced to the door and threw it open, Dante quietly following behind. He seemed confused a little but covered it up nonetheless with a smirk.

"What? Don't tell me, Norah Parker is afraid to actually be…spotted with me?! Gasp!" he cried, throwing his hands up in mock-terror. I ignored him however.

"Okay, great seeing you, buh-bye!" I told him, sarcasm dripping from my voice and I shut the door in his face. Again. I turned and leant against the wall, slowly sinking down so I was crouching, my head in my hands.

Crap, I thought as I felt the beginnings of a headache coming on.

I hate Dante and all his smirking, needing to be tutored rubbish.

"I know you're still there. Go!" I yelled from inside my dorm.

"Remember, we're doing World History!" he sung through the door in a light-hearted tone.

"GO!" I yelled at him again and heard the slight huff of Dante as he walked away.

I groaned loudly as I heard the faint beeping of my alarm clock somewhere in the world of reality. I was still stuck in the limbo world known as Dreams. I reluctantly rubbed my eyes, opening them and peering blearily at the flashing red digits. I reached my hand out to switch off the alarm and turned over at the same time resulting in me ending up on the floor.

Yay me.

Not.

That's going to bruise…

I winced as I stretched, pushing the button on my alarm clock to switch it off. It ceased immediately.

I got up and dragged myself to the bathroom, stepping into the shower.

Later, I re-entered my room in low-rider jeans that, you guessed it, rode quite low on my hips. I had thrown on a fitting black shirt with the word, 'Pfft' written in white letters across it. I yawned after messily making my bed. Okay, so I may really want everything to be neat and tidy but I usually don't bother with the beds. There's really no point, I mean, at the end of the day it's always the same. You always end up sleeping in it.

Well, I do at least, some people don't even use their own beds…

Okay, let's not go there.

I put a stop to the train of…unnerving…thoughts that were running through my head then. I walked out of my room and into the kitchen to see Jenna leaning against the counter, sipping from a pink mug with the words, 'Pink Candy…' written across it in white. Yeah, I know, weird.

I have to admit, I was slightly surprised to see her there. Reason being is that Jenna never wakes up early. She always sleeps in late because she's really lazy and because her classes don't start until a lot later. Mine start earlier than hers, plus, I get up early to go to the library to cram in some extra studying usually. Or to finish off homework.

I know, nerdy, isn't it?

Whatever.

"Hey." I greeted her, dropping my bag into one of our counter stools. She just grunted a reply in response.

"What's up with you?" I asked her, opening the fridge to take out a fresh, low-fat yoghurt. Jenna's convinced she's overweight. She is not. I find that she's just the right size but it's because of those idiotic magazines she buys ritually. You know, the modeling ones with all the anorexic or curvy celebrities posing in the latest fashions which mostly ends up being skin tight or revealing.

Ew.

Yet, Jenna's obsessed about it. Her looks, I mean. Like I said before, she isn't shallow. She's a great person but everyone has flaws right? And every girl is at least entitled to obsess about their looks at some point.

Personally, I don't care. About my looks. Really, there's no one around to impress. Just a bunch of airheads and who wants to impress them?

Huh, not me.

"Nothing." Jenna replies, her answer sounding quite limp.

"Yeah, there is something up. And I know that because I've been your best friend for what, eight years? I have that natural 'best mate' instinct." I told her, digging my spoon into the creamy yoghurt and lifting it to my lips.

"It's nothing. I'm just…tired. That's all." Jenna flashed me one of her smiles but it was fake. I shrugged once she was out of the kitchen, I'd figure it out sooner or later anyway.

I always do.

I stumbled into my dorm at the time of 3:45. There was no one there.

Tutoring, was the first thing that came to mind. Jenna was normally meant to be here at this time but since I know she has no classes at this time and is unemployed, I know that she's tutoring. I wish I was her. She, the lucky duckling, gets to tutor one of the nicest guys ever put on the face of this earth. Travis McLean is his name. No, me and Jenna are not crushing on him in any way. We just like him as a friend. And he's a really cool one, another one of those people who got into this school using their smarts and not their money. The odd thing about this is that Travis is filthy rich. I mean really rich. His parents refused to enrol him in this school. Kind of. Apparently, he has been wanting to go here for ages and his parents said that he could go to this school but only if he used his smarts. They refused to use their money just to get him in. So, he did. He used his smarts, he's in, he also gets to use his allowance that his parents still send him every month.

Lucky people.

I know, I'm just as well off as he is but that's because all scholarship-type students (me, Jenna and Wes naturally) are provided with really good dorms.

Ah well.

Anyway, back to my current situation.

I was pissed off as hell. I left for lessons in a reasonably happy mood which deepened as the day wore on. First of all, my oh so unfair Social Studies teacher gave me a D on my homework which is totally unjust and she knows it, then in Biology my experiment completely failed all because of my lab partner not showing up (I have to remember to kick his ass the nest time I see him), later in lunch someone tripped and splashed their soda all over me so now I'm feeling major sticky and my hair has tangles due to soda sticking everywhere. Finally, I have a tutoring session with none other than Mr. I'm-so-good looking, I-am-way-popular, egoistical ass, Dante Nichols.

I groaned loudly, dumping my bag on the sofa then proceeded to shower. No, I'm not showering just because I'm going to be tutored by Dante. The apparent 'love'god of this school.

Ew.

Dante's…nothing.

Braden's the 'love' god.

(Insert sigh in here)

No, that's not why I want to shower.

I want to be clean goddamnit and not sticky. (der)

I quickly slipped into my most comfortable black sweatpants, with white stripes down the sides, and threw a random shirt over it with the words, 'I took a pain pill. Why are you still here?' written on it.

Very appropriate.

Then, I grabbed my bag and practically flew out the door. I had to hurry if I didn't want to be late…whoa. Halt. Stop.

Wait just a darn second.

Why should I care about being late?

This is Dante Nichols for crying out loud. Jerk. Why would I want to be early, hell, even on time for that…dickwad?

So, I slow down my pace, casually sauntering down the hallways and stopping even to look at the view out of the windows.

Okay, I won't lie. Our campus is amazing. It's full of lush greenery, safety and is just…an awesome place to be in. It's big but there are lots of trees, vegetation and greenery. I can see the school's parking lot sometimes but it doesn't spoil anything. Somehow, it makes it look even better. Maybe because the parking lot is usually filled with millions of brightly colored cars all expensive and from the finest.

Der.

I glanced around me, seeing a clock ad saw that the time was already 4:36. I smiled to myself, okay, 6 minutes late, not much but a good start I guess. I shrugged to myself then started off down the corridor and into the boys' dorm area.

I knocked once, twice, thrice before leaning against the wall. I sighed, tilting my head back to stare up at the ceiling.

Then I knocked again.

5 minutes.

Again.

10 minutes.

Again.

15 minutes.

Again.

20 minutes.

I raised my hand to knock once more when I heard a soft voice behind me. I whipped around, narrowing my eyes to glower at this infuriating…dickhead. He smirked at me before pushing me aside, literally, and inserting his key into the lock of his dorm door.

I just stared at him, fuming.

The jerk.

He turned.

"Nice shirt."

I stared at him then looked down at my shirt before re-directing my gaze back to him.

"Wore it just for you." I said as sweetly as I could. He rolled his eyes.

I sighed heavily, truly annoyed and more pissed than ever.

"You're late." the words escaped my mouth before I could even think about what I was saying. Uh, yeah, really smart Norah, this calls for a round of applause.

"Oh, and like you weren't?" he said smoothly not missing one beat.

"Look, I'm sorry. I was just a little busy," Lie. "and I hadn't realized. It was only for 6 goddamn minutes anyway! You, on the other hand, disappeared for a full 20 minutes. 20 minutes." I told him, crossing my arms over my chest. He had opened the door and now paused, turning to face me, those dark green eyes boring into my hazel ones.

"Look, unlike you, I have a life. I would like to live it. Thank you very much." he replied calmly and disappeared inside the dorm. My mouth was surely hanging slightly agape. I uncrossed my arms and marched angrily after him. I slammed the door shut behind me, following him into the kitchen. He turned around and nearly bumped into me, I was following that closely.

No, not in that way, ugh!

I stared angrily up at him, (damn him for being slightly taller than me!) glowering.

"Okay, first of all, you are NOT to say I don't have a life. I do have one. One that's better than yours anyway. Next, you do not keep me waiting. Jesus. Believe it or not, I have better things to do than wait around for some ass to show to tutor me." I finished, breathing heavily. I had crossed my arms again, glaring at him.

Silence.

Then, a smirk.

Goddamnit! What do I have to do to wipe that idiotic smirk off his ugly face? I huffed then threw my bag onto the kitchen table, glancing around at his dorm room. It's clean. Probably 'cause they got some maid to come clean it for them instead of doing it themselves. And, rich. Obviously, nothing but the best for them.

Okay, anyone else who was in my position would've already done any one of the following (providing that they are a girl):

a) Jumped Dante's bones already. (ew)

b) Gasped at the 'cool' dorm they have, seriously impressed. (no way am I impressed)

c) Flirt, tease or whatever it is. (huh, like I'd ever do that. Especially with Dante.)

d) Already have started a heavy-duty make out session. (right…like I'd do that)

e) All of the above.

I did none, however.

Don't look at me like that! At least I have some dignity unlike some people out there (no I don't mean you, hell, I don't even know you!).

No, I'm talking about one Christie McAdams (I'll explain later).

"What are you doing?" Dante's voice jolting me back to reality. I rolled my eyes at him when I turned around.

"Uh, preparing to study, der." I told him. He frowned.

"It's late. Go back to your dorm. I'm busy." was all he said. I felt my mouth drop just the slightest.

"Hang on. Wait just a goddamn second. I did NOT wait for 20 minutes out there only to be told that it's late and we have NO tutor session! Hell no! I will not fail this class because of you and your social oh-I'm-ever-so-popular-and-cool life. Take a reality check, dim bulb. Now, are you going to help me or what?" I demanded after finishing my little…uh, ahem, rant.

Ahem.

I kind of half-expected him to say get out. But, he didn't. Surprisingly, he just shrugged and sat down, pulling out a few papers from my books already. I looked curiously at him for a second before sitting down…onto cold hard tile.

God, do I hate karma.

In case you're confused as to why I hate karma, look at the scene. Properly. Remember just yesterday I had pulled Wes' chair out from under him making him fall on the ground and gain a pretty sore butt? Yeah, except that instead of Wes on the floor it's me and instead of me and Jenna laughing at him, it's Dante.

I gritted my teeth and grabbed the edge of the kitchen table, hoisting myself up as Dante continued his insane, idiotic, jerk-ass laughter.

I screamed as many profanities and expletives as I could in my head.

"You should've seen your face!" he roared with laughter, clutching his stomach.

It's not that funny.

I repeated my thought out loud causing him to laugh harder.

"Oh, it is alright." he assured me. I stood up and grabbed the nearest thing to me which happened to be an open bag of marshmallows (I have no idea what, how, why or whatever) and grabbed a few.

Dante didn't see.

Had he been alert then he would've noticed what did next and got out of the way before I actually did anything.

I stuffed them in his mouth. In his wide open gob. Because of laughing.

Okay, not original but hey, it was all I could come up with at the present moment.

It shut him up and stunned him for a moment too.

I snickered, he looked stupid with about a dozen or so fairly big marshmallows lodged in his open mouth. I couldn't help it, you'd be snickering too.

He spat them out into his hand.

"Ew, that's gross Dante. You are seriously sickening I mean who spits out marshmallows. Ugh, that's just disgusting." I told him.

He narrowed his eyes dangerously at me, his dark green eyes looking more darker than ever. I, being the stupid person I am, took no notice of this warning and so, a few seconds later, I was found pinned to the floor, Dante on top of me and holding the bag of marshmallows, an evil glint in his eye. I shrieked as loud as I could and shrieked even more louder when I realized the position we were in. I writhed about in his scary grip.

"Get off of me, you big ape!" I yelled angrily at him, my face getting quite red. He only laughed at me. "Get off, ew! Asshole! Jerk! Idiot! Loser!" I continued to shout. He continued to laugh. Then, he leaned down and I could feel my eyes practically leaping out of their sockets.

"What the hell are you trying to do?" I screeched, still writhing.

But I never did find out what he was about to do since Fate took that opportune moment to step in.

Now, you'd think I'd be cheering, but no.

Fate may have stepped in but at the worst timing possible.

Or should I say, Braden stepped in right then.

And you know me.