Raine just stood there, staring me down. I would've shaken his hand, but he kept it clenched tightly against his body. His jaw was set; firm and cold.

Mrs. Wright sensed the tension and decided to stop it. She pushed him forward gently with one hand. "Come on, Raine. Be a gentleman, would you?"

He sighed, rolled his eyes and stuck out his hand. He looked uncomfortable, and his fingers were ridiculously stretched out in an unnatural position. I stifled a laugh and placed my hand in his.

"Nice to meet you, Raine," I said while our hands shook. "I'm sure we'll get along just…fine…once we've covered the instructions."

He grunted a response that I took to mean he'd rather be anywhere but here. Pulling his hand away as though I was infected, he turned to face his aunt.

"Okay, come on, Margaret. You know this isn't the place for me. Please, I know you have connections. Can you please just send me…anywhere else?" he pleaded, his head almost clearing hers, making his puppy dog expression not quite so cute.

"Nice try, but you know I can't." Her expression was almost apologetic. "You have to stay here. There's truly nothing I can do. Now, Lucy will show you around. You won't work too much today because it's technically a holiday, but I would like you to be at least somewhat prepared for tomorrow. Alright?"

Raine spun around to face me, his eyes decorated with a kind of fury. He shook his head once in the direction of the kitchen. "Let's go, then."

I was at a loss for words. This place wasn't so bad; he didn't need to be quite so pessimistic. It was pretty easy to get used to. I hadn't even seen him around before; how did he know the place well enough to judge it? I pushed that question aside, remembering I had to show the cocky lump around. I started walking ahead of Raine to the kitchen.

"Thank you, Lucy!" Mrs. Wright called after me.

I spun around to face her and kept walking. "No problem!" I saw Raine following, his eyes staring at the kitchen door. I sighed and spun back around, keeping my pace. I flung open the door to the small kitchen and held it open for him. He entered, stopped walking, and held a pose that said "what now?" This kid was really starting to bother me.

"Okay, so, where to begin? Um…okay, see this list on the fridge? This is the first thing we consult every morning. You must be awake by 7:30 every morning. No later." Raine groaned. I continued; I couldn't stay here explaining this all night. "Whatever this list says, we do. We each kind of, vaguely, cover our own bases. For example, Mallory usually covers the washroom stuff. I mostly cover cleaning the floors. You'll be taking care of windows and mirrors. So, if you see something on the list that falls under your category, put a tick next to it to show you're working on it, then come back and cross it out entirely once you've finished. Pretty easy, right?"

Raine shrugged nonchalantly. "Sure?"

I sighed in exasperation. "Work with me here, okay? I don't want to do this any more than you do. The sooner you pay attention and try to learn, the sooner we're done and I can go to my room, and you can go to your cave."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Yes, ma'am!" He smirked and chuckled. "Keep going…"

This was not going to be easy, but I thought of my little pool, put on a fake smile and continued.

"Now, when this list is complete-it's usually finished by 3 in the afternoon-your work is not yet done. See, teachers and students will come to Joyce, the cook, and tell her what they've seen needs to be done. You'll ask Joyce what needs to be cleaned. She'll tell you, and you'll listen, capisce?"

"Um…yeah, whatever. Now, you said we'll be done by 3 with that list-"

"Yes, you will get a half-hour break for lunch at around 1."

"Oh. Okay. What time are we usually done with the cook's stuff?"

"I'm usually done by 6 or 7. I go to dinner, and if Joyce needs me, she sends a runner up to get me. Doesn't usually happen, but I've got to be ready just in case."

"Oh. That's alright, I guess."

I continued, eager to be on my way. "Anyways, any questions? The cleaning supplies are down the main hall, first door to your left."

"Um…no, no questions. For now," he challenged with a smirk.

"Ugh." I spun around and left the kitchen, eager to leave the arrogant boy. I didn't need him ruining what was left of my day. I ran upstairs, threw myself on my bed, and just sat daydreaming of hurting Raine until sleep overtook me.

The next morning, I felt fully rested and eager to face the day. Until I remembered Raine. He'd probably be following me around all day until he understood the process. Yay. I jumped into the shower, put up my hair, and reluctantly went downstairs. Today wouldn't be too great. I could tell.

I walked into the kitchen and saw Raine staring at the list, looking very confused. I made my way over to him. If I helped, maybe he'd allow me to have a decent day.

"What's up?" I asked. I wanted to laugh at his ridiculously baffled expression, but I didn't.

"I am so lost. If I cover glass and mirrors, but Mallory does washrooms, who does the mirrors in the washrooms?"

I laughed. "Mallory. Um, hey, if you want to, you can just help me out with my stuff. You know, see how it's done. Then we'll cover your part, too." I don't know why I said it. I just figured that, on his first day, he could probably use some help.

"Sure."

We walked over to the cleaning closet and pulled out a mop and bucket each.

"Now, I only mop the first floor because it's all hardwood. The vacuuming upstairs is somebody else's problem. I start here." I placed my mop down in front of the main doors. "And mop to the other end of the school. It's not really that bad. I just hate when the girls step on the floors while wet because then I have to redo it. That's the main reason why it takes me so long," I explained. He probably didn't care, but at least I could tell Mrs. Wright that I tried.

"Oh…kay…" he said, placing his mop down too. We started up a nice, even rhythm. He took care of the left side, and I took care of the right. We didn't go into classrooms because those were in use. I'd burst his bubble later by telling him we'd have to do all 35 classes, too, during the one-hour break for lunch the girls had. A/N: if you don't already know, it's an all-girls private school :-) I was pretty quick, and could get it done easily, but Raine would be overwhelmed. I was looking forward to his expression.

We were about a third of the way done our mopping. It was silent the whole time. I was fine; I usually think about everything when it's quiet. I don't get much time to think otherwise between running around to figure out my duties for the day, and fending off aggravating students like Angelica. I was just considering ways to avoid Angelica during lunch when I realized Raine wasn't talking…or complaining. I stole a glance his way and saw him not quite focused on his mop. He was mopping, but his mind was elsewhere. He had a look of "lost" on his face, as though he wasn't really here right now. I was surprised: Raine enjoyed the silence probably just as much as I did.

"Um, Raine?"

He shook his head, like he was waking up. "Yeah?"

"How is it so far? You alright? We're almost halfway done…"

"Already? That's good. I'm fine; it's not that hard." He returned to his mop and slowly lost himself again. I was vaguely curious as to what he was thinking about, but I wanted to get done before lunch, so I moved a little bit faster. I was just in the beginning of my daydreams when I heard Raine's quiet voice.

"Hey, Lucy?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"Why are you here? You're obviously not a student…why are you cleaning here?" He seemed morbidly curious.

"What do you mean?" My guard was up.

"What I mean is…who are you?"

A/N: So sorry for the crappy update. I got my braces tightened yesterday, so I spent more time focusing on the pain instead of the story line. But hopefully the next one will be better. :