The biology teacher walked in and everyone went back to their seats, the girls who were studying had a faint blush on their cheeks as they tried to look presentable, fixing their hair and straitening up their ties.

"Good morning class." The teacher said as he fixed his glasses, laying his books on the table. He had dark brown hair and blue eyes, the color of the ocean. His tie was loose and the button on his collar, not tied. He was quite fit as his abs seemed to show under his white shirt, as the sun rays hit his body. He looked young and seemed to be about twenty to twenty-two years old, as he gave off that young, warm, and free aura.

"Good morning Mr. Anderson." The class greeted, some of the voices, audible, and a few were mumbled as if tired of the class already. "I hear we have a new student this year, so I'll be introducing myself, and so will he along with the rest of the class." Darra could hear faint "awws" here and there, but the teacher didn't mind at all. Instead, he proceeded. 

"My name is Lukas Anderson, I am twenty-one years old and I am this class' biology and homeroom teacher. Now, you'll all say your names, ages, and where you come from." The teacher pointed at the boy in the front row, to the far left and he stood up, introducing himself as Alex Cavaran, eleven years old and coming from Southern California, the next being a girl, Alice Yovonar, nine years old and coming from San Francisco, the next, also a girl, Ciana Louvern, thirteen years old and coming from Canada. They followed in rows and columns, each introducing themselves until it was Darra's turn, him being the last student to introduce himself.

"My name is Darra Murphy. I am ten years old and I come from a beautiful town in Ireland called Dillow." He heard small giggles fill the classroom, most of the children putting their hands on their mouths, trying hard not to laugh, and the teacher as well, pretended to cough. But he could still see a faint smile frozen on his lips. 

The teacher gained composure and announced for the class to keep quiet. "Hey, anyone got any peelers for this Irish potato here?" A male's voice said, coming from the middle of the classroom, who seemed to identify himself as Juan Crosgrove, 11 years old and he was from New York. With him turning his head, smirking at the poor silver-haired boy, who seemed to recognize his blonde locks and icy blue eyes. He was the same boy who threw the snowball at him at the park.

 The entire room filled with laughter as everyone turned their heads to look at the one who was being teased, laughing even more at one glance at his appearance. He lightly smiled, remembering his hometown. His classmates indeed teased him, for his almost white hair and his unnatural purple eyes, but never once in his life did he think he'd become a victim of racism. He sat back down, and even if the smile didn't fly away to join the other two, basking in the sun's glory, Lilly saw pure sadness in his eyes. 

She laid her hand lightly on his shoulder, turning his head to see a reassuring smile on Lilly's face. "It's fine, we have each other. We'll make it out of middle school alive!" She said, not making too much noise even if her voice would be muffled into everyone's laughter, but her tone was confident enough to give him happiness, cheering him up. 'I thought only Grace could cure me of my sorrows' 

The thought crossed his mind as he started to feel the warmth radiating from around him again, and he could fill fluttering at the pit of his stomach, as he looked up to see Lilly's face, smiling at him with all the joy in the world, he thought there was no better view. At that moment, he wished time would stand still, and they could be like that forever, her staring into his eyes with happiness and joy, and him staring back, only with a different emotion, the emotion that signaled certain feelings towards Lilly.

"That's enough! I will not allow teasing in my classroom, I hope I'm clear Juan!" Mr. Anderson demanded as he sent a glare at the boy sitting in the middle of the classroom, his smirk faded, and a frown took over his lips. 

"Yeah, yeah whatever." He mumbled looking away, not wanting the teacher to hear him. "Now, let's all proceed to today's lesson." Biology was never Darra's strongest point, yet learning with Mr. Anderson gave him a new perspective when he thought about plants and animals. Everything was easier to understand now, and even after the incident with Juan, he was the most vibrant in the class. 

He seemed to know the answer to every single question Mr. Anderson asked. And even though at the starting of his answering streak, the class giggled at his accent, they soon started to warm up to him, seeing as he got every answer correct, and some looked at him with admiration, and others with envy. 

Mr. Anderson also took note of how participative he was in class, beginning to feel that he wasn't actually good at biology, and he just found all the answers that very day, as if opening a new door in his mind. But as happy as Darra was, he could feel unseen eyes watching him as if whispering to him the answers. Or maybe they weren't unseen. Maybe they were among the classroom and he just couldn't notice it.

"I didn't know you were that good at biology? You were on fire!" Lilly said as she grabbed a paper bag from her backpack, frowning once she looked into the bag. "Oatmeal bread again?" She murmured, putting the snack her parents gave her back into her bag, slamming her locker shut. There stood, about 3 lockers away from hers, Darra. He grabbed his paper bag from his backpack, and looked in, smiling when he saw an apple, two grilled cheese sandwiches, and a bottle of orange juice. "I have an extra sandwich. Would you like some?" Darra asked, presenting his paper bag in front of Lilly. "Sandwiches! I haven't heard some in quite a while."

"Really, why is that?" Lilly hesitated a sad look on her face, mixed with a little bit of anger he could see in her eyes. 'Why did I say that?' She thought to herself as she began looking for an excuse as if buried deep inside her mind. 

"The break shall be over soon we should hurry up and eat." She said, grabbing Darra's hand and running over to the cafeteria, with Darra desperately holding on to his lunch. They sat at one of the tables in the cafeteria, it seemed secluded, but it was next to the window so Darra was able to receive sunlight. Oh how much he missed the sunny days. 

"Now hand me that sandwich. Oh, I've been starving!" She said, grabbing the paper bag from Darra's hands, and emptying it right at the center of the table. The apple was about to fall off when caught it. They both had a sandwich, half an apple, and Darra took a few sips of his juice, giving the rest to Lilly, who seemed to be thirsty as well. 

She was eating quite fast, and she was about to stain her cardigan when she almost spilled the juice, he wondered if she didn't even eat breakfast. The thought crossed his mind, but it was interrupted when the school bell rang, indicating the break was over. 

They rushed to their lockers, grabbed their English books, and prepared for three more lessons, math, social studies, and calligraphy (handwriting), then they would go home when it was about o'clock.