I walked down the stairs, tossing my wet hair up into a messy ponytail. Will tossed me a bagel and I shot my hand out and caught it, just in the nick of time.

"Ponage," I exclaimed, pumping my fist up in the air. My mouth fell, and Will and Dustin burst out laughing, as the bagel went flying from my hand. I stared after it, horrified, as it flew across the kitchen.

"I got it!" Dustin shouted as he lunged himself from the chair he was perched on towards the bagel's plummeting form. He outstretched his hand and caught the bagel by the tips of his fingers, as I had done just before.

"Nice," Will commented with a grin. He slapped Dustin a high five as he returned to his seat.

"Thanks. Here," Dustin said, tossing the bagel to me lightly. I caught it easily this time and bit into it securely.

"Are you getting a ride from the neighbor-" Will paused as I sneezed loudly again.

"Bless you," Dustin said as he picked at a piece of bacon on Will's plate. Will tried to stab Dustin's hand with his fork.

"Sorry, and yes," I told my brother. "They should be arriving soon..." I glanced at the clock. Seven ten. They would be here in about five minutes. "Be right back," I told Will and Dustin before booking back up the stairs to grab my book bag and Damian's coat.

The doorbell rang and I twisted around in my room, trying to find a jacket to wear. Dizziness swept over me and I had to put my hand on my desk for support. Talk about blood rush, I thought while steadying myself.

"Madison! Damian is here!" Will called from down the stairs.

"Hold on!" I called back, frantically searching around for a coat. I had just cleaned my room! I threw a pair of dirty pants onto the floor from my laundry basket, seeing if there was a coat near the top.

"Madison!" Will called again, this time louder.

"I said hold on!" I shouted back, now rushing to my closet and pushing threw the shirts and unused dresses. I groaned in frustration when my frenetic foraging came up fruitless.

"Maddie!" Will shouted. I could tell he was at the bottom of the stairs. "They're waiting for you!"

"I said hold on!" I screamed, my frustration getting the best of me. I slammed the closet door shut, hitched my bag onto my shoulder and grabbed Damian's coat off my bed before stomping down stairs in a huff.

"About time," Dustin complained, a grumpy look on his face.

I really hoped he kept his bad, unjustifiable attitude to himself. At least for today because I was already in a bad mood. I felt a sneeze coming on and put my face into the crook of my elbow.

"Bless you," Damian and Dustin said simultaneously when it came out, rushing like a freight train.

Dustin scowled at Damian while Damian smiled politely back at him.

"Have a good day at school," Will called as we made our way out to the car.

"Morning," Ayden and Callie both chirped brightly together.

I slid into the middle, while Dustin and Damian sat on other either side of me. Callie smiled brightly from the front seat, her chocolate colored hair sparkling under the sun. I clandestinely peeked at my hair. It shined, but only because of the blonde in it. I stared at the window, trying to see if my hair looked okay.

"You're hair looks good today, Madison," Ayden commented, as though he could read my mind. He grinned at me from the rear view mirror.

I smiled in return. "Thanks."

It was a quiet ride to school as I stared out the window, sneezing once or twice. One of them was so loud Ayden pulled over out of surprise and concern. I must have nodded off because the next thing I knew, we were parked outside of the school, and Dustin was jabbing his finger into my side.

"Wake up, sleepy head," he muttered before recoiling back, away from me.

I stared at him in bewilderment while my head cleared away all the cobwebs of sleep. "Why did you move away so fast?"

"I didn't want you to throw something at me," he replied with a grin. "You know, like earlier."

I turned red in embarrassment. This morning I hadn't been embarrassed because I was too irritated to be, but now, with people who could hear this, I was incredibly humiliated. Damian was staring questioningly at Dustin, who was now smirking. I begged Damian in my mind not to ask anything about this subject.

"What do you mean?" Damian inquired nonchalantly, his eyes narrowing the slightest bit.

Damn.

He turned his probing eyes on me, which just made my face turn redder. His expression became more confused, and I had to look away.

"Nothing," I replied, opening the door and hopping out. I squinted at the cold sky as the sun started to peek through the grey morning clouds. It was unseasonably cold; possibly do to the rainfall the night before.

I shuddered, and made a beeline for the school. Drowsiness tailed me like a duckling shadowing his mother.

"You look tired," Callie commented in her usual cheerful voice.

"I feel tired," I replied, winging open the door and stepping into the warmth. I thought the warmth would wake me up, but instead I felt even more tired, and suddenly heavy on my feet.

I turned and looked for the other three. Ayden was the only one who entered my field of vision. My eyes strayed back to the car, where Damian and Dustin were standing close to each other. A strained look on was on Dustin's face, and, though I could not understand why, a look of what I guessed to be dry amusement was on Damian's, accompanied by his tense stance.

I stared curiously until I felt Ayden's hand on my back, guiding me towards my homeroom.

"You look asleep on your feet," Ayden chuckled.

I stared at him with a small smile, my focus still on Damian and Dustin. Dustin now had a look of anger on his face, pure rage. I would have been surprised if he had punched Damian in the face. I made to go back but Ayden's hand stopped me.

"Don't worry about it," he said soothingly. "There's just been a little... mishap about something."

"About what?" I asked as we reached the room.

Ayden shrugged as he took out the key and opened the door, entering and setting his suitcase on the desk. He sat down and gave me a small smile. "Something of little importance."

I was going to ask him more, but he abruptly stood up and exited the room, excusing himself, his smile gone. I stared after him for a moment, bewildered by his sudden actions, before resting my head on the cold, hard surface of my desk.

The halls became noisy and I assumed the students had begun to arrive on buses. The morning music was played a few moments later, some old song that I had never heard before. I tried to focus on the lyrics so I wouldn't fall asleep while waiting for the day to begin.

After a few minutes the homeroom bell sounded and students began to file into the room. Ayden and Damian entered together. Damian took a spot next to me again and Ayden listed off a few more announcements before leaving the class to hang until the end of homeroom. I focused on a tile on the floor to stop myself from falling asleep, since the music was gone.

When the bell rang I headed for my locker, Damian following me, not saying anything. When we reached my locker, he reached out and spun the combo before I did, and placed his jacket inside. I grabbed what I needed, not making a fuss about his stuff in my locker today and headed for math class.

In math, as tired as I was, I still noticed the tense actions between Damian and Mr. Black while he handed back the tests we took on the first day. I got a ninety-five while Damian got a hundred. He smirked in triumph but I was too tired to care. In art I was barely focusing on my project and at one point Damian seized the cutting knife from me so I wouldn't accidentally cut myself. I spent the rest of class resting. I wasn't really focusing on things around me, just trying to stay awake. It was the same in third and fourth. I must've yawned twenty times.

When I entered fifth period Emmett mauled me in a hug.

"You don't look well," he told me while pressing his hand to my forehead.

"I'm not sick," I replied pushing his hand off me. "I'm just tired. And a little spent with all the running in the rain I did yesterday."

"You ran around in the rain!" Dustin cried looking at me. "You could have the flu!"

"I wasn't out for that long. I just needed to..." I trailed off, staring outside the window. I didn't really need to do anything. I wanted to make it home before it started raining, but that didn't work out so well. Now I was just feeling the aftereffects.

A thump on the top of my head with something hard broke me out of my trance and I swayed for a second before falling forward. An arm shot out and caught me before I hit the floor.

"You're sick," Damian stated looking at me with a concerned look.

"I thought so," Emmett said shaking his head.

I pursed my lips. I wasn't sick. I was just tired, but these ignoramuses just wanted to blow things out of proportion. However, I was instantly ashamed of thinking such a thought when they were only concerned for me.

"I could tell this morning," Damian replied, nodding his head.

"What'd you hit her for if you knew?" Dustin remarked angrily, breaking my thoughts.

"She'd forgotten her binder in Spanish," Damian answered Damian smoothly. "I was returning it to her."

I struggled out of Damian's grasp. "I feel fine."

"You're going to the nurse's," all three boys said at once. I narrowed my eyes and turned to Kim, who had just taken her seat.

"What?" she asked as four pairs of eyes locked onto her.

"Maddie is sick," Dustin informed her, gesturing towards me.

"I am not!" I cried angrily, before yawning. "I'm tired!"

"You do look sick," Kim agreed with Dustin. "Maybe you should go to the nurse."

"It's not... I'm not... Look!" I cried still angry and now frustrated. "I am fine!" Was the whole world against me? The four of them stared at me for a few seconds, and I glared at each of them in return.

"I'll bring her down," Damian offered as he shifted his bag onto one shoulder, and grabbed my bag from me, slinging it across his other.

"I can do it," Dustin said, holding out his hand for my bag.

"No it's quite alright. I think I can manage," Damian replied with an air of finality. Dustin stared at him for a moment, before pressing his lips into a tight line and shrugging.

"Whatever."

I glowered at the group remaining as Damian dragged me down the hallway. I struggled to break free.

"It's for your own good," Damian offered as we descended down the stairs. I had given up trying to breakout of his vice-like grip after a few fruitless moments. "Though I thought you'd never stop struggling."

"I don't want to go home early on the second day of school," I muttered back, as our steps echoed in the silent halls.

"High school flies by you know," he responded with a mysterious grin. "Besides, if you don't rest now, I'll have to keep you from going to your job."

I scowled at him. "You have no authority to-" I started but was cut off.

"But, I do have the strength."

We reached the nurse's office and he pushed me through the door, directing me to sit on a chair. I did so, in high dungeon though. I sat on the cold wooden chair as Damian spoke to the nurse, Ms. Cleric. She gave me an appraising look from the office, her face turned into a frown. I frowned as well. She must have thought she would be able to laze around the first few days of school.

Ms. Cleric came from her office momentarily, and stuck a thermometer in my mouth. I held it there for a few moments before she took it out again, clucked her tongue, and shuffled back into the office.

"You don't have a fever," Damian commented from the other side of the room. He was tinkering with something in his hands. I stared at it for a few seconds until I realized it was my cell phone.

"What the heck? How'd you get that?" I asked in surprise, reaching into my back pocket and touching nothing.

"It fell out." Damian shrugged and tossed it to me. "That's not a safe place to keep it."

The phone landed neatly on my lap, and I picked it up and shoved it back into my back pocket. "I've never had problems before," I sniffed, shaking my head. My head started to pound and I shut my eyes and clasped my hands on either side of my head, trying to stop it.

"Are you okay?" Damian asked, worry in his voice.

"I'm fine," I muttered, opening my eyes and pulling my hands away. "Just a headache..."

Ms. Cleric came back into the main room and handed me a cup of water, and then two pills.

"Oh, no," I said, pushing the pills back towards her. "I can't take pills."

"They will help your headache, and get rid of your cold," she responded, a frown appearing on her lips.

I shook my head. "I can't take pills."

Ms. Cleric sighed, muttered something then retreated back to her room. "I'll find some liquid then," she called and I heard her shuffling through something.

"Thanks," I called back, leaning against the chair and closing my eyes.

"Why can't you take pills?"

I shrugged, opening one eye to peer at Damian. He had a confused expression on his face. He looked quite handsome. His hair was the slightest bit messy then usual, adding to the confused look. I couldn't help but smirk, and grow the slightest bit red at my thoughts.

"You're turning red," he commented, his lips turning down slightly. "Are you feeling unwell again?"

I shook my head quickly. Bad idea. I closed my eyes and held my head while waiting for the pounding to pass by. "Whoops," I sighed, looking down at my feet.

I heard footsteps and looked up to Ms. Cleric holding out a small plastic cup, filled with red liquid. I took it and swallowed it, wrinkling my nose in disgust.

"There," Ms. Cleric said, taking the cup back from me. "You should be fine. Just make sure to get enough sleep tonight. Now get back to class. You don't want to miss a lot on the first day."

I nodded and glanced at the clock. I had only been here for about fifteen minutes. Damian pulled me from my seat and began pulling me from the room.

"Goodbye Ms. Cleric," Damian called pleasantly as we exited the room. There was no response, and I assumed she had already disappeared back into the back room.

Damian and I returned to the classroom, and assured every that I was fine, and only had a cold. I got in an "I told you so." The rest of the day flew by, and was very boring. I was still a little tired, but felt considerably better after the trip to the nurse.

The school bell rang, and I trudged to my locker to gather my jacket and math book to do my very first homework assignment. Damian reached over me to grab his own book and I bumped my head on his arm.

"Ow," I complained, surprised. How in the world could someone have such a hard arm? I glanced at his arm. Perhaps he's muscular... although he looks skinny, I thought with a frown. No matter the reason though, it still had hurt.

He chucked. "Sorry about that." He patted my head before taking his jacket out of my locker.

I grumbled up at him. "When are you going to fix this locker situation?"

"I'm not," he responded with a smirk fixed on his face. "This appears to be working out tolerably... well to me anyway."

"What are you two doing?"

I turned to see where the accusatory voice was coming from. My heart dropped into my gut when I realized it was Dustin.

"Gathering our stuff," Damian replied innocently. "Is something wrong with that?"

"Why are you sharing a locker with her?" Dustin demanded brusquely.

"Uh, Dustin," I responded, waving my hands to get his attention to me.

His eyes snapped onto mine and I flinched. Talk about full force hate. I stared at him for a few seconds, stunned into silence before his eyes softened a little bit.

"Oh," he breathed before giving me a rueful grin. "Sorry."

"Uh yeah," I replied, finding my voice again, but my hands were shaking, and my eyes were burning.

I blinked a few times to stop myself from beginning to cry. Dustin truly did hate Damian. There had to be some reason for it. I had never before seen such abhorrence and contempt. But for some reason, they wouldn't tell me. I clenched my hand into a fist.

Dustin's eyes snapped back onto Damian's, the hardness returning to them. "Answer my question."

Damian shrugged. "An accident," he replied nonchalantly but then smiled. "But I consider it a favored phenomenon."

Dustin gave him a black look for a few seconds before turning away in disgust. "Watch your back." With that, he began to walk away his hands clenched at his sides, shaking with anger.