"Laila," Lissa groans, throwing her hamburger and soda down onto the table. "I hate this."

  I flip a page in Othello and glance up at Lissa, raising my eyebrows. "What?"

  "This!" She waves her arms around at the general hubbub of the cafeteria during lunch. "School! I'm so sick of it."

  "I know," I say. "You've only told me seventeen times since this morning."

 Lissa glares at me. "Well, it's true. I thought senior year was going to be fun, but so far, I've already got a research paper to write, a damn book to read, and three sets of Calculus to do and it's only lunch!"

  "You're the one that wanted to go the AP route," I remind her. "The work load was to be expected, wasn't it?"

   "Yeah, but - " Lissa rips Othello out of my hands and waves it around like a flag. "Come on, who likes Shakespeare?!" 

  "I like Shakespeare."

 "You're probably the only one on this side of the United States that likes Shakespeare, Laila."

I shrug. She's probably right. 

 But I've long since come to terms with the fact that my taste in books is a bit different than other people's. Needless to say, Lissa's not going to enjoy our AP Historical Literature class. 

  Lissa rips open her hamburger and takes a bite, continuing to babble on about how she hates how much work she has to do and how badly senior year is going to suck. 

  It's only the first day of school, though. I'd like to have a bit of a more positive attitude than Lissa's for the next month or so, at least.  

  I've almost gotten to scene three in the first act of Othello, where Brabantio is taking Othello to see the Duke, when Lissa and I are joined at our small corner lunch table by a group of girls I normally try to avoid at all cost. 

  Roosevelt High School is like your every day typical high school - there's not much that goes on here. So naturally, you would expect that Roosevelt has its own scene of popular girls that make other people take hits on their self confidence whenever they see them. You wouldn't be disappointed. 

 "Hey, Lissa," Bianca Reid says, flipping her stylish auburn as she approaches our table. 

She's followed by her typical possey - Ella Quinlan and Sasha Linley - and, of course, they bring with them their usual air of self importance and pigheadedness. 

 I duck my head in Othello and try not to listen in on the conversation. 

"Hey," Lissa says coolly. "What's up, Bianca?" 

 "Oh, nothing," Bianca drawls. "Just school, you know."

 "Right."

 I really do thank my lucky stars that Lissa's my best friend and hasn't ditched me for the popular crowd when they made her an offer to join their group in middle school. 

  Lissa comes from money, and I don't. Her dad works for some engineering company and makes enough money to where her mom doesn't even have to work. My mom, on the otherhand, is an artist with her own studio and doesn't make fat paychecks quite as regularly as Mr. Meyers. 

  Whereas I stand out because of my not-so-new clothes and old sneakers, Lissa stands out because has perfect designer clothing and regular manicures. 

  It's not surprising that the popular crowd is baffled by the fact Lissa and I are best friends.

 And since Lissa continually denies the popular crowd, well...they don't like me so much. 

   "So, Max Pelletier is throwing a party tonight," Bianca tells Lissa. "Bringing in the new school year thing, you know. It's just a group of a few friends, a little private shindig. Max wanted me to invite you. You should totally come." 

  "Totally," Ella agrees. "We haven't hung out, like, in forever." 

 And there's a reason for that, I think as I turn to a new page in Othello. 

"I thought Max Pelletier got arrested for possession of marijuana this summer?" Lissa says dryly. 

  Bianca turns a little pink in the face - Max Pelletier, the school's basketball star, also happens to be her boyfriend, I think - and clears her throat. 

  "No, of course not. That was just a rumor."

  "Okay."

  "So, what do you think?" Sasha says. 

  "I don't know," Lissa says after a moment. "I've got a lot of homework."

 "Yeah, but it's not due tomorrow, is it?" 

  Actually, the Calculus sets are due tomorrow and the Lord knows that's going to suck up enough time, but I don't say this. If Lissa really wants to go out and party, who am I to stop her?

  "I don't know," Lissa repeats. She looks over to me and smiles. "What do you think, Laila?"

 She seriously didn't just say that, did she?

  Bianca looks at me with distaste obvious on her face, but doesn't say anything. 

"You're not serious, are you?" Ella says flatly. "I mean - I don't think Laila's really into the partying scene, is she?" 

 This would be a perfect example of the fact that these people do not like me.

"Oh, I don't know about that," a deep voice says from behind me. "Laila can get pretty wild on the right night." 

 I let out a shriek and almost fall off the bench as I spin around and come face to face with - 

 "Justin?" I gasp.

Standing in front of me is my very handsome, very tall boyfriend. He looks as good as ever in a black button down shirt and jeans, his thumbs hooked in his pockets, his dark hair wavy and perfect. He pulls my favorite crooked grin and a mischievous glint flashes in his eyes. 

 "Surprised to see me, sweetheart?" he says, raising his eyebrows.

 "What the hell are you doing here?" I demand. "Shouldn't you be in school? Shouldn't you - " 

 But he cuts me off by grabbing my face and pressing his lips against mine. 

 It's certainly one hell of a way to say hello, and I don't object. I burst into a round of giggles when he pulls me up into his arms and spins me around, just like in some old black-and-white romance movie. 

 When he plops me down on my feet I almost fall over again, but he keeps an arm around my waist to keep upright. 

  "God, I missed you," Justin says with a laugh, chucking me under the chin. 

 "You just saw me two weeks ago," I remind him. 

 "Yeah, but you know how it is."

  "Hey, Justin," Lissa says, nodding to him.

  Justin flashes Lissa a grin. "Long time no see."

 "Yeah," Lissa agrees. "When was the last time? When you confessed your feelings for Laila at her sixteenth birthday party?" 

 My face turns as red dodgeball at the mention of that particular incident, but Justin doesn't even seem fazed at all. 

 "Probably," he says. "That was such an awesome night, wasn't it?" 

 "Oh yeah," I mutter, rolling my eyes. "So awesome." 

 Justin grins and kisses me again. I enjoy it as much as I can with people watching, because I probably won't see Justin again for awhile and saying goodbye isn't all that desirable at the moment. 

 When he pulls away from me, his eyes land on Bianca, Ella and Sasha, who've been standing there with absolutely stunned looks on their faces ever since he first arrived. 

 I try not to feel a little insulted, but I get the impression they thought I'd never be able to get a guy as ridiculously good looking as Justin is. 

 "I'm sorry, who are you?" Justin says to them, frowning. 

  Ella and Sasha burst into giggles at being addressed by him and Bianca quickly wipes the shocked look off her face and says, "I'm Bianca," in a stupid, breathy voice. 

 "Who are you?" Ella inquires, a rather predatory look coming over her. 

 "Justin," he answers. 

 "And, uh... you're with Laila?" Bianca asks, looking distinctly disappointed. 

 Justin pulls me up against his side and smiles. "Have been for a year."

 "Oh." Bianca's face falls. "And, she, uh... - "

 "She's amazing, of course," Justin says, like it should've been obvious. "I'm pretty sure she's the one, if you know what I mean."

 Okay, I was definitely not expecting to hear something like that. My face is practically radiating enough heat to light a furnace and Lissa's just sitting there, a hand over her mouth, fighting back laughter. 

 "Er..."

"Isn't that nice?" Bianca says. She so totally doesn't mean it, though - the bitch. 

 "It's fantastic," Justin says, giving me a squeeze. "We'll have to invite you to the wedding."

 "Justin! What the hell are you - !"

"Come on, Laila. I think we've got some studying to do in the library."

 Justin pulls me from the cafeteria before I can say another word, and we're followed by a few people clapping and whistling.

  "If we're really going to study, then I need to go back and get my things," I say, panting. "Othello and my calculus book and - "

 "Laila." Justin pulls up short and grabs my face in his hands, locking his eyes with mine. "I love you, but you can be so thick sometimes."

 "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" 

"I've only got the next two days to spend time with you. Do you really think I'm going to waste it by studying?" 

 I think about that for a moment.

"No. Probably not."

  "Smart girl."

 He starts pulling me along again, not towards the library, but towards the school's front doors. 

  "Justin! Wait, really - where are we going?" I demand. "If we're not going to study, then what're we doing?" 

  He glances over at me over his shoulder and smirks.

 "What do you think we're going to be doing?" 

  "...Oh. Okay." 

  Well, I mean, studying all the time really isn't good for you in the long run, is it?  

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  I have to be honest, this was kind of fun to write! :D