She was mad. I knew that much.

I also knew she wasn't happy with the male population at the moment either.

I can also say I knew to stay away, far, far away. Although as far as I could get was the other side of the room, which wasn't far, they don't make classrooms that big.

"Hey…Marky, over here!" I jerked my attention back to where it was supposed to be, which, unfortunately was boring school stuff.

"Where's your mind today?" I wasn't about to tell my friend it was on his sister. Didn't think that was a good idea, so, instead I said, "I have a mind?"

"Of course not, what was I thinking?"

"You think?"

"Sometimes."

"Is that why it smells like burning batteries in here?" We shut up and turned to look. It was her, I swear my heart stuttered and stopped.

"Whatcha want?" Dustyn, that friend I mentioned earlier, asked. Instead of answering she looked at me.

Straight. At. Me.

My heart gave a couple half-assed coughs and I choked on my spit.

Aren't I the smooth one?

Ricky, another friend, gave my back a good couple hits until I smacked his hand away. In that time she'd gotten whatever from Dustyn and had headed off again, damn. I snuck a look over at her while my heart regained it's steady beat, she was busy talking to some of her friends about something.

"Oy! Italian idiot! Over here please!" I turned back to Dustyn and pointed my pen in his face and said, "Italian yes. Idiot no." He gave a little salute and Ricky muttered, "Sure." I turned and chucked my pen at him.

Before a full-blown pen, pencil-tossing thing could occur the bell rang, and off we went.

I stood at my locker, half listening to Dustyn and Ricky bickering about guitars or some form of string instruments, and trying to decide which homework I should focus on during our lunch break.

Oh the joy of decisions.

Then, I heard the worst thing I wanted to hear, the most awful voice calling to me through the crowd of the hall, "Oh Maaaark!" I glared at the inside of my locker, then poked my head around the door and gave my brightest fake smile and said, "Hey Steph!" She closed my locker and I blinked as she put herself in front of me.

"Um…I kinda needed stuff out of that." Instead of caring she put her hands on my chest and said, "Oh you will not believe what happened to me today!"

Did I care?

Nope. Not even the tiniest little bit.

I had no idea why I was going out with her, maybe it was the fact that Dustyn had forced it on me, and I hadn't been sober either. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

It'd been the worst three weeks of my life. And every single time I even opened my mouth to mention the fact that I needed out of this hell she'd open her own and her loud, annoying, obnoxious voice would overpower my own, softer voice.

I'm not a very loud guy.

"-and then she said it didn't matter, but before that she had said-" She was still talking, didn't she see my eyes were glazed over? Didn't she see that I did not care?

I just wanted to take her head and slam it against the lockers and scream; "No one gives a shit! Shut up and get a life you stupid twit!" But, I'm a gentleman so I only smiled and nodded and said, "Uh-huh," at the appropriate moments.

"You comin' or not Mark?" Dustyn asked, appearing by my side. I gave him a pleading look that pretty much told him to save me or else I'd shove his head in the nearest locker and close the door several times.

"I hate to be a pain Stephanie, and I'm sure Mark would love to stay and chat but we need him, so…buh-bye!" And down the hall we went.

"I truly, really hate you for dragging her into my life."

"No you doooon't." He cooed I growled and jumped onto his back with the intention of slamming him into the wall.

Didn't work.

Damn teachers.

"She's not that bad." Dustyn said as we entered the cafeteria.

"Oh please." I muttered and plopped down at the table we usually occupied, we, being me, Dustyn, Ricky, Jacob and sometimes Lauren, Dustyn's sister, and my everlasting crush.

I slammed my head into the table and muttered, "She's indestructible, she's everywhere, she won't go away!"

"Sounds like a cockroach." I choked on my spit again, over my coughing I heard Dustyn say, "Thought I was a cockroach."

"No, you're a toad."

"I can eat what bugs me."

"You just go ahead and think that then." I finally managed to raise my head off the table and focus on what homework I had managed to get out of my locker before it was so rudely closed.

"Hey Mark, can I ask you something?" Dustyn asked suddenly, narrowing his eyes at me when I looked up.

"Yeah." I said slowly, Dustyn turned and said to Lauren, "Go away or something Laur." She rolled her eyes, gathered up her stuff and left.

"You have a thing for my sister?" I choked again. What was it with me and choking on my spit today?

"Uh, no." I finally managed to get out. He stared at me and I stared right back, so unimaginably happy that I was a fantastic liar, I had the feeling he would have dived over the table to choke me if I'd said yes.