Yeah, she was so not fine.

As Neve stalked toward her locker, she could feel the stares weighing down on her and struggled not to hide behind her hair. She had to show she wasn't scared, otherwise... well, she honestly wasn't sure. It wasn't like they were going to eat her or something.

Despite this clear fact, Neve was still having a little trouble breathing, even when she did get to her locker. She leaned against it, staring at the ugly blue color. If she didn't calm down soon, she was a little worried she might have a panic attack in the middle of the hallway.

That thought definitely didn't help.

Her heart pounded painfully in her chest as a tear rolled down her cheek. She squeezed her eyes shut.

Not right now. Please not right now.

But her body didn't listen, shivering. She forced herself away from her locker and stumbled away. She shoved people out of her way as she passed, too unsettled to give a crap as they whispered profanities at her. And she was too disoriented to do anything when someone put their arm around her and dragged her to God knows where.

They laid her down on some floor; it was completely silent save for the distant sound of people rushing to their classes and her haggard breathing. Then the person started to speak.

"It's okay. Just breathe in and out. In and out," the person said. "You're going to be alright. I'm here for you."

Neve closed her eyes and did as they told her to, taking deep breaths. After several minutes of this, she reopened her eyes and found that her surroundings were no longer so foggy. She was still slightly shaking and had a weird sensation in her fingers, but she sat up, and came face to face with the most dazzling boy she'd ever seen. She immediately flushed under his inquisitive gaze, deeply embarrassed. Had she just had a panic attack right in front of him?

She hurriedly wiped the sweat from her forehead and stared at her lap. "Um... you... saw all that, didn't you?"

"Yes"—her blood ran cold—"but there's nothing to be embarrassed about. Are you okay?"

She felt her heart skip a beat. He just asked her if she was okay? The last and only person to have asked her that was Nate. "I-I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I could walk you to your class."

That was a definite no. She didn't have the energy or the motivation to go to class and face Becca and Claire. She was going to skip this hour. "No, that's okay. I'll go by myself." Right on cue, the bell rang. Neve quietly cursed and stood up. "Well... it was nice meeting you..."

"Lucas," he answered, standing up as well.

"Yeah... so... bye." She spun in the opposite direction and stalked away. As she left what was actually the auditorium, she face-palmed herself. Why did she always have to make things awkward? Could she not speak like a normal person? Granted, he was really... beautiful.

Neve just sighed, forcing herself not to think about it anymore, and headed to the roof to hide out until the next hour.

+++

Lunch was always troublesome for Neve, as it was in the middle of fourth hour and she didn't have the same fourth hour as Becca and Claire, so she had to find them. For actual friends, this would've been easy, but Becca and Claire were something else. They went to either the bathroom, their lockers, or straight to the cafeteria, but never in the same order. She suspected that they wanted to make this hard for her.

Despite her fear of what might happen if she went to the cafeteria alone, Neve continued toward it, not in the mood to look for the annoying duo. As she approached the cafeteria doors, she was cut off by that stunning boy—Lucas.

"Hey!" He said, coming to stand beside her and walking with her. "Want to sit with me and my friends at lunch?"

"Um... sorry, I'm sitting with some other people." Neve regretted the words the second they were out of her mouth, but she pressed her fake nails into her palm to remind herself why she couldn't sit with them.

"You sure?"

"Yeah..." She trailed off, enticed by his face. His features were handsome, but normal: slicked back, shiny, blond hair, bright blue eyes, straight nose—classic pretty boy. But there was something unusually alluring about him, like he was the only light in a pitch black room.

She was snapped out of her reverie when put their arm around her. Her head whipped in their direction and she inaudibly gasped. Did Lucas have a female twin?

"So Luke," the beautiful girl said, "this is the girl you've been talking about?"

Neve paled. Had Lucas told her about her panic attack? She was about to ask him about it quietly, but he sent her a brilliant smile that reassured her. He didn't seem like the type of person to do that. After all, he had helped her through it.

"Yeah," he answered. Then he looked around. "Where's Alice?"

The girl's bubbly attitude changed instantly. "Don't know, don't care. Good riddance!"

"Angie—"

"Don't call me that."

"But your name's pretty long."

"Are you so lazy that you can't pronounce a four-syllable name?"

Neve didn't know what to make of the situation. On one hand, it was heartwarming to see two siblings... well... being siblings. On the other hand, though, it was smothering to be in between them, as Angie (should she have been calling her that?) was leaning closer to Lucas, causing Neve to be enveloped by them. And if you added their tallness into it, it wasn't a very pleasant predicament. The worst part was that they didn't seem to notice, continuing to yell at each other like there wasn't someone squished between them.

Neve was in the midst of pressuring herself to ask them to move away from her when hands seized her shoulders and pulled her back.

"Angelica! Lucas! How self-centered can you guys be? You were suffocating her."

Neve gently separated herself from the hands and turned around to face whoever it was. She resisted the urge to groan. Of course—another perfectly perfect person.

It was another girl, with lavish chestnut hair, her eyes only a shade darker. She seemed to be glaring at the two behind Neve, but she had a feeling that that was just her normal expression.

"Excuse me? I was doing no such thing. Right?"

Neve quickly realized that Angelica was speaking to her and shifted so she could face all of them. Her voice failed when her eyes met their expecting gazes. "Well..." she said a few moments later.

Angelica's expression turned into something sinister for a moment before settling into a grimace. "If that's the case, then I'm sorry." Then she abruptly stalked away.

Lucas rolled his eyes, a flawless smile appearing on his face as his eyes settled on hers. "Sorry." He promptly ruffled her hair and strutted away.

Then the other girl spoke. "Sorry about them. Anyway, I'm Alice. Is your hair okay?"

"Yeah, fine," she mumbled, forcing herself to keep her hands away from her hair.

Alice glanced at her hair but didn't say anything about it. "If you say so. Well, I've got to go. I'll see you later, I guess."

Neve stared as she walked away. Who were these people?

By the time Neve got to the cafeteria, it was already halfway through lunch. She'd had to go the bathroom and get her hair in order so Claire wouldn't throw a fit when she saw her. Though she might, anyway, because she was arriving at lunch so late. She sighed, trudging up to their usual table. Claire and Becca had been talking animatedly before, but now their conversation halted, both of them slowly turning to face her.

Claire charmingly smiled. "Nice of you to join us, Neve. I saved a seat for you. Right next to me."

Neve dubiously sat next to her and not even a second later, Claire pinched her hand, sending a menacing glare at her. Then she harshly whispered in her ear, "I want to talk to you in the bathroom after lunch."

Crap.