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Today marked the three week anniversary of Luke van Zyl's arrival in Scotland and the chip on his pretentious shoulder had only gotten deeper with time. Here he was, the coldest place on Earth shy of the sub arctic wasteland that was Canada supposed to actually meet and care about the people stupid enough to voluntarily live in this country. He was used to warmth, beaches and not having to wear thirty sweaters to keep from losing his extremities. It was obvious that the southern hemisphere was vastly superior to the northern one. He scowled derisively at his watch, she should be here by now, unless she had cowered out on him.

He had absolutely no friends here, though to be fair the Gryffindor had not exactly gone to any lengths to be liked by anyone at the school. Hell, he was only going to be there for a few months providing he actually passed a few of his classes, so why should he become friends with people he would never ever see again? Perhaps this was why he was so bitter -- his parents couldn't have waited another seven damn months before they took the money and ran. The fact that his parents had taken the money and run didn't bother him so much as the disruption it caused. Whatever, maybe the shaky old accountant who was his father had grown a pair.

So far the only person he had met worth talking to was a fellow Gryffindor named Hayden Harthrow. Not that these awkward house divisions made any sense or bothered him a damn. That hadn't had houses in Joburg. Of course, his school in South Africa had been segregated and all of those other things that won his country scathing looks from the high and mighty English (it was their fault anyways). He liked Harthrow because she had been here the whole seven years and she still hated everyone, leading Luke to logically infer that the school was hell and that he was being self-righteous and not petty. Harthrow was hot, but short, beyond which she was loud which tended to irritate Luke from time to time, though if they boy had made even one friend since his unfortunate arrival it had to be Hayden.

Really, it was like he had found his female counterpart, they both hated the world and all of the insufferable idiots in it. And obviously that was why they fought. It released tension and she could take a hit. At some point someone had probably tried to instill in Luke some sort of value system that didn't involve getting into fights with girls but that was short lived enough. Besides she was just as into boxing as he was she was used to getting the snot kicked out of her. Or if she wasn't she probably should be. This was the third time that they had had it out in the empty classroom above the third floor corridor, and while he was going a bit easy on her still she had gotten some mighty hits in on him, he was impressed, the gloves were off.

Sitting on the edge of a desk van Zyl awaited his sparring partner impatiently and was just about to head back up to his dorm in a regular terrible mood when he heard the door burst open. The boy arched an eyebrow as Hayden Harthrow made her appearance. He tried to smile, but instead a dark smirk fell on his face. He was pleased that he had eventually arrived but the dour Gryffindor had decided to never let his happiness show in this freezing barbaric country. The boy chanced a sarcastic wave at Harthrow, relaxing against the desk.

?Ey, how long you going to keep me waiting?? he asked the Spaniard expecting, but not really giving a shit about the overreaction that she would undoubtedly throw at him. He cracked his knuckles absently and watched her face passively. She was probably off snogging that idiot Terence what's-his-name who hated Luke for reasons he had yet to determine. Probably his just generally being an asshole. Not that this was his fault ? he was born that way.

As though she didn?t have enough on her plate already, Addy was late. Terribly, terribly late. No, not late like that, but the butterflies in her stomach certainly felt like that sort of late. No, she was late for a ?Beat-The-Shit-Out-of-You-?Til-You-Cry? session with her new friend Luke. It was an odd sort of friendship the two shared. Upon first meeting, Addy?s eyes narrowed and her lips pursed in a fashion reminiscent of McGee as she appraised him. Her first reaction to him was a voice screaming ?DOUCHEBAG? loudly in her head. She was right of course, he was a douchebag, but had somehow missed that he was also a giant asshole. It didn?t take her long to realize though, because he apparently had her pegged just as fast as she had him. Addy supposed it had to do something with her calling him a douche, and Luke reciprocating in kind by calling her a bitch.

Affronted, Addy responded by taking a powerful swing at him, fully intending to break his nose and perhaps part of his cheek. Used to being top dog around the school in anything fighting related, Addy fully expected him to fall down, his face splattered in blood, a look of pain and horror on his face. What she did not expect, however, was him to expertly block her strike like it was nothing, a large smirk adorning his rugged face. They had been friends ever since, Addy quickly considering Luke one of her best. He could take a hit, and give one back. If that didn?t deserve some sort of respect from the angry Spaniard girl, then what did? Sure, he complained like a pussy about how cold it was up here, and certainly liked to push Addy?s buttons more than enough, but really, he was alright.

That was probably why the girl felt so bad about being late to meet up with him. Terence had held her up, and the girl could not think up an adequate excuse to get away from him. Somehow she didn?t think saying she was leaving him to willingly get the crap kicked out of her by the new kid would fly with Terence. She was sure he would not approve of it at all, especially seeing as how old fashion he was. Men should not ever raise a hand to a woman, after all. Yes, it was better that Terence did not know about the meetings between the new kid and Addy. He would not approve.

Flipping her black hair back into a high ponytail, Addy hurried through the halls, all but trampling over other students (was that a professor?) in her attempt to not be extremely late. Coming to the door, the Gryffindor shoved it open, her electric eyes sweeping the room for her male friend. At first, her expression was apologetic and worried, but as soon as he opened her mouth, she remembered what an asshole he was and simply settled for glaring at the boy. Maybe if she stared hared enough, he would burst into flames and she could have the last laugh.

?You know, you're right at castration level for me, pig,? she snapped walking over to him and poking him in the chest. It was true. Luke was nearly an entire foot taller than she was, but she hardly counted her height as a disadvantage. On the contrary, she preferred it, as it made her faster and less likely to get hit. Luke was a very good boxer though, so despite her being a small target, he had managed to smack her around a couple of time. Last time they fought like this, he had knocked her on her ass with one good hit. Addy was thoroughly impressed with the male before her.

?I had to get rid of my boy?of Terence,? she hastily corrected. They were not dating. ?He would flip his shit if he knew I was ditching him to spar with you. Something about hitting girls or something. ?l es ridiulous y est?pido. Puedo cuidar de m? mismo,? she sighed, rolling her eyes and looking slightly put off. ?Anyway. Are you ready?? she asked, grinning evilly as she swept her bangs out of her face. ?I?ve been working on my timing and foot work all week,? she stated, taking up a fighting stance with her tiny fists raised. Hopefully the blood wouldn?t get everywhere like it had last time. Thankfully both of them were well versed in the Episkey spell, too.

Hayden had arrived and as usual she wasn't taking his crap lying down. She came over and violently poked him in the chest reinforcing the height difference between the two, he had almost a foot on her. She threatened to castrate him, which Luke thought was pretty cute, given he was fully aware she would do no such thing. All of the guys and girls in Gryffindor, and really in this entire school thought that Hayden just ran around pulling people apart, but really, other then dropping a few people who deserved it he could hardly consider her a loose cannon, back in Joburg he had known some loose cannons, hell he had been one. And, Luke had heard zero reports of her actually castrating anyone despite repeated threats. Her room mate, that towering bitch Theo Roman on the other hand probably was guilty of such things.

?Oh right,? laughed Luke fairly obnoxiously. ?I forgot you had one of those hanging around and holding you up. Whatever, dit raak my nie.? If she could toss around Spanish threats than Afrikaans interjections were just as acceptable. Stretching his long arms over his head enjoying the loosening of the tension all up his back, he looked at the short girl, leisurely getting into position. He had to be careful, being so awkwardly tall (not that his height was much of an impediment, he was built strongly) he was fairly easy to drop if people knew where to hit, and Addy did, in fact. She had figured that out in less than two seconds the first time they had sparred like this. He smirked a little bit, the boy didn't speak a word of Spanish so her threats usually went unnoticed.

The boy dot dot dot, which was as close as Addy would ever come to saying boyfriend was Terence Walker, someone that Luke had had the misfortune of meeting up with a few times. Luke hated Terence because, honestly, Luke hated everyone, and Terence hated Luke probably because he spent much of the last three weeks behind closed doors with his girl dot dot dot, and every time she returned to them she had some fancy bruises, and generally looked like someone had beaten her up (which they had, but the feeling was mutual). Luke also had more than his share of injuries to nurse after each secession but apparently when a girl decked you you were supposed to just take it. This was where Terence and Luke did not quite see exactly eye to eye. It wasn't as though Luke was running around punching people in the face at random (as much as he would have loved to some days) but try explaining that to the perfect gentleman.

Sauntering into position slowly, he grinned at the girl. ?I should hope so, given you were abysmal last time around.? Luke was lucky that fighting was something he was better than exceptional at because otherwise someone with his ego would have probably lost a few limbs to particularly aggressive opponents over the years. But it was always better to get someone like Addy nice and enraged before one was to engage her in combat. He vastly preferred a fight where the opponent was just as into profuse bleeding as he was. If nothing else, Addy had tenacity down, though, where she had learned it was beyond him, given he couldn't even begin to imagine someone in her weight class able to take one of her hits without dropping. Plus no one else in this school seemed to think beating each other up was a good idea. Oh right, the upper class British twats couldn't hurt each other, that wasn't gentlemanly. Maybe it was the political climate he was from, but violence seemed to be a pretty acceptable way of dealing with his problems.

He'd give her the first hit. He was usually good enough to not drop her on the first go, plus a little blood early in the game should have Luke much more awake, and get her thinking she might actually have a chance. ?Eyy, give us a hit then, love,? his voice was at least a little patronizing, just because he knew it would make her furious. Button pushing was one of his specialties. Besides he was ready to block it, but holding a steak in front of a lion almost always had the desired results as far as he was concerned. Why fight someone who didn't want you dead?

Addy's carefully placed smirk slid off her face and was replaced by a rather indignant one. Abysmal? The little turd was purposefully going out of his way to antagonize her! And what made her even angrier was that it was working. Luke van Zyl knew perfectly well that Hayden Lee Harthrow carried more black belts in more styles than von Trier carried vodka bottles. Close enough anyway.

Planting her feet, the Spaniard glared up at the older male, willing him to burst into flame with just the power of her mind. One day, she convinced herself as she slowly stepped to the side, she would master wandless magic. With a sneer twisting her normally lovely face, she struck out straight at the African's solar plexus with the grace and speed of a cheetah. Luke should be used to feisty felines attacking him. She mentally gagged at the metaphor as she ducked behind him and planted her foot in his ribs with a powerful back-thrust kick.

The girl tried hard to keep her tongue in her mouth as she moved around the boy. Sticking one's tongue out while engaging in muggle brawls was generally a bad idea. Many students at her dojo had bitten the tips of their own tongues off because of a well placed uppercut or front kick to the mouth. It was hard to do though, because the girl was finding it a challenge to get under his guard. Luke had also been practicing she could tell. He was tighter in his guard, waiting, Addy knew, for her to get sloppy so he could deck her with one of his massive fists.

At least he didn't hit like a girl. Addy did not approve of slap fights, and Luke never disappointed. Part of Addy thought that getting slapped around by a bigger, more aggressive male might be unhealthy for emotional growth. The other part of Addy beat the crap out of that part. The Gryffindor girl was always out to prove something, and for the last month, she had been dead set on proving that just because someone was bigger, stronger and (possibly) more aggressive than she was, didn't mean they couldn't be taken out.

Thus far it had been one of the funnest challenges Addy had faced. And that was including the time she played Beater against Willow. She still felt slightly guilty for wrecking the Teacher's stands....

?What's this shit, Luke?? she panted slightly. He wasn't doing a damn thing other than blocking her. It was irritating. She wanted to get hurt, to bleed. ?Stop dicking around hit me, damnit!? she shouted at him, throwing all her weight behind a reverse punch aimed at his face. She dearly hoped it would connect with his nose so she could feel it shatter under her pale knuckles.

[[I took some liberties with Luke. Hope that's ok :/ ]]

He laughed as he spit a bit of blood onto the floor. Her kick was like someone had taken a mace to his chest, and it hurt like fuck. But the good kind. There didn't seem to be more to bleeding come, and there was hardly enough to stain his teeth. He worked methodically, watching her movements and quickly blocking the punches and kicks she threw at him. The kick to the centre of his chest had been a bit of a loss. But this was the rhythm he needed to get into. He knew his fighting needed more control, and this was a good way to practice that. No chance to improvise and hurt anyone seriously. Like by breaking beer bottles over their head, or throwing pint glasses.

?Oy, fuck off telling me what to do there, lady,? he sneered at the beautiful girl. ?It's my blocks that needs the most work, isn't it?? This was true, while he could hit with the force of a moving train, he was often too busy concentrating on his offense to worry about petty things like catching other people's punches. It was obviously something to work on. Not necessarily with Addy, if she was going to win it would likely not be a knock-out, but more knocking him off his feet, but Addy was not the only person he ever planned on fighting again. He needed to think more seriously about defensive fighting, and besides, it was nice to piss her off.

Of course, the punch thrown at his face wasn't going to do. Because of his focus on defense this particular evening, a punch that usually would have shattered his nose, and really gotten things bleeding, he caught, perhaps not very gracefully. There was even for a split second an unintended wince as his hand caught the fist around two inches from his face. Jesus Christ on a cracker, he thought completely uselessly.

Taking his first chance at grappling very seriously this evening, he slid one of his hands op her arm and made to throw her heavily to the floor, sweeping with one of his feet in an effort to aid in her loss of balance. Shifting her weight left him a little off centre though, and he stumbled a bit from the recoil on the throw. She was also a tough cookie and he didn't expect her to stay down all that long. Or if she did it would only be to knock him off his feet too. The boy grimaced, but happily so, this was how he wanted everything to be at this point in his life. Well, despite the bullshit. He wanted to be fighting at any rate.

This was probably not the ideal place to be kicking the shit out of anyone. Since the hard stone floors rarely did anyone who took to them any favours. Luke his seriously knocked himself half-way to a concussion last time she had managed to bring him to the floor. Which admittedly was a frequent tactic of hers, she knew his centre of gravity was high being the tall freak that he was and that was a common weakness in tall guys over little compact brick shithouses. There were also desk edges to beat one's face against and glass jars lining the walls. Ripe for accidentally shattering to shit and getting into trouble over.

He did not offer to help her up, rather he backed a few paces away, he was going to give her a chance to stand up, but not to take him down with her instead. Despite the fact that she was beyond any competition the most beautiful girl he had ever seen before in his entire life he was pretty sure if he expressed these sentiments she would stop fighting with him. And this did not fancy any sort of fighting that involved him on his ass. That and Terence Walker would never let him hear the end of it. Jesus he was going to murder that imbecile.

?Come on, get up,? he snarled sharply. The thought of the other guy, close to Addy getting him feeling more aggressive already. She had probably hit the floor less than two seconds ago, but that was too long for Luke who felt like his own passivity was making this fight entirely too slow. ?Come on, come on,? he was looking forward to this next hit like a kid looks forward to Christmas.

(( I think if we want this post to go anywhere we'll need liberties ))

Addy let out an involuntary gasp as not only had he blocked her reverse punch, but then went on to slide his hand up her arm. Before he even made a move to throw her to the ground, Hayden knew what he was doing, but was completely unable to stop him. All she could do was stare up at him, her brilliant blue eyes wide with shock. She was used to being thrown around hither and tither. She wasn't exactly the biggest person in the world. However, she was an experienced black belt in several styles, who was able to break Quidditch bludgers with her mind and set people ablaze with only a though.

And all she could do was stare as the man before her threw her to the ground. It was pathetic. His base wasn't even that strong, and she could have easily broken Luke's hold around her. But she couldn't. Her beautiful face was frozen in shock, her eyes were wide, staring straight up into his while her pale pink lips were parted slightly in surprise. Hayden couldn't even blink at her male counterpart. She could only fall.

And fall she did.

While the moment of Luke's counter attack lasted forever, it had to end sometime. She hit the hard stone floor with an echoing thud! Little white stars exploded in front of her eyes, and her breath caught in her throat. While she had drilled how to fall correctly throughout her entire martial arts career, it had all somehow failed her in this one moment. It wasn't fair! In an entirely lady-like moment, she grunted loudly as she had impacted the floor.

Thinking longingly of the soft grass patches outside the could have fought on instead of the cold, hard and not to mention dirty, stone floor, Addy regained some of her thought process. Vowing not to let Luke put her on the ground again, the stubborn Gryffindor girl made the split second decision to bring him down to her level. Her choice was only reenforced by the barbarian's angry and completely unrealistic demands.

She glared at him, her blue eyes flashing dangerously once more as she regained her composure as a fighter. She would not get up. He would come down.

Adopting a gruff, low voice, Addy mocked him. ?Oy, fuck off telling me what to do, lady,? she sneered, venom and sarcasm dripping from her words. Rolling up on one of her knees, she brought her small hands back up to her face, making sure her guard was solid as she was suddenly much closer to Luke despite his hasty steps backwards. The heart inside her ribcage beat ruthlessly inside her chest, pumping blood and adrenaline through her vains. Despite her best efforts, her hands started to shake with the energy.

?You're fucking lucky I didn't hit a desk, asshole,? she decided to point out to him rather graciously. Not that she had really minded. As much as it didn't seem it, she trusted Luke with her life, knowing (in some sick way) that he would never carelessly hurt her. He knew what he was doing as much as she did. She knew he'd take care of her. At least in the sense that he would body slam her in an area clear of dangerous corners.

Without warning, Addy launched herself up and forward off her knee, grabbing his wrist in one hand and his elbow in the other as tight as she could and brought his arm solidly to her chest. Treating the giant oaf as a gymnast would treat a set of bars, Hayden flipped one of her legs up over his head and neck while simultaneously snaking her other under his other arm and crossed her ankles together.*

Arching her back and stretching out her legs, Addy used her weight to slam Luke backwards onto the ground and landed just to the side of him. How would she get out of this, she vaguely wondered as she arched her back, still holding tightly onto his elbow and wrist.

[[*Flying arm bar that ended up on the ground. Because it's late and I don't know if that made sense or not. Let me know if I should change anything.]]

Luke was trained as a boxer, so admittedly, grappling wasn't one of his strongest suits. He could use his significant size advantage to make up for the but otherwise he was just flailing in the dark. Quite exceptionally, but he had to admit, Addy's skill had a much wider breadth than his did. He watched her hit the ground, and as his own adrenaline calmed down he noted that her gaze seemed unfocussed and that she might be seeing stars. He paused briefly to make sure she was still breathing after that. Then her brows knitted. Anger was a good sign.

?I wouldn't let you hit a desk,? he retorted furiously to the girl as he watched her vision finally settle back to normal. She seemed to have his the ground pretty damn hard. But he had control of the situation, it wasn't like he was just tossing her around with no idea what the results would be. In fact he kind of resented that. Just because he didn't have twenty five thousand black belts occupying his wardrobe. He had a different kind of control than she did, one might say less control. He considered it unforgiving control, and left it at that.

She switched from dazed, to on the attack in less than a second, and it was Luke's own damn fault for not paying enough attention to his victim. He hit the floor hard, barely even knowing how he had ended up there. Only that at this angle he could get a great look if she was wearing a skirt. Maybe he had hit the stone floor pretty hard after all. Her grasp on his arm was like a vice, but there was something stupid in his head crowding out his normal strategic planning.

He tried to shake it from himself. The thoughts that were expanding like balloons destroying normal judgement. Besides she had Terence, he articulated at least a portion of the thought for the first time and balked at what he could potentially imply. He had to just, get out of here for a bit, maybe it was a concussion, maybe it was something he and Jack could discuss, thinking about the liquor that he stored in his trunk. At any rate he had to get out of here before his idiot thoughts exploded into something more problematic. He wanted to kiss Hayden Harthrow. No, he didn't that was just his concussion talking the last thing he wanted to do was. Okay, fine she was the fucking hottest thing he had ever seen.

Cheating a little bit, he used his size advantage, and obvious strength advantage to free himself from the hold. Sitting him slowly and shaking out his head a little bit before looking at Addy with what could be described as a strange look in his eye. Slightly flushed and his arse freezing from the icy stone, he tried to avoid looking back at the girl as he gained what little composure he had at the time. Of course when he did look over he saw what could charitably be described as the most beautiful girl he had ever seen sprawled out rather unladylike after he had broken her hold looking at him with piercing blue eyes in a way that made him look back into his lap for a moment.

He couldn't explain the force of nature that drew him to tentatively hover over Addy as she was sprawled out on the cold classroom floor. And he wasn't exactly a stranger to this sort of thing. Apparently it was different having a thing for the girl you beat the shit out of every couple of days. He didn't want to end this friendship. He didn't want Addy to be with some idiot like Terence either though, and in many ways he realized that he had kissed her only about three seconds into the whole process. Yes there he was, apparently making out with the most feared girl in the school while on the floor of the empty classroom after she had managed to knock him stupid. Ah Fuck.

Standing up quickly, flushed a little bit, but his mouth in a straight unreadable line he muttered something that may have been sorry, before grabbing a towel off one one the desks that he had pushed to the side of the room, and despite not having sweat very much he buried his face in it. Emerging a few seconds later with a smug smile returned he added ?You should probably work on your blocking a bit more.?

The look he was giving her was not anything she had ever seen on a man she had just thrown to the ground. Usually, their looks were of anger, frustration, shame and down right embarrassment. But those were the last looks on Luke's face. Dare she even think of it? Dare she even call him it...? Or was it just her imagination that Luke looked rather... Dreamy? The look was, well. It could only be described as unnerving on the normally stoney face of Luke van Zyl. At least it was highly unnerving to Addy. His face all soft, the roughness along his jaw smoothed out while the harshness in his eyes had dissipated. And Hayden had no idea why. Surely, he was just looking at her like that because she had rattled his brains around in his skull. Maybe she should lighten up on her hits from now on.

Hayden stared quietly up at the boy who had slowly crawled over her. She swallowed, unsure of what he was doing. If this was just a ploy to fuck with so he could then pin her down while slamming her head into the stone floor, then it was certainly working. She wasn't sure if liked this side of him. Was this Luke and one of his cruel jokes? She certainly wouldn't put it past the swine before her. Fake her out, do something unexpected just so he could throw her off and be mean. It was definitely in his characteristics to do such a thing, which left Addy apprehensive of what might happen in the next few seconds.

Instinctively, from the years and years of training, (at least, that was what she told herself) she wrapped her arms around his neck as he hovered over her, that strange look still on his face. At least, by this action, she would be prepared to roll him over and place her knee in his cheek if she had to. Yes. This was just a precaution she told herself. There was nothing wrong with being prepared for the worse, but hoping for the best. But what was the best that she was hoping for? The Gryffindor girl didn't even want to think about it, really. Not that she had to. Her entire body felt alive, right from the tips of her toes to the crown of her head. The electricity was even coursing through her hair it seemed. Aware of everything around her, Addy tried not to look too uncomfortable under the male, focusing instead on the fact that she had been under many men before, and never felt like this. This was no different.

But apparently it was.

Not even two seconds after thinking that, Luke's lips were suddenly pressed against hers. First reaction was to shove him off before giving him a swift kick between the legs and stalking out of the room. However, that reaction only last about a millisecond before shock and even a little bit of appeal set into the girl's head. Everything around her seemed to melt away like in a chocolate world around her. It never even occurred to her that she should not be enjoying this whatsoever. She had a boy. Sort of. Fuck, she didn't even know. As much as she liked Terence, there was something to be said for a man who had the balls to just grab her and kiss her. Terence certainly never did this. He mostly wanted to walk around holding her hand and taking her places, which was nice, don't get Addy wrong. She liked it. But she also liked not being treated as the 'fairer sex'.

Before she could really truly comprehend what had just happened, Luke was standing up and Addy's blue eyes fluttered open, alarmed as she realized she hadn't even known she closed the in the first place. Swallowing, Hayden stared up at him, watching the Gryffindor towel off his face. Soft lips still parted slightly, Addy blinked several times, trying desperately to clear her head. Did that really just happen? Or, by some freak accident, had she imagined all that. Sliding her tongue along her bottom lip, Addy refocused on Luke, her brow creasing into a thoughtful, but sever looking line.

But of course, Luke had to go and say something stupid. Outraged, Hayden shoved herself to her feet before marching over to the lad. Sticking out a finger, the little girl poked him hard in the chest. ?You watch it, sir,? she spat. Or what? Or I'll beat you up after school by the flag pole? ?M-my blocking is j-just fine!? she said, stomping her foot. Good grief was this girl ever flustered and confused by what just happened. She was stuttering, making her look like even more of an idiot. Fuck, how did this boy get to her like that?

?Y-you, you...,? she trailed, trying to slow her brain down enough so she could keep her words in English.

It didn't work.

?!S?lo me dio un beso! ?Est?s loco!? ?Qu? estaba pensando, se?or? 'Oh, creo que voy a darle un ir y ver lo que hace'?? Oh Jesus, Addy could feel tears brimming up behind her eyes, and knew she had to get out of there, and fast. On top of not wanting anyone to see her cry, she also did not need Luke thinking she didn't like being kissed by him. Quite the contrary, she rather enjoyed it. Even so, Addy was panicked, flustered and not entirely sure why Luke had kissed her in the first place, causing the tears to well up.

With her face turning a spectacular red color, Hayden held her breath, desperately tried to keep herself from hyperventilating. Instead she closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath. Okay, she thought, this was no problem. No big deal.

It didn't work.

Opening her eyes, all the panic and fluster returned in full force. Blinking rapidly, she looked up at  him. ?I have to go.? Her tone was crisp and short. To the point. ?See you in class, okay?? Yes, it was better to pretend this had not just happened. ?I'll talk to you later, Luke.? She attempted a smile. It didn't work.

Spinning on her heel, Hayden practically flew to the door, wrenched it open, and ran out of the empty classroom, leaving, what she thought, was probably a very confused or pissed off (or both, she reminded herself) Luke behind her.

Translation ?You just kissed me! Are you crazy!? What were you thinking, sir? 'Oh, I think I'll just give it a go and see what she does'??

Also, way more long winded than I intended. I'm sorry D=