Kip warned him to be careful.

But Troy still hadn't told him about the mysterious crow he'd seen. He was convinced the dark bird was following him.

As Troy walked down the school hallway, he caught a glimpse of the girl with strawberry blonde hair.

I've got to talk with her, Troy thought, before I lose her again. He tried to walk in the blonde girl's direction, but Kip blocked him.

"Where ya goin', man? We've got to get to class," Kip said.

Troy followed Kip reluctantly up the stairs to a second floor classroom.

Kip and Troy dropped into seats in the front row.

"Hey Coach, you got the lineup all set for the new season?" Kip asked.

Their teacher looked up and grinned.

"Kip Everett, how ya doin?" Bob Studman clasped Kip's hand and gave him a one-armed hug.

"Never better, Coach. Been training with the boys all week so we hit the ground running on game day," Kip said.

Studman became serious.

"You mean at our first practice, boy," Studman said grinning. The man turned his attention to Troy. "Who's your friend?"

Kip grabbed Troy's arm and pulled him over.

"This is Troy, Coach. He's new at Mavericks. Troy plays soccer so we'll need to work him into the lineup since he looks like he can play." Kip winked at Troy and then slapped hands with the other guys at the desks behind him.

Troy stood looking at Studman. Soft green eyes glittered back at him.

"I'm Troy Knightly," Troy said shaking Studman's hand.

Troy saw several students stop talking and stare at him. When Troy met the group's gaze, he noticed their eyes were all the same shocking blue.

Studman picked up a small trophy off his desk. It was shaped like a soccer ball. "Nice to meet you, Troy. Soccer practice officially starts on Friday, but I want you running the drills with Kip until then so you're ready for our first game in a couple of weeks." He waved the trophy in his hands as he spoke.

"But now," Studman said, putting the trophy back on the desk, "you've got to be ready for your first lesson, so make yourself at home."

Troy pulled the pencil out from behind his ear. "Yes, sir," he said.

He sat down beside Kip who was in a deep conversation with the guy next to him.

Troy took out his notebook and began to write the outline posted on the board. He glanced at the guys who'd been staring at him, but they seemed suddenly engrossed in digging through their backpacks.

***

The bell sounded loudly in Studman's classroom.

"Ok, that's all the time we have for today," the bald man said. "Read the first three chapters and be prepared for a pop quiz later this week."

The class groaned.

"Hey, at least I warned you," Studman said as he wiped the board with an eraser.

Troy shut his textbook and threw it into his backpack.

Kip grabbed his notebook and got up from his chair. "Gotta bounce, my man. Meet me at lunch." Kip strode towards the door, but then stopped and spun around.

"Oh, and take the back table by the windows. That's where the team sits." With that, he hurried from the room.

Troy smiled. The school was the friendliest place he'd been to in a while. He walked out into the hall and took the stairs down to his locker.

His thoughts were broken by a sudden shove from behind. Troy found himself slammed into a row of lockers, his books scattering across the floor.

"Watch where you're going, pretty boy."

From his place on the floor, Troy squinted up in pain at a large fellow with fire engine red hair and blazing blue eyes. Troy groaned. It was Red Adams, the school troublemaker.

"Get his books, Skinner. Let's see if the dude's got any brains so we know whose homework to steal," Red snickered.

Red's dorky sidekick, Skinner Marsblat, laughed like a hyena.

Troy recognized Skinner, too. He was the greasy kid Troy crashed into that morning. Skinner's tiny eyes flicked over Troy as if he were a rat on the ground. He grabbed one of Troy's notebooks in his sticky fingers.

"Ick, math," Skinner said, tossing it back at Troy.

"Knock it off, Red," an appealing voice said. It was the most beautiful voice Troy had ever heard.

The girl looking down at him was the striking strawberry blonde.

Suddenly, a form twice the size of Red hovered over him.

"What the heck, Red, you dumb slob. Get outta here or you'll taste pavement for lunch."

Kip scooped Red up by the collar of his shirt until Red's feet hung in the air.

"Oh man, sorry Kip! I didn't know he was with you. Swear it'll never happen again," Red whimpered pitifully.

Kip glared at him and then put Red down hard on the ground.

Red gave a big "oomph" and hurried off.

"I'm watching you too, Skinner. You losers try anything on Troy and you know what's coming," Kip said.

Skinner gave a scared hiccup and took off after Red.

Troy jumped quickly to his feet, flinging his backpack over his shoulder.

"Well hello, gorgeous," Kip said, smiling at the blonde girl. He pulled her into a side hug. "This here's Troy. He's new to our town. Make him feel at home will ya?" Kip grinned.

The girl turned to Troy and smiled. "Nice to meet you, Troy. We don't get many new faces here at Mavericks, so it's always a surprise when someone does show up."

Troy had gone speechless. She was even more beautiful than he realized, with those same shocking blue eyes.

"You have great eyes," Troy breathed. He turned bright red and stammered, "Sorry I meant I just haven't seen eyes that color before and they're...well great."

She looked at him thoughtfully. "What did you say your last name was?"

Just then, the bell rang for next period.

The girl smiled, brushing her hands nervously across her dark blue skirt. "Guess I'll be seeing you around, Troy."

He gave a slight wave. "Um, yeah, sure. Wait, I didn't catch your name!"

She didn't seem to hear him as she walked away.

"Nameless beauty," Troy thought feeling lightheaded.