"Have you done the research on stellar structure?"

"Stella? You mean that girl I hooked up with last year?"

I sighed. This was going to be harder than I thought, and I had already thought it would be hard.

"No, I'm talking about our assignment, which we are supposed to be working on for this lesson," I explained calmly, though my calm was as calm as the seconds before a storm – I was going to crack any second. I glanced at his laptop, which was - surprise, surprise - displaying a wallpaper of a sleek red car with a bikini-clad woman leaning on the bonnet promiscuously.

"What assignment?" Damian asked innocently. Oh, wait, Damian wasn't pretending to be innocent. He actually forgot, meaning all my work for the past week was for nothing.

I slapped a palm to my forehead and sent a prayer to Allah to grant me patience in dealing with this boy. "Do you realize that you're in year twelve now, which means you can't slack off in class anymore?" I felt like a teacher at that moment, which gave me an insight as to why teachers were so irritable all the time. Could you blame them, when they had to deal with kids like Damian Brewer every day?

Damian leaned back in his chair, arms bent behind his head as he stared at me with his signature smirk. "Aw, Mariam, did you actually think I was going to do work?"

I scowled. "My expectations aren't that high, De - Damian." I really had to stop calling him Demon. Even if he was one. "But I was hoping you would at least try."

Damian swung back onto all four legs of his chair and rested his elbows on the desk, piercing me with his gaze as he said, "One thing you should know about me, Mariam – I don't try." He smoothed back his quiff, which he had probably spent more than twenty minutes trying to perfect that morning, and winked – winked – at me, adding, "Besides, all this," he gestured to his whole body, "just comes naturally."

I couldn't help it. I snorted with laughter, hardly believing how inflated his ego really was. Did you think I had been exaggerating when I had said he had a big ego? One thing you should know about me was that I didn't exaggerate. Exaggerating was haram, and so was Damian's ego.

"Why are you laughing?" Damian looked confused, as if his words should've had a different effect on me. Little did he know that he didn't affect me, not at all, except when he got all annoying, but other than that, he was as effective as a bottomless bucket.

"You think," I said between laughs, "that you're so –"

"Attractive? Hot? Sexy?" Damian supplied, much to my annoyance. "Baby, I'm all those."

Astaghfurullah. His cockiness was exactly that of Iblis. "I'm sorry, but all that bullshit you're speaking is stinking up the room," I wrinkled my nose in disgust.

"I think that's just you," Damian whispered, waving his hand in front of his nose and imitating my expression. I glared at him.

"We have a project to do," I reminded him, glancing at Mr. Newton, who was approaching us.

"You mean you have a project to do," Damian countered, just as Mr Newton came up behind him. I grinned triumphantly.

"Mr. Brewer, I really hope you didn't say what I think I heard you say," Mr Newton said in his warning tone. Finally, a little authority to help me out! Now he was back to being my favourite teacher.

Damian shot Mr Newton his most charming smile (it wasn't that charming) and said, "I don't think I said what you hoped I didn't say but thought you heard me say."

I blinked once, twice. Nope. Still couldn't process that. Mr Newton looked just as baffled, which was saying something since he taught the most baffling subject in school. "Just do your work, Damian, or there will be trouble!" Mr Newton marched off to the next pair, leaving Damian in stitches.

He recovered enough to say to me, "You hear that, Mariam? Do your work."

"I'm pretty sure he was talking to you, not me."

"Damian, Mariam, same difference," Damian waved it off as if it was unimportant and settled his head on his arms, closing his eyes while I just gaped at him. Was he for real?

"I really hope you didn't imply what I think you just implied," I said a little mockingly.

Damian opened one eye, which was a startling aquamarine, and peered up at me from his seemingly comfortable position on the desk. "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't, who cares? Just do the work."

"I'm not your slave," I snapped. I was Allah's slave, and so far I wasn't doing a very good job of it.

"But you will be," Damian said mysteriously, closing his eyes again. I huffed angrily, turning to my laptop.

"In your dreams."

"Exactly."

Ugh, that disgusting pig! "You know if you don't do your half of the work, you'll make us fail," I chose to ignore his last remark, even if he just scarred me with his words. He was truly living up to his name as Jerkface.

"Correction: if you don't do the work, we'll both fail," Damian thought it wise to threaten me, but I wasn't easily swayed.

"It sounds like we'll fail either way if you don't stop being a lazy pig," I spat.

Damian rose from his napping position, green eyes twinkling. "At least I'm a good-looking lazy pig."

I rolled my eyes. "Get over yourself."

"I can't, but I know you'd like to," Damian said huskily. He leaned in slightly to add, "Get over me, that is."

"Ugh, that's it," I stood up, my chair scraping noisily behind me. Damian stared up at me in mirth. I ignored him and waved my hand in the air to catch Mr Newton's attention.

"Mr Newton? I can't work with this anymore," I said as he came over, frowning slightly. I pointed to Damian as if he were a pile of dung, and even if I called him that he would only say, "at least I'm a good-looking pile of dung."

"Yeah, she can't handle all of this," Damian ran his hands over his shirt, grinning at Mr Newton, who sported the opposite expression.

"Damian, do you want to fail my class, because I can do that. And you know what else I can do?" It had only been a week and already Mr Newton was getting fed up with Damian. The rest of my peers eavesdropped, always interested to see what went down as if it were a drama show starring Damian.

"As far as I can tell, not very much, Mr Newton," Damian was enjoying himself. I had watched him do this to every single teacher for the past five years and each time it was like he was playing a game with them. It was honestly getting old now. And so was Mr Newton.

"Detention, lunch time, my office," Mr Newton spat. "And don't think you can skip it like you did last week, Damian."

The smile was slowly fading from Damian's features, however he had an eyebrow cocked, meaning he wasn't taking it seriously.

"Also, Mr Newton, Damian refuses to do any work," I put in. "Could I swap partners with someone else?"

Mr Newton sighed. "That's not possible at this moment, Mariam. Besides, you're our best student, and someone like Damian needs someone like you to help him. Do you understand what I mean?"

I nodded, glancing down at my hands. "Yes, sir." I understood perfectly. Damian was obviously going to need some academic help, and since my brains outweighed his, it was only reasonable that we work together. However hard it was going to be, Damian needed me to tutor him.

"Good. So you don't mind being Damian's tutor for the rest of the year?" Mr Newton confirmed.

"Oh, come on, I don't need a tutor!" Damian threw his hands up in the air indignantly.

"You do, man!" Aidan called from the other side of the room.

Damian shot him a glare. "Shut up, Aidan."

I nodded again, knowing there was no way out. Once Mr Newton mentioned me being the best student, I knew I couldn't turn down his offers. Compliments were my weakness.

"Okay, fine, I'll help him, even if he is –"

"Hotter than the sun?" Damian thought it appropriate to butt in, twisting my words like I had twisted Zaid's.

"No, I was going to say impossible," I snapped.

Mr Newton chuckled. "Well, this is physics, so we do test the limits of the impossible," he said. I wished I could high-five Mr Newton then. "However, I believe Mariam can achieve the impossible."

"So she's basically a god?" Damian smirked. Astaghfurullah. How could he say that? Oh, yeah, that's right, because he didn't believe in a god.

"No, she's just a very high achieving student who is willing enough to help you this year, Damian," Mr Newton said, beaming at me. I forced a smile, even though I was regretting my decision. Curse me and my altruistic ways!

"I wouldn't say willing," I muttered under my breath.

"Isn't that another way of saying she's a nerd?" Damian laughed.

"Damian, may I ask you why you're doing physics in the first place?" Mr Newton asked briskly, catching us both by surprise.

Damian frowned. "Well, I thought we were going to learn about physical stuff."

"Well, that's exactly what we're doing, Damian," Mr Newton said.

"No, not this physical stuff, the other physical stuff," Damian waggled his eyebrows slyly at Mr Newton, causing him to turn a bright shade of red.

"Do you want another detention, Damian?" Mr Newton asked threateningly.

Damian shrugged. "Not really, but I have a feeling you're going to give me one anyway."

"For once, you are right, Mr Brewer," Mr Newton replied. "But this detention will be a little different to what you're used to."

"Why?"

Mr Newton turned to me and smiled. "Because Mariam is going to be there too. And you're both going to work on your project today afterschool."

"But -"

"No buts, Mariam," Mr Newton said sternly just as the bell rang. Wow, that was a short period. And a complete waste of time, too.

"I guess you'll be seeing our butts afterschool," Damian grumbled, grabbing his books.

"You bet I will," Mr Newton replied cheerfully, handing us both detention slips. I glanced down at his scribbly writing. The detention was from three to three forty five, meaning I would be home later than usual, and I would have to take the bus home. Great.

"You hear that, Mariam? He's going to see our butts," Damian sniggered, striding past me and exiting the door. I shook my head as I followed him, scrunching up the detention slip in my palm. I couldn't believe I got my first detention, and it was all because of Damian. Even if it wasn't a punishment, it was still going to taint my flawless record here.

Ya Allah, whatever you're planning, it better be good.

Well, of course it'd be good, but right at this moment, I couldn't see it.

***

"Sorry, Zeinab, you gotta go without me today," I told her at her locker, which was on my way from Mathematical Methods, the second hardest math subject in VCE. I shared this class with Theo. Yes, I was talking about my friend Theo, not some other random Theo. He was actually really good at maths. That and sport were his two strengths.

"What? Why?" Zeinab was busy packing her bag with folders and books for homework. Even at Year 10 they were giving her a ton of homework.

"Because I have to go do something. I'll be home before four thirty In Sha Allah," I told her.

Zeinab frowned. "Okay, so does that mean you'll be taking the bus home?"

I nodded. "It looks that way. Anyway, I'll see you tonight, okay? Go with Theo, he'll be waiting at the gates for you."

I could always count on Theo to look after my little sister. They got along very well, sharing a passion for singing loudly in the car and socializing. My sister was very social, she had a wide range of friends, and she could even be considered "popular" if she wore short skirts and dated boys. Yes, that was what popular meant in our school. Minimal clothing and hook-ups.

"See you, Mims!" Zeinab called as I mingled with the corridor traffic. I cringed as her friends began calling after me with that same nickname that I despised so much, but only when anyone other than my family and friends called me it.

Damian was leaning against my locker when I arrived, chatting with his mates. He had a lot of them, and they were all talking about some chick they banged. I mentally groaned. Was that really all boys talked about nowadays? It was disgraceful.

I cleared my throat loudly to get their attention, but when Damian spotted me he just continued on talking to his mates, completely disregarding me, which was just plain disrespectful.

"Sorry to break up what sounds like a very important conversation, but I gotta get to my locker," I shoved past them, and the boys quickly dispersed, muttering their apologies. All except Damian.

"Ready for our detention date?" Damian had his foot against the locker which was his, and his bag was slung over his shoulder casually as he raked his hands through his quiff, which was slightly dishevelled now.

"I would be if you could get off my locker," I snapped. To my surprise he obeyed wordlessly, and I unlocked my locker, hauling out my bag with a grunt. It was heavy today, since I had to bring my chemistry and math methods textbooks home.

I groaned as I slung the straps over my shoulders, slamming my door and locking it. I turned to find Damian had already started walking, however he halted in his tracks, twisting back and calling, "Aren't you coming?"

I swear, it was almost as if he was excited for this detention. I hurried up to him, feeling incredibly short beside his tall stature as we strolled through the halls towards Mr Newton's office. I couldn't believe we had to be held back after school, it was ridiculous. I would've rather he had kept us in at lunch, even if I had to pray Zuhr later.

Mr Newton greeted us with a wry smile. "Ah, you came. Take a seat here," he gestured to the desk beside him, which was cluttered with piles of unmarked exercise books. I recognized it as my chemistry teacher's desk. There were only a couple other teachers in the office with us, and they were all glued to their laptop screens.

"You're late, you know," Mr Newton added as he picked up the exercise books from the desk and set them on the floor, giving us enough room to place our laptops.

"Sorry," I mumbled as I started my laptop. Beside me Damian did the same, tapping the keyboard just as he had last week. I tried to ignore it as I typed my password, getting it right the first time, and opening the document with all my research on it.

"The project is due at the end of next week," Mr Newton informed us.

"Cool," Damian remarked.

"Cool?" I echoed.

Damian smirked at me. "Yeah, as in of or being at a fairly low temperature."

I was speechless. Had Damian Brewer actually said something intelligent? "You certainly paid attention in thermodynamics, Mr Brewer," Mr Newton commented.

Damian winked at him. "It was my favourite, Mr Newton. But not as fascinating as the collapse of dense regions within molecular clouds in interstellar regions," he replied.

Mr Newton raised his eyebrows. "It seems as if you no longer require a tutor, Damian, if you know that much."

Damian laughed, pointing to his screen. "I was just reading off Wikipedia."

I rolled my eyes, glancing at his screen, however, it wasn't on Wikipedia. It was on a blank word document, so I stared at Damian in disbelief. Had he actually fabricated those words using his own little mind?

"Don't look so surprised, Virgin Mary," Damian caught me off guard.

I closed my mouth, which had been hanging open in shock, and rearranged my features to indifference. "Get back to work, Demon."

Damian didn't even react to the name, he just turned to his laptop and went back to his research, as did I, and as soon as those forty minutes were finished, we had found enough information to move onto phase two of the research project – the presentation.

"PowerPoint."

"Prezi."

"PowerPoint."

"Prezi."

"Power –"

"Prez –"

"Prezi."

"PowerPoint - Wait, what?" I groaned, realizing what Damian had just done. Reverse psychology always worked, no matter what.

Damian grinned. "I knew you'd agree eventually."

"I didn't agree to anything," I disputed.

"I'm pretty sure you did," Damian said cockily as we sat on the bench of the bus shelter. We were the only two left, waiting for the bus which would be coming in – groan – eight minutes. An additional eight minutes I didn't ask for after spending forty minutes straight in detention with him. Even if it did prove to be a productive forty minutes.

"Wow," I drawled sardonically. Did this guy really think he could get his way just by saying so?

"Yeah, my persuasion skills are pretty wow," Damian said, brushing a hand off his shoulder. I rolled my eyes.

"Could you get any more annoying?"

Damian pretended to think about this for a second before replying, "Yeah, probably." He paused. "So we're doing a powerpoint, right?"

"No, Prezi," I stated firmly.

Damian nodded. "Okay, then. Prezi it is." I was momentarily stunned as the bus rolled up to the curb. Did he just agree with me?

To further my surprise, Damian waited for me to step onto the bus before getting on himself, which was another act that was foreign to him. It was the act of a gentleman, and Damian was as gentle as a cactus.

"Why are you suddenly agreeing with me?" I asked him over my shoulder as I found a seat. Damian paused beside my seat as I slid in, and he looked like he was going to sit there but probably changed his mind. Before he could walk past to another seat, he replied, "That's what I'd like to know."

Huh? I stared at him in befuddlement as he plopped into a neighbouring seat, setting his bag on his lap and mussing up his hair once again. That boy was as confusing as tides, and that was some pretty confusing stuff.

_____________