I took the next two days off school, and began feeling a lot better. My right wrist was still sore, especially where that weird rash was, but for some reason the rest of me was feeling almost back to normal. The drugs wore off quite quickly and I was cringing at the thoughts I'd had.

The sun?! Psychopaths are not like the sun. Psychopaths may look beyond gorgeous and have this compelling force drawing you to them, but psychopaths are psychopaths. End of.

I'd have to ask Estelle what was wrong with her brother, and if it was best that I avoid him.

But things were very hazy. I could only remember a few of the potentially many embarrassing things I did and said while on the drugs. So glad no one was recording.

Back at school that Friday, things were even more strange. Every time I walked into a class, the students would go quiet, staring at me. I really didn't get it, I mean I'd passed out in an empty corridor, it's not like I'd caused a huge scene. Things must be really boring around here if that was the most exciting thing to happen all week.

I hadn't seen anyone I knew all day, so was dreading having to face the cafeteria alone. I pulled out my phone, turning it nervously in my hands as I walked through the doors.

Blood rushed to my cheeks as the cafeteria went quiet, and people's heads turned in my direction. I looked behind me, but there was no one there. Great. Sighing, I walked towards the line.

A group of younger students exchanged panicked glances and pushed each other back slightly, clearing the space. I looked at them, confused.

"Go ahead of us," one boy said, looking at me with big eyes.

The cafeteria was slowly returning to normal volume, but these kids were staring at me like I was some kind of alien.

"Oh, no that's okay. You were there first." I offered them a smile, gesturing back to the line. I searched over their heads, hoping to see Cara and her friends, but I couldn't find them.

The kids didn't move. Okay... I moved towards the front of the line, and they practically exhaled in relief.

"Thank you," I said. Maybe they thought I was contagious or something. I was looking much better, and besides you're only contagious before symptoms are shown.

Shaking my head, I paid for my lunch (checking for nuts this time) and turned towards the crowd of students. Before I could scan the crowd, someone stepped into my line of vision.

"Hello!" A cheerful voice greeted me. A tall guy was standing in front of me, grinning far too wide for someone standing in a school cafeteria.

I raised my eyebrows slightly. "Hi there."

"I'm Thomas, pleasure to meet you," he smiled even wider, holding out his hand. I reached out to shake his hand, and a pain shot up my arm.

"Ow," I muttered, shaking my right arm. He made a guilty face. "Sorry about that. My fault. So you're Danielle."

"That's me..."

We stood there for a moment longer, him grinning at me and me probably looking like some kind of halfwit.

"Okay, well it was nice meeting you," I trailed off, looking for Cara again. Ah! There she was! She caught my eye and waved.

"Mind if I sit with you?" He asked, shoving his hands in his pockets and practically bouncing on his feet.

"Uh sure, are you going to get lunch?" I laughed slightly. This guy was really strange, but he was friendly enough and there was something about him that made me completely comfortable.

He shrugged. "I've already eaten."

I led the way towards Cara's table, where there were the usual suspects.

"Danni! You're looking so much better!" Cara grabbed my arm as I reached the table. I smiled at her. "I feel a lot better."

"Terrible bug going around," Kimi smirked strangely. Okay man, you wouldn't be smirking if you were the one to be sick, I thought.

Sitting down, I suddenly remembered Thomas. "Oh, guys, this is Thomas." I gave the girls a confused look, shrugging in an 'who knows' way.

"Cara, Kimi, Fraser, Henry, Becca," he greeted them all warmly. Everyone's heads shot over to Thomas, looking at him slightly confused. Right, so looks like everyone knew each other. Oops.

"Hey Thomas, what...what are you doing here?" Cara asked.

He grinned, reaching over and taking a carrot off her plate. "I've been sent on a top secret mission to watch Danielle and protect her from harm."

I snorted, giving him a look. "That's creepy."

Everyone at the table laughed, almost a little uneasily. But then again, I didn't really know them all well enough to know what 'easily' looked like.

"Nah, turns out I failed a few courses so need to repeat a few classes to graduate."

Kimi frowned. "But you're-"

"Not great at school. Can't have looks and smarts," he laughed, cutting her off.

Lunch went fast, full of Thomas' bad jokes and loud laughter (most at the expense of his own jokes). He was fun to be around, and made me forget all about the weird stuff that had been happening.

The rest of the afternoon I had double accounting, which I was dreading. I needed something business related to please my mom, but I really hated the subject. I couldn't make anything balance.

And to make things worse, the teacher announced that we were beginning a four week partner project, and we were allowed to choose our own partners. This was the point where I got stuck with some smelly, mean person who was equally as useless as I was and we ended up failing and being kicked down a grade. Or at least just resenting each other and sitting in uncomfortable silence for the next month.

The class was loud with chatter as students jumped seats, sorting out their partners. Sighing, I braced myself to get up and approach someone, but I was bet to it.

Estelle fell gracefully into the seat next to me, smiling.

I instantly winced in embarrassment. But then again, without her I would have been a lot worse off. She practically saved me, and then stayed with me until I was treated and given the all clear. I was a stranger and she was probably the prettiest girl in the whole school, if not the town.

"How are you?" She asked softly.

"Much better. Thank you so much for everything, I don't know what would have happened if-" I gushed.

She shook her head and laughed. "No need to thank me. Anyone would have done the same. I'm glad to see you looking well."

I smiled. Usually sitting with a girl like her I would have been feeling insecure about my appearance, but similar to Thomas, she had me completely at ease.

"So I was thinking, would you like to be partners?"

I gave her a guilty look. "I'm really not great at this subject. I'd hate to drag you down, especially after everything you've done for me."

"Don't be silly. I'm sure we'd work well together."

I couldn't really say no to her, and she was so nice... "Okay, if you're sure."

She grinned. "Fantastic. Are you free tonight to start? You can stay for dinner if you like."

I blinked. Okay, she moved fast. "Uh, yeah. Sure!"

Her eyes sparkled and she sat back in her seat, looking content with herself. "Awesome."

We read through the instruction booklet in silence, until I couldn't help myself. Curiosity was killing me.

"Hey Estelle, will, uh, will your brother be there?" I cringed at how awkward I sounded.

A small smirk fluttered across her face, and she looked at me. "Probably, why?"

I gulped, feeling self conscious all of a sudden. Her brother was beyond beautiful, from what I remembered from my drug induced haze, and I'm sure most girls were after him. I didn't want her to think I was like that.

"Uh, no particular reason."

She gave me a knowing look for another second, and returned to the sheet.

I waited a few moments. "It's just, he was kind of like, acting psychotic in the parking lot on Monday. No offence."

She frowned slightly. "Ah. Yeah, he's not usually like that. He just got some bad news and it got him really, um, taken aback. He's really a great guy."

I nodded slowly. "Okay, so no anger issues. Good to know," I joked, trying to act like I wasn't really interested.

I couldn't figure out why I was having such a hard time acting.