3 Chapter Three The New Girl

Xander woke up from a strange dream. He was actually speaking with the snake he had saved the day before. What they spoke about he didn't remember. He did get a sense of femininity from it. He glanced down at the tank after sliding out of bed. It was sleeping from the looks of it. Curled up all cute like. Cute? Xander stood a bit shocked at the thought that came to mind. Rubbing at his face he shook his head. Okay, his sleepy mind was just being weird. He took a deep breath and began his morning routine. He met his parents down stairs for breakfast then headed out for the day.

Today was the day of the exam. He was a bit nervous but he couldn't let that control him. Glancing back at his home one last time he took off. His pace was steady until he heard familiar footsteps that were fast approaching.

"You think you'll win this time?"

Xander smirked. "Well, we can only see, track star Rush!" With that he kicked up his speed. No way he was going to beat him this time!

The two boys ran past their classmates. "Oh, look. They're at it again."

"You think Xander will win this time?" The other kid asked.

"Maybe… he looks extra determined today."

Of course he was going to win this time. He had to. "Dammit!" he cursed as he came a split second behind Rush. "How is it that you can pull ahead. Every. Single. Time?"

Xander leaned on his knees panting a bit as he glanced over at his friend who just happened to be grinning over at him in the same position.

"Because there is just no beating raw talent like mine."

"Tch, show off…" Xander couldn't help but be a little jealous.

"Aw, come on man. You'll beat me some day. I'm sure of it!"

Now he was just rubbing it in. Taking a deep breath he stood up. "Yeah… right." Even with his bummed out feeling the two headed inside the school. Dropping their things off in their lockers that they didn't need the pair headed to their class room. There seemed to be a commotion.

��Hmm?" Xander looked over to a few of their classmates. "What's up?"

"Didn't you hear? We're getting a new transfer student. Strange seeing as we don't ever get someone this late."

"Yeah… that is strange…" Xander glanced over at Rush and he merely just shrugged at him.

There was a clap at the front of the drawing everyone's attention to.

"Everyone take their seats please and listen up." Once everyone took their seats the teacher continued. "As some of you may know, there's a new student that will be joining us. Please make her feel welcome here and help her out when you can." He turned to the doorway motioning for the student to come in. "This is Miss Julia Black. If you'd like to go introduce yourself…"

Julia Black? What a strange name. Everyone turned to watch as the girl came in and bowed to the class. "Thank you. My name is Julia Black. I can't wait to get to know each of you…" Her head lifted up and her eyes scanned the room until they spotted him. They widened for a fraction, her gaze lingering longer than anyone else. It was enough to take Xanders breath from his lungs. Or maybe he had been holding his breath while their eyes met and held. "I hope that we all," her eyes left his then moving about the rest of the class before her head lowered again, "can become great friends."

Rush leaned over to whisper to him, "Did you notice she was staring at you? You think it's love at first sight?"

"What?!" Xander whispered harshly back at him . How could he say such a thing? So her eyes gazed at him longer but so what? I didn't mean anything.

"Ooooh? Is someone blushing at the idea of you two-"

"Get real. I just can't believe the things that come out of your mouth sometimes." Xander shook his head and started to take his books from his bag.

"For now, why don't you take the back empty seat in front of Russell." Xander heard the teacher say to the new girl.

Oh great. He wasn't going to hear the end of it from Rush. All through class he could have sworn that he kept getting glances from the new girl. Normally people wouldn't mind a gorgeous girl like her attention on them, but he didn't like the side glares he swore she gave him. It wasn't like he could ask Rush that either since he sat directly behind her. She would definitely hear them.

Finally lunch came and he quickly put his things away and stood up. "Let's go Rush."

"Hmm?" Rush glanced up at him before nodding. "Okay."

Xander moved to the door before leaving for the cafeteria. He could feel his friend quietly following him. "Okay man. What was that all about?" Rush finally asked him.

"Did the new girl seem kind of… I don't know, weird?"

"Weird?" A feminine voice spoke behind them and they both froze. Slowly the two boys turned to look at the beauty behind them. Of course Rush did his whole arms and leg up in defense.

"Whoa! You can't just walk up behind people like that without announcing yourself!" Rush spoke before lowering his limbs.

Xander sighed pinching the bridge of his nose. Maybe he shouldn't talk since Rush could be weird just the same. However, she didn't respond to Rush at all. All of her attention was fixated on him. He decided to stand his ground. Tilting his head at her in almost a defiance move he raised a brow at her. "I don't believe I was talking to you. It's kind of rude to just jump into other people's conversations."

The two had a stare off before she shrugged. "Well, you were talking about me, weren't you?"

A strangled sound escaped him. Well, he couldn't exactly deny that fact. He was the first to look away. Great, not only was the hot girl talking to him but he was talking trash back at her. His mother would have his hide if she found out how he treated her.

Taking a moment he suddenly grabbed Rush's wrist and took off at a breakneck speed. He knew that Rush would be able to keep up, but he was hoping that he would lose the girl. Once he thought they lost her he slowed down to a stop. "Holy crap man! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"I don't know! I just couldn't help myself!" Xander yelled back at his friend. God! What had he done! He put his hands over his head and lowered himself into a crouch. "Now she probably hates me…"

"Heh… well… I can't blame you. She did give you quite the look." Rush looked off down the hallway rubbing the back of his head.

"So… it wasn't just me…" Xander sighed heavily. "Just great…"

"Cheer up. I'm sure it'll blow over-err…. Whatever it is." Rush tried to cheer him up. "Besides… it's time to eat. Let's go. I'm hungry and I don't want to miss our meal because you're being a dumb ass."

Xander shot his friend a look. "Excuse me?" With his friend laughing the boy took off running. Xander got up and chased after him. "Take that back!"

"Come make me!" Rush said as he continued to run.

Xander silently cursed his friend's nonchalant attitude. How could he be so relaxed? Perhaps it was because he wasn't the one getting the negative attention.

Luckily lunch went by without much fuss, however, when they returned to the classroom some of the girls there were giving them daggers. It only took Xander one look at who might have caused it and she was sitting at her desk a small smirk hiding at the corner of her red lips. Those piercing blue eyes staring at him as if daring him to challenge her. Her midnight hair shined more beautifully than he ever saw a girl's hair shine. What did he do to piss her off so badly? If this kept up it was really going to be a long day. Not even day but year. Somehow he had to make it up to her, but how? Maybe he could talk to her alone after school? No, that wouldn't do, he had track practice afterwards.

Class seemed to go by without much more trouble. He made sure not to look over at her and paid attention to the teachers. When it was over he decided to take a peek over at her. She had been surrounded by some of the girls talking about things to do after school. He and Rush left for practice. Like he cared what she was doing. He could feel her eyes as the two of them left though. It was like she was trying to see into his soul. The feeling kind of creeped him out.

Once they were in the locker room Rush leaned over as they were changing. "So, about what happened yesterday… you still have it?"

Xander was confused at first but then realized he was talking about the snake. "Oh. Yeah… my parents don't know about it yet. I'm sure it's probably only a matter of time. How long do they take to heal, do you think?"

Rush merely shrugged at him. "Dunno man."

Great, that really helped. Xander sighed. Hopefully only a few days. He wasn't sure how long he could keep a deadly snake like that hidden. Especially on days where his mother had off. She liked to go in his room and tidy things, even though he told her a million times that she didn't need to and that his room was fairly clean for being a boys room. Practice ran a little bit longer than usual and all the boys and girls were more than ready to leave.

"So, you think she's going to give you death glares for the rest of the school year?"

"Hmm?" Xander glanced over at Rush. "That was kind of random. Why do you say that..?"

Rush answered by pointing his finger across him. Following his finger he spotted a black hair beauty that had been staring in their direction. She continued to stare for a bit before walking away. "Had she been there the entire practice?" Xander asked aloud, utterly confused with this girl. "What is wither her?" he couldn't help mutter to himself as they entered the locker room to shower and change out of their clothes.

"She's got the mad hots for you. I'm kind of jealous…"

"I seriously hope you are joking, Rush…" Xander wanted to smack his friend right now.

"I don't know… it shows a kind of devotion she has for you." Rush turned on the shower head and let it spray down his body.

"Serious? I don't even know her! Never met her before. I don't understand."

"Girls are complicated creatures… There's no way for us to be able to understand the things that they think. You'll just get a headache if you try." Rush handed Xander some soap.

"Since when did you become so knowledgeable on girls?" Raising a brow suspiciously at his friend he took the offered soap.

"If you forgot, I do have three sisters…"

Well, he did have to give him that. Xander was an only child. He didn't know what it was like to have actual siblings. But Rush's sisters like to tease him like he was part of the family, except the youngest sister. She was just super shy of him. He could remember when she used to follow the two of them like a little duckling when they were younger. Now that she had hit her teens she had changed. It was kind of weird. Nope. They would never understand girls.

The two of them quickly finished and headed home. Lucky for them it was Friday, which meant that after homework was finished he could play as many video games as he wanted. First though he needed to check on his little friend. Which brought him to another thing. A quick stop at a store then he could go home.

After greeting his parents he headed up to his room carefully opening the door to peer inside. A few of the books were knocked off the lid, but it looked closed and the snake was laying down in the tank staring at the door. Why did it bother him that it showed such intelligence? Sure, snakes naturally were intelligent. They were very observant creatures. Perhaps he just wasn't used to being the subject of someone's attention. In this case, a snake.

"Hey there… I got you something little buddy." Stepping into the room he slid the lid open just enough to dump the live mouse he bought into the cage. "I thought you'd be hungry. I'm not sure when the last time you ate anything."

He would need to figure out how to safely get it some water. Easier said than done. No matter, he made sure the lid was on tight, placing some books back on top and then headed to his desk to work on homework. It didn't take long for him to finish before he headed downstairs for a snack and something to drink. He went to go play some games before dinner. The day came and went just like any other day really. Stretching he glanced over at the tank that held the snake. It was just sitting there watching him. The mouse he bought for it was cowering in the corner of the tank. He moved over to it and looked over it. Maybe it was sick? Why else wouldn't it eat? He moved back to his desk to open up his laptop and search for some answers.

Entering the question he read aloud what he found, "Refusing to eat is a signal that your snake is stressed. It should come as no surprise that snakes are routine animals and don't like change so very much. If your snake has just been brought to his new home and is not eating, there are very high chances that your snake is refusing food due to the stress of moving. Hmm..."

He typed in different foods snakes like to eat. "Vipers eat a variety of food depending on the size of the snake. Prey includes small mammals, birds, lizards and eggs, according to Savitzky. When their prey is dead, they swallow it whole. So… mice would fall under the small mammals… so... " Xander sighed. This might be harder than he originally thought it would be. Closing his laptop he headed down stairs to eat dinner as he could hear his mother call up to him. Perhaps being injured and then brought to a new place was just way too much stress for the snake. Perhaps if it still doesn't eat in a couple of days he'll just release it even if it isn't healed fully. He didn't want to be the reason it died. Taking it out of its natural environment could be more than enough to cause it stress.

He went to bed that night after taking care of his nightly cares and checking in on the snake. It hadn't moved much since the last time he saw it. A small frown appeared on his lips. Its red eyes never left him as he moved about the room. Tomorrow he will meet up with Rush and maybe chat with him about it. No one else knew about it.

In the middle of the night he heard something fall to the ground. Still half asleep he peered around his room. He thought he caught a flash of eyes, red glowing eyes staring back at him in the middle of his room. Startled and a bit freaked he hid under his blankets. 'What the hell was that??' He couldn't help but think to himself. A demon? Oh god. His heart in his throat he could feel every beat as if it was playing a fast pace song. 'Go away… go away… go away…" he chanted to himself inside his head as he clutched the blankets closer to him.