Her lunch today; salad with some crinkled packets of dressing, an apple and some bread with butter. Her lunch today; yogurt with Lunchables. His lunch today, a ham sandwich with a corndog thrown in for good measure. It was that time of the school day; the smells of popcorn and baked good wafted through the air, and the noise was deafening as dozens lined up at the serving counter across the rows of tables where hundreds of students were taking lunch at Amity Park Highschool. The battlefield was set and her enemy had her attention.

Scarcely a table away, Paulina Sanchez leered at her in contempt, before giving her a saccharine smile, broad white teeth clacking, before turning around, carefully curled hair bobbing as she did.

Sam Manson scowled. Her and Paulina were exact opposites even though they had a shared history. Although there was nothing but a bunch of air between herself and Paulina, there might as well been a no-man's land. They had gone to the same middle school together, lived just a block or two away from each other, and at one time had been friends, but times had changed and over the period of years, Paulina had become nothing less than Sam's sworn adversary.

The biggest problem was a huge personality clash; Sam was the school's hipster by choice, resident Goth and most outspoken progressive on everything, especially when it came to things that she had a strong opinion on. It was natural she supposed; she had been brought up by the book by her strict parents while at the same time developing a highly intellectual mind. Ironically, she had been also been brought up religiously, a strong Christian education at Sunday classes in an increasingly secular world, while at the same time having been reared in a series of both charter and public schools from 8 to 14 that had instilled a degree of skepticism to her young mind. This all had mixed to create who she was today, that being that Sam Manson had become a highly rebellious, strongly independent and self-determined young teenager who was 16 years old She was passionate for everything on the fringe of what was considered socially acceptable; being vegetarian, firmly environmentally minded, an enthusiastic embracer of Gothic culture and a determined leader in whatever she did, especially if it came to her interests.

Paulina was neither the most popular girl in school, nor the most shallow. Actually she was quite cunning. She was smart, although not when it came to school, but rather in matters of social popularity, and her stellar appearances assured that she was able to float quite easy between teasing the nerds of the school and then back to talking sports with the jocks. Beneath her smiles, she was ruthlessly ambitious and a rival to Sam's own desires to break apart the social hierarchy that manifested itself from the hallways to the senate of student council. She had also taken a disliking to Sam, probably because of Sam's insults back in freshmen year. Sam had pleaded with Paulina then to 'not give into the shallowness of being a teenage drama queen' before insulting Paulina to tears. Sam regretted her stinging words from back then, but Paulina had never lived it down and went out of her way to bring both emotional and academic tension between the two of then.

A simple glare from Paulina directed at Sam was more than glare. It was a message that said 'I'm going to argue with you today'.

"Of all the tables for Paulina to sit at today, why over here?" Emily Chern said plainly, although her expression was more of confusion than derision. Sam almost resented that; Paulina was spiteful and seemed apt to only understand hostility. Any sort of sympathy or naivety from anyone unwary to her tricks was equivalent to giving into Paulina's charms and that was the last thing anyone needed. But then again, Emily wasn't the brightest, she was a great artist but when it came to emotional intelligence she sometimes missed fairly obvious clues. Ashely McFearson shook her head and gave Sam a sympathetic look. Ashely was quite fat and cursed with thick glasses, but empathetic and brilliant in all things, especially when it came to how people thought. Ashely hadn't been as thick-witted as Emily to ignore the fact that their table, the one where Sam usually sat at, was in the far corner of the cafeteria, far away from the exits and at a corner of the room where the lighting was poor (Sam and her friends liked it for the ambiance of being somewhat secluded and conducive to quiet, pensive conversation) and typically, Paulina and the A-list would sit on the far opposite end of the room, Paulina and company had moved the table directly adjacent to theirs, an obvious step towards something devious.

Sam's other friend, Ashely with her identical twin Jessica, merely shrugged. They were the president and vice-president of the school's anime club, were partially Asian themselves, and completely indifferent to the dramas of high school, they simply were, well, there and stuck with Sam for reasons of comradeship rather than genuine appreciation.

Sam felt anger bubbling up through her mind. She knew that Paulina was about to attempt to humiliate her. This time Paulina was mad at her for publishing an article in the newspaper condemning Paulina's late night parties. Taylor, the lead coordinator for the school newspaper, beautiful but quiet and rather shy, shot Sam an apologetic look before return her attention back to her food.

One of Sam's hands balled up into fists.

Sam, common, this is childish. There is a perfectly logical reason as to why Paulina is a...well, a jerk and there's a perfectly logical response; apathy.

But then again? Is not the greatest crime to allow evil to happen? Maybe I'm over dramatising it. Yes, I think I am.

But when Paulina turned around again with that sparkly Algebra binder of hers, Sam thought otherwise.

Oh, this is sooooo time for a disaster with over dramatic consequences. Me and the shallow one, going head to head.

The rest of her table turned away. Emily Churn, Jessica, Sarah, Ashely and Taylor were eyes off-duty, pretending not to notice the coming storm. Sam, not daring to break eye contact with Paulina, wore a fierce expression as the other girl stood up and sashayed across the aisle to the head of their table.

"Hey classmates" she slid into the empty seat next to Sam. "Sam, I heard that you figured out that math problem last night"

Figures. She can't afford another failed math class. "Yes, didn't you?"

"Uh, well, like no but since none of my math group figured it out, do suppose you could help me?" her bubbly voice was especially obnoxious today.

"Paulina, what is this about" Sam blurted at the girl. The rest of the girls at the table remained silent. Paulina gave a dead-pan stare at Sam. It was one of those tense moments in which time seemed to slow down as Sam's mind went into high gear.

Noise, hundreds of voices, mixed in with laughter and yells, from guys and girls across the low ceiling cafeteria. In the background she could vaguely hear the sound of the clattering in the kitchen and the hum of the ever busy vending machines that she could see through the throng of students in the corner of her eye. No windows, nothing that could allow her to even think about anything else than the predicament before her. Paulina Sanchez. Tall, thin, with wide hips and a heart shaped face that was coated with a luxurious (excessive) coat of makeup. Brown hair that was naturally wavy but meticulously curled today. A PINK shirt with tight, reflective leggings.

"Well, this is about doing well in school. Are you going to help me or not Sam?"

Her stomach churned. But it was the eyes of the entire A-list table, the quiet glances of her own table, and the looks being cast by people across the cafeteria that prompted her curt, but firm response. This was a public showdown and there was no way that she would allow her enmity with Paulina to blaze out of control.

"Alright, what can I show you?"

Paulina produced the math worksheet. Mr. Keyent was the hardest teacher in the school, and Paulina hadn't even tried. Paulina just smirked.

"Everything. By the way, I read your paper for English class."

Sam's glared as she reached down to her spider backpack and extracted a calculator and a pencil. She wasn't even going to bother explaining this math problem to Paulina, she would just do it on the sheet for her. What paper had she recently written? Never mind, just focus. (x+50)y/6.5 =16 to the 4th power...

"You know, Sam, I think it ironic that you wrote about tolerance and your 'philosophy' of being understanding for everyone. Including me. I noticed you referenced my name several times as an example. Mrs. Lawerence even said good things about that. Like, that's really ironic."

Shit. Sam grew tight-lipped. Paulina had been reading through those papers? Those were suppose to be personal opinion papers.

"listen Paulina, I was tired, it was late, and I used you as an example"

"bad example. Maybe I should read you a quote..."

Take Log base 16 of the right side of the equation. Solve for y first and the substitute equation two into...grrr Paualina is starting to push all the right buttons to make me mad.

"Dear Reader. I Sam Manson, believe that every person on this earth is understandable. Now such a statement

may seem rather foolish, but here is my argument."

When a person is born, and then grow up, they are not made to be who they are, only raised that way. Take a

Russian out of Russian and raise him in Brazil, and he will speak and act like a Brazillian. Take a baby girl from

England and send her to France, and she will grow up speaking French and will be instilled with French culture.

But it runs deeper than that. I believe that every person on this planet acts according to emotional needs and

what they think is best, and if a person understands that, then there is really no need for discrimination, or

hatred, or even contempt, but only a need to communicate and negotiate what we all want. Take for example

the tension between politicians. Republicans and Democrats often want the same thing but with relatively

minor differences. This country might save millions of dollars in campaign money if they would sometimes just

sit down and compromise on some key issues. It shows how distrust and lack of understanding builds disunity

and dysfunction, which leads to conflict.

But these observations are not only true for large, far off subjects. Right here in school, we can have

differences that might be resolved by just talking it out. Only with the most stubborn like Paulina Sanchez, my

friend with whom I had a fight years ago and we haven't really conversed ever since, have I managed to

struggle to find common ground"

Alright almost done with this. Oh jeez there's a graphing section. God I hate this!

"So Sam...you wrote this to Mrs. Lawerence, and what the Hell do you think she is going to think of me. Why do you believe, Sam, that this self-righteous opinion of yours actually means anything? What about that slanderous article in the school
newspaper you wrote. Tell me about that. Was that really understanding of my position huh? So much for understanding and being wise when it comes to other people."

"Done!" Sam shouted, shoving the math problem back towards Paulina. A messy line graph was scrawled on the bottom.

"Well I'm not" Pualina said, evenly, but with a bite to her voice that was venomous. She seized Sam by the arms and pulled the furious girl to her feet.

"I'm not done because today, Sam, you and I are going to come to an understanding together." Paulina fell silent.

Sam, her purple eyes alive with fury, stared back incredulously. "What?"

"You wrote that paper, you should live up to it"

"Paulina, maybe I should ask you why you were digging through my stuff!?"

"Sam, maybe I should ask you why are we arguing. For years, the entire school knows that the two of us practically hate each other, isn't that right?" Paulina had turned to address both the A-list group and her own table of friends. More people were starting to stare. Paulina attracted attention wherever she went, and today was no exception. Several guys across the cafeteria had taken notice of their little discussion and were paying apt attention. The cheerleading girls were noticing too. Sam grew pale as she understood Paulina's plan. This was public humiliation of the worst sort, but the worst was yet to come.

"So Sam" Paulina said, looking down at her well manicured nails "I'm going to make a bet with you"

"Why?" Sam said, trying to hide her irritation.

"Because Sam, I'm just trying to get you to live out what you believe"

"Why!? How"

"It's only fair. Come on Sam, if you do this, I'll do anything you want. Really."

Paulina was smirking widely. She commanded respect throughout the school for her beauty and popularity and was using it to wield a sort of power over her, the sort that Sam didn't like. Sam's ambitions; the Goth Club, the Society of Friends for humane animal treatment, student council and Sam's plans to repeal school rules on grading and the lunch menu, even her reputation with the teachers...could be ruined by Paulina's antics. She was playing Paulina's game right now, and she had to win, even at the cost of her pride.

Sam thought for a minute. "Fine, Paulina, its a deal, if I do what you ask me to, then you have to bring as many friends as you can to a meeting of the Goth Club, just once." Sam was the one smirking now, it was something Paulina was loathe to do. Maybe this would help out after all. The only problem was that Paulina didn't seemed phased whatsoever, in fact, she seemed satisfied.

"Alright Sam. Fair enough. I'll bring the entire A-list and the cheerleading team to a meeting of the Goth club just once, in return for you getting together with Danny Fenton for 2 weeks."

Sam's eyes grew wide. She shot a glance over the A-list table. Dash Baxter, school quarterback and Paulina's girlfriend, admired by both freshmen and senior girls, was grinning knowingly. Kwan Ong, a hulking linebacker with Japanese roots, rather dull but probably the only kind one in that group, had his perpetual little smile, oblivious to the battle of wits raging on scarcely 10 feet away. Starr Edwards seemed to be convinced that Paulina was actually making good on a long standing dispute that was famous throughout the school. Tiffany Wagner bit her lip and...

With the exception of Dash, they were clueless. So was everyone else. They were falling for Paulina's little trick and if Sam rejected her, Sam knew that her credibility would suffer.

"So Sam, if you are going to write about understanding people instead of just having judgments on them, I dare you to help out the school freak get a date, at least for once in his sorry life"

"Fenton?"

"Oh yes, prove to me and the rest of the school that you can find "understanding" (Paulina air quoted) even with the biggest loser here at the school. So is it a deal?"

Word got around fast. Tucker Foley wiped his glasses down, scarcely able to believe what was going on. His cellphone was busily updating with a persistent stream of messages from Facebook and Instagram; the proverbial cat was now out of the bag.

It was 5th period, between classes, the hallway thronging with students. Seniors and freshmen, Juniors and Sophomores, girls and boys of all kinds and types, a microcosm of the city of Amity Park itself. Black, White, Asian and Arabic, Hispanic and Indian, popular and unpopular, good looking or not, fat and thin, muscular or skinny, some talking loudly and others looking stressed out. Some carried instruments, most carried backpacks, all were being processed by the American school system, including himself.

And of course, there were dozens of cellphones in plain sight. The marvel of the 21st century and the invisible network of the social structure was hard at work, spreading the news. Sam Manson had been dared to date Danny Fenton.

There was more to it than one might suppose; Sam Manson had a sort of school wide respect, even as a sophomore, for being the school's monarch of all that was anti-mainstream. President of the Goth Club, a eloquent speaker in student council, a energetic participant in the comic book, anime, and chess club; an absolutely brilliant individual that Tucker got along with quite well. For her to get involved in this degree of traditional drama, in a clash with the popular faction of Amity Park Highschool, it was certain that it would grab the attention of even the most indifferent student.

There she came, striding, with a dark look on her face. She was wearing those knee high combat boots again with purple stockings, a plaid skirt and that tight T-shirt with netted sleeves that allowed for a bit of midriff. Purple Lipstick, and those fierce lilac eyes that seemed to be enhanced by the extremely heavy mascara that she had put on today. Thin and pale...she was nothing short of a dark, beautiful goddess for the nerds of the school. Unpopular with the muscle headed jocks and bubbly school girls for that exact reason, but admired every where they weren't while teachers regarded her with a mixture of trepidation and respect.

Paulina came the other way, the complete opposite direction and in the antithesis of Sam altogether. Curvy and extremely thin, often wearing heels and deep at the top of the school's social pyramid, she just gave a wide smile to Sam. Sam didn't even look back.

And surrounded by a crowd of students, moving as a singular, giant mass through the hallway, came Danny Fenton. The school freak. Hunched over and unnaturally pale and thin, short for his age, unkempt and unwashed, known for being suspended or sick more often than being in school, seemingly perpetually tired and always awkward in all situations, the sophomore boy was seemingly oblivious to the taunts and questions being shouted at him. Some of the guys surrounding him were angry that the loser, the creep of girls and the obstinate silent student that barely passed his classes, might get to date Sam Manson. Others were making fun of his situation, and others still just stared, trying to deduce what he was actually thinking. He was reputably cursed. Perhaps his luck was about to change.

Sam Manson set down her backpack and confronted him. Danny Fenton didn't even look up, he just stopped in the middle of the hallway, staring down at the floor, his messy hair flopping down into his eyes. Sam took a deep breath and crossed her arms, preparing to speak.

"This is going to be good" Tucker just grinned as he began to take a video.

AN: Hello readers. This is my first story in a long time, and I hope it should entertain. It is a significant deviation from the cannon series, so just be open minded, I got plenty in store for all of you. Review please! It's been a while since I've written anything and I want to know whether it was good, bad, plain, or ugly.

Sincerely

DBack47