Tia Mystica stared out of the car window onto the snow-covered streets beyond, idly fiddling with a lock of her white-blonde hair. "You OK sport?" The driver asked, "Yeah I'm fine Uncle Dan" Tia replied, leaning back against the chair letting out a huge sigh, "Well it sure don't sound like it" Uncle Dan said "listen, if there's anything you're worried about you know you can tell me right?" Tia nodded, a faint smile flickering across her face.

Uncle Dan wasn't really her Uncle, he was her taxi driver, and the only sort of family she'd had in her life since her dad died. Her mum had got so upset that she'd turned to drinking as the only way to drown her sorrows; this made her violent and unpredictable, so much so that Tia had suffered many a cut or bruise and was now permanently afraid of her, hoping that when her mum flew into a fit of rage, she wouldn't be in range.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the taxi came to a halt "here we are kid, time to get out" they had reached school "have a good day!"

"Thanks drive safe!"

"I will, see you at 3!"

"Bye!"

The car door slammed and, with a quick rev of the engine, the taxi was gone, leaving Tia standing on the ice-laden school steps. With another long sigh, she turned and headed through the gates.

"So as you can see, if we multiply X by the sum of the square route of Y…." Mr Pickler's voice droned on and on, Tia's eyelids began to droop and she began to drift off… "Miss Mystica, I'm sure you would like to share what you have learned so far?" Her eyes shot open to find Mr Pickler standing in front of her, his arms folded, one eyebrow raised, "err…I"

"Detention!" Mr Pickler cried "45 minutes during lunch!" He turned back to the board, leaving Tia to hit her head on the table letting out a muffled groan.

Tick…Tock…Tick…Tock, the minutes dragged by, Tia glanced up at the clock for what seemed the hundredth time, it had only been 15 minutes but it felt like an hour, she looked back down at the sheet in front of her and sighed. Suddenly, she heard footsteps outside, followed by the sound of voices, the door opened "…And this is the maths department" Mrs Carting said as she walked in "I'm sure you will find that this part of the school is both educational and fun!"

"It looks awfully nice" replied a lady, who looked like some kind of inspector, with her smart suite and hair tied up in a bun." Don't you agree Rocket?" She turned "Rocket! Come in here at once!" The door slid open slightly and "He" walked in. He had the most amazingly piercing blue eyes; a mop of unruly long brown hair and the sort of smile that makes you go weak at the knees. Tia was smitten, there was no denying it. "Yes mother" he said and his voice sent shivers down Tia's spine.

"What exactly were you doing?" His mother asked "I hope you weren't chatting up any girls"

"No mother"

"Were you trying to run off?"

"No mother"

"Have you been listening to everything that the Principal has told us?"

"Yes mother"

"Good!" As she turned away he glanced at Tia and rolled his eyes, "Parents!" he mouthed "Tell me about it" Tia mouthed back.

"Mystica!" The principal called "Why are you in here?"

"I…I fell asleep in class miss"

"How disappointing, you were quite the model student, what have you got to say for yourself?"

"I am sorry, I just had a rough night that's all, and you know how my mum gets"

"Why didn't you say that before? You are free to go, I will tell Mr Pickler where you have gone, don't worry Tia, I'll get things sorted out!"

"Thank you Miss!" Tia cried excitedly, grabbing her stuff as quickly as she could, "Thank you thank you thank you!"

"Don't mention it dear" the principal replied "enjoy your lunch!"

"I will" she called. As she walked out the door, her shoulder brushed past Rocket's. "Sorry" she mumbled, and made a hasty exit.

For the rest of the day all Tia could think about was Rocket, that smile, those eyes, she shook her head violently, no he'd never fall for a girl like her, she was practically a nobody. She sighed, well, a girl can dream.

The bell rang signalling the end of school, the hallways filled with children chattering and laughing. Amongst the crowd, Tia walked with her head down, all the other girls in her class were having parties or sleepovers, but she was stuck at home with her mum. "I don't think my life could get any worse!" she thought to herself. She was wrong "Well if it isn't Miss Dorko!" A very familiar voice cried.

It was "Boulder" Bill, the toughest kid in school, he had the strength of a brick wall and the brains of one too, but he couldn't half pack a punch. Then Tia swallowed nervously, what could Bill want with her? She hadn't done anything! At least she didn't think she had……She began to walk a little faster, then broke into a run; she needed to get out of there, out of the hallway, out of the playground to the safety of Uncle Dan's taxi.

When she reached the playground it was completely empty, she turned towards the space that Dan's taxi was normally parked, it wasn't there, that was then Tia began to panic, nowhere to run, no where to hide. Suddenly she was grabbed roughly and spun round "Hey pipsqueak" sneered Bill "I've got a bone to pick wiv you"

"What have I done?!"

"Nufing, I just feel like beating someone up!"

"Why me?"

"Cause you're a loser and too scared to tell anyone"

"b-but-"

"Shut-up wimp! Now gimme your lunch money!"

"I don't have any!"

"Lemme put it this way, if you don't gimme you money right now, I'm gonna give you a good fumpin!"

"I already told you I don't-"

"Too late!" Bill cried, grabbing her shirt with one hand, he drew back the other curled into a fist; Tia closed her eyes waiting for the impact- "Hey! You! Stop!" "That voice" Tia thought where have I heard that before? She opened her eyes to see Rocket standing there, glaring at Bill in anger. "I said stop!" he growled. "Mind your own business pest!"

"This is my business"

"What is she your girlfriend or something?"

"No but-"

"Then go away!"

"No! I'm not leaving without her!"

"Fine!" Snarled Bill, letting Tia go "You got lucky this time" he snarled and walked off. Tia turned to Maxwell "Thanks!" she gasped "If you hadn't of come..." she shuddered "Who knows what could've happened!"

"No problem! It's what I do best! By the way my names Rocket"

"Hi I'm Tia; we kind of met in the maths department."

"So that was you, I knew I recognised you from somewhere!" He said glancing around. "Hey you walking home or something?"

"No but my ride isn't here so I guess I am"

"Oh, hey you could come to my place, I'm sure we could call your place from there!"

"Thanks I'd love to!"

"Come on it's this way" He cried grabbing her hand. Tia shivered at his touch "After today" she thought "Life is going to get a lot better!"

When they reached his house, in an expensive-looking black BMW, she was shocked at what she saw; the house was huge, absolutely vast! More like a castle then a house, with turrets and stained glass windows, she half expected a drawbridge to come down!

But it was the inside of the house that took Tia's breath away; massive spiral staircases, fantastically ornate oak-wood doors and a ceiling that seemed to go on forever.

"I think it would be best if you waited in here" Max said, indicating to a room to the left "Remember" he whispered "If anyone asks, tell them you've been sent by the school to help give me an idea of what it's like to be educated in one of the best educational facilities in the country"

"Pardon?"

"Just tell them you're with the school!"

"Oh..."

"I'll be back in a minute."

"Right…Ok"

Tia stepped in to the room and sat herself on one of the many velvet embroidered sofas surrounding the marble fireplace. Gazing around, her eyes rested upon a large grandfather clock standing in the far corner. It was possibly the most expensive looking clock Tia had ever seen, the clock-face looked like it was made of diamonds, and the hands were made of some sort of expensive metal, gold perhaps?

"Wow, I already thought he was rich before but this, this is something else" Tia muttered to herself "With this much money, he must live like a king!" But why would someone this rich send their son to a low class school like mine?" She would have to think about this later, as she could hear footsteps approaching the door, Tia braced herself for the worst but, thankfully, she didn't have to worry, for it was Rocket. "Follow me" he said "We've got a phone in the lounge; you can call your home from there."

"Thanks"

"No problem, come on, this way"

As they walked down the long winding hallway, Tia still couldn't help staring in wonder at the amount of wealth surrounding her. "Here we are" Rocket said, Tia smiled "I can't thank you enough for what you've done for me" She replied "Really I can't" Now it was Rocket's turn to smile "You don't have to keep thanking me you know, I'm just helping you out from the goodness of my heart"

"Yeah right!"

"I'm being honest, I love helping people, it makes me feel….I don't know…It makes me feel good"

"I'll keep that in mind" Tia sniggered "Next time I need a favour"

"It would be my pleasure fair maiden" Rocket said bowing low "Your wish is my command" This sent Tia into fits of giggles "Stop it, that it makes you look really silly."

"Really?" Rocket asked "I think it makes me look cool" Tia rolled her eyes "If you keep distracting me like that I'll never make this call"

"Oops! Sorry" Rocket grinned apologetically.

With a slight smile Tia turned back to the phone, she picked it up and punched in the numbers bib-bob-bib-bob-bib-bob, drrr, drrr, drrr, drrr, "Hello?"

"Hi Uncle Dan!"

"Oh, hi sweetie, where are you? I have been waiting here for ages!"

"Well it's a long story….I'll fill you in on the way back, listen, I'm about a few miles down the road, meet me outside the big house at the end, ok?"

"Sure, I'll be down there as quickly as I can, see you in a bit"

"Ok, see you!"

"Bye!"

"Bye!" Tia put down the phone and turned to Max. "He'll be here in about 10 minutes, is it ok if I wait here for a while?"

"Yeah sure, but I think it would be safer if you waited in the drawing room, hardly anyone goes in there."

"Why are you so nervous about me being seen?"

"Well….my mum's not to keen on visitors, at least ones that haven't called ahead….she is obsessed with formalities and stuff"

"My mum's not keen on visitors either…though not for the same reasons."

"Hmm? Why?"

"I…can't tell you"

"Ok fine, hey, is that a car beeping out front?"

"It must be Uncle Dan, yes it's definitely him."

"Alright then, I'll escort you to the door" Rocket said again, bowing low. Tia raised an eyebrow "Just exactly how many times are you planning to do that?"

"As many times as I like, anyway I don't see what the problem is, you seem to like it very much so." At these words he gave a flirtatious grin and wiggled his eyebrows. This made Tia go bright crimson with embarrassment, turning her head away so he couldn't see her face, she stuttered "W-w-well I w-wouldn't s-s-say that-" Beep-beep! The car horn sounded ever louder than before, Uncle Dan must be getting very agitated by the sound of things. "I really have to go now, thanks again!" Tia called as she ran down the hallway to the huge front door; turning back she shouted "See you at school" Then hurried down the steps to the taxi waiting at the curb. She was just opening the car door when "Hey wait!" Rocket called, Tia glanced back "What?" she asked; Rocket grabbed her hand and shoved a crumpled piece of paper into it. "Take this"

"What is it?"

"Open it on the way home"

"Why not now?"

"I…just…you'll see why"

"Ok, thanks….I think"

"You're welcome"

"Be seeing you soon?"

"Yeah, I'm starting school next Monday"

"Great! See you there!"

"See you, bye!"

"Bye!" Tia called as she got in to the car, slamming the door shut.

"Well, well, well who's that young lad then?" Said Uncle Dan.

"His name's Rocket"

"Quite a well mannered chap, he seems to have quite a soft spot for you." Tia blushed for the second time that day.

"Oh he'd probably never be interested in me; he'd go for the richer, posher types"

"Hmmm I don't know, what's on that piece of paper he gave you?"

"I don't know, I'll just take a look-" She gasped "What, what is it?" Uncle Dan asked. Tia didn't reply however, as she was still in shock, for there on the piece of paper was a telephone number, Rocket's telephone number, he had given her his telephone number! On the bottom corner was written, in small scribbly writing "Call me."

Tia's heart almost skipped a beat, "he likes me, he actually likes me," she thought excitedly, me, Tia Mystica, the school loser!

Rocket stood on the curb waving until the taxi was out of sight "Goodbye Tia" he said. I hope she does call me he thought. She's so kind and understanding. I wonder if she will stay that way when I tell her the truth. With a sigh he turned and walked back inside, looking back for one last time. "I hops she does" he whispered, closing the door.

For the whole of the journey Tia couldn't stop talking and it was driving Uncle Dan up the wall. "Ok!" he called interrupting her in mid-sentence "I know you're excited, but could you please stop talking for just a few minutes!?" Tia grinned "Sorry, I just got a little carried away"

"Hmph, you're telling me" Tia, still grinning, looked out of the window; she hesitated, "Uncle Dan?"

"Yes sweetie?"

"Could you drop me off round the back?"

"Ok, why?"

"I should've been back about an hour ago, mum doesn't usually notice, but if she does, I'm in big trouble"

"All right then, I'll just drop you off down here."

As Tia got out of the taxi she glanced around, no one was in sight. After waving goodbye to Uncle Dan, she crept quietly towards the back of her house; most of which was covered in a thick winding ivy this, in Tia's opinion was probably the only thing that kept the house standing. She searched for a suitable foothold; she found one, carefully hoisting herself up she began to climb, slowly, hand over hand she climbed. She reached her window; good it was still open, gingerly she pulled herself up and over the sill into her room, taking care not to make too much noise as her feet hit the floor. She took a step forward "CREAK!!" She winced, nothing happened so she relaxed. She slung her bag on the floor and flopped down onto the squeaky, broken old mattress that was all that was left of her bed, and fell asleep.