Sam liked the new girl the moment she stepped through the classroom door. She imagined being the new kid and late would be embarrassing, but the new girl looked completely at ease as she slapped her tardy pass onto Mr. Lancer's desk and turned to walk to the only empty seats near Sam.

"Excuse me miss," Lancer paused to read the girl's name, then frowned, "This must be a joke."

"Nope," the new girl called over her shoulder. "My last name's Rebel and I'd appreciate it if you didn't insult me on my first day of school." She threw her bag on top of the desk one space away from Sam before spinning to face the class. "Besides, Rebel suits me perfectly don't ya think?"

Sam silently agreed. The new girl wore a pair of red skinny jeans with chains on the pockets, white combat boots, and a black top with white lettering that read, 'A new kid. Quick, everyone Stare!' She was tan with bright orange hair that curled wildly to her hips. As Sam stared, she realized the girl had large dark purple irises that looked a little murky; she also noticed she'd been caught staring. Sam's face burned red, but she scowled and turned away quickly.

"Well, tell the class about yourself Miss… Rebel," Lancer scowled and the red head grinned. "My name's Vic. I think this town needs to do something about their advertised bad diet and I'm going to be the best thing to happen to this school within the next month." She crashed into her chair and propped her boots up onto her bag. Sam had never seen Lancer angry enough for the vein on his neck to actually pulse.

"Young lady! You just earned two days detention! One for being late and the other-"

Vic was suddenly on her feet. She puffed out her chest and shouted "For your obvious disrespect and lack of home training!" with a decent impression of Lancer. She smiled and said in her own voice "He's also pretty jealous of my fashion sense."

The class erupted with laughter and Vic bowed. Sam noticed Lancer right as he reached a stage of purple that only her best friend, Danny, could possibly match.

"ONE WEEKS DETENTION!"

The class went silent.

Vic slowly rose from her bow, a cocky smile on her face. "If you say so Mr. Lancer," her sentence seemed to chill the classroom and for a few minutes, Vic was absolutely still.

She lowered herself to her chair and sat with perfect posture, keeping eye contact with Lancer the entire time. One by one, the students turned and class began again. For ten minutes, the teens would turn to see what Vic was doing. Nothing had changed. Literally. Vic didn't move, she didn't blink, she only watched with those large purple eyes that Sam was sure were glowing.

Suddenly, the spell was broken. Vic relaxed, then dug into her pocket, pulled out a small spiral notepad, and began to scribble on it. Sam turned away then to glance at Lancer. He was completely calm as if he hadn't been completely humiliated by a seventeen year old girl.

"Psst," Vic hissed to get Sam to turn and see that she'd placed her notepad onto the chair between them. Lancer's back was turned as he scribbled notes onto the board. The class was reading Hamlet and Lance was reviewing for the test after lunch.

Sam grabbed the notepad.

'Hey, what's your name?'

She scribbled her reply and after checking on Lancer, placing the notepad gently back on the seat.

"My names Samantha, but I go by Sam. You take your last name seriously don't you?"

Vic laughed out loud and when everyone turned she blinked innocently until they turned away again.

"Yea I do! What's life without making a teacher's neck vein explode onto the nerds in the front seat?"

Sam giggled into her hand. "I say go for it. We don't get enough excitement in this class."

"Don't worry, babe. I'm more excitement then you know what to do with."

Normally, Sam would reply with a comment about how little Vic knew, but instead her face burned red again. She shot a look Vic's way but the red head was facing the board with a smug smile on her lips.

"You're in asshole."

"That's not a nice thing to say, Samantha."

"I prefer Sam."

"I prefer Samantha. Wanna eat lunch together?"

The bell rang as soon as Sam read the question. Vic stood and slung her bag over her shoulder =. "Ready when you are, Samantha."

Sam frowned but didn't correct the red head. On their way out the door, Lancer called for Vic to stay behind and shut the door.

"I'll wait for you outside," Sam pulled the door shut then crossed the hall to retrieve her lunchbox from her locker. When she closed it, Sam spotted her best friend's coming down the hall. The boys pushed their way through the crowd and approached Sam with smiles on their faces.

"What are you two spazes smiling about?"

"Today's sloppy joe day and Danny promised me an awesome addition to my lunch."

Sam turned a suspicious eye on Danny who tilt his head to one side and smiled. Before she could ask what he was up to, Lancer's door opened and Vic stepped out.

"Big trouble?" Sam asked.

"Nah," Vic waved off Sam's concerned tone. "just a speech and a pass on my offense."

Sam gapped. "Lancer never gives a 'pass'!"

Vic shrugged. He did for me.

"And who are you?" Danny glared and Vic but the question was directed to Sam. Vic smiled a not-so-friendly smile. "My names Vic. You must be the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man."

"What?!"

"Nothing, what's for lunch?"

"Sloppy joes." Tucker huffed as he began to shove his friends down the hall way. "And now we're the last to get to the cafeteria! If we lose our table I'm not going to be happy!"

"I'll go save your stupid table," Sam rolled her eyes and slipped easily out of Tucker's grasp. "I brought my lunch as always." She held up her Gothapalooza lunchbox for Vic to see.

"Nice. I'll go with you. Sloppy jo's aren't my thing."

"Who said you're sitting with us?" Danny grumbled.

"I did." The girls said together. Sam said it angrily but Vic smiled.

The group parted and the girls head for the courtyard. "What's so special about this table?"

Sam pointed to the grassy area to the right side of the table. "After their done eating the cheerleaders like to practice over there. Tucker picked this table when we were freshman and vowed to sit here until he graduates. With only two years left. I'd be mad if we missed a day and I had to listen to all of that cheering for nothing."

"Understandable." They settled onto the same side of the picnic table, Vic sat sideways so she was facing Sam. "So what are you doing after school?"

"Sam paused. She obviously couldn't tell Vic she was going on ghost patrol with the boys so Sam blurted, "Nothing, why?"

Vic grinned and leaned to snatch a grape out of Sam's lunchbox. "I wanted to go for lone stroll today but now I want you to keep me company and make it a tour."

"Sure?"

Danny and Tucker came into view then. As soon as they were seated, Tucker asked what Danny was going to give him. The raven haired boy grabbed his barbequed sandwich and squeezed the excess meat out. The he slammed the messy food onto Tucker's head. The boy cried out and snatched his hat off his head. "What was that for?!" He screamed as he shook pieces of pulled off his hat.

"Yea, Danny." Sam said disapprovingly. "That was really mean."

"Oh, he should have seen it coming! I don't like sloppy jos and I told him head get a surprise after he told me about his extra beanie!"

Tucker stood and stalked off into the school to retrieve his hat from his locker. "You're such an asshole Danny."

"Aw, come on Samantha; don't be too hard on your boyfriend." Vic chuckled. "No need to cry over prank meat."

"He's not my boyfriend!"

"I'm not her boyfriend!"

Vic's smirk came back and she gazed into Sam's eyes. "Good," she turned to Danny. "I'd think less of you if you made Samantha stoop down and settle for you." She popped the grape she'd been rolling between her fingers into her mouth. The two held eye contact and as she looked between them, Sam had a feeling that Vic was going to stir up trouble everywhere.