She hated being left alone. She hid by herself in corners, not having to work hard to be missed. Her favorite feeling was being noticed, if only by accident. A rush of joy spread through her every time she brushed up against someone or someone called her name. Of course, that was rare. She was the ghost and they could not see her.

This year her favorite class was chemistry. They had to have lab partners which meant someone had to talk to her. Or at least sit by her. It was still only the first day of school so they hadn't yet gotten their assigned partners. She wrung her hands nervously under the desk. As always, she was in the back and the first one in the class. Even on the first day, she was always quick to get where she needed to go.

People began filing in seconds before the bell, quickly filling up the seats in front of her. The teacher came in and made a show of sighing dramatically at the turnout. She picked up the roll sheet from her desk and began calling out names. About halfway through, the door opened and another student came in and handed his tardy slip to the teacher. She sighed and continued calling names. He looked around and spotted the seat next to her. Of course, he didn't see her. Why would he?

The boy sat down next to her and winced when the teacher called the name "Willem."

He raised his hand, "I go by Will."

The teacher nodded and scribbled the name onto the sheet. Directly after was her name.

"Rhema?"

She slowly raised her hand, "Here."

Will turned in surprise, his face showing he hadn't noticed her there. Her heart suddenly filled with hate for him. She struggled to resist glaring at him, but the effort was lost as he had turned back around. Rhema hated guys. By the time her rage had calmed, their teacher had finished calling role.

"I'll be assigning PERMANENT lab partners this year. You may not switch or complain."

She began assigning partners by reading off two names from the roll. Rhema stiffened as she realized that the order would inevitably place Will and her as lab partners. Of course. The classic novel partnership. Rhema smiled slightly to herself, it wasn't every day she got stuck with somebody she hated within a few minutes. What could she say though? She disliked being ignored and Will had made it blazingly obvious that she was not worthy of being noticed. As the teacher paired them up as expected, Will turned to her.

"I've had a huge crush on you for forever. Fitting we get paired up now," he said with a wry, but self conscious grin.

Rhema looked at him, "I think that was the most unlikely thing you ever could have said to me."

"I'm sorry…" He looked nervous and shrugged slightly. "i've been trying to be braver lately."

Rhema's mind was exploding. To her, it really was the most unlikely thing he could have said.

"This should be an interesting year," she said aloud to herself.

Will was looking at her worriedly. Taking a chance, she smiled at him. His face lit up… This really WOULD be an interesting year.