It was just twenty-four hours after I'd been made a prefect and already I could see why Kiki called them animals.

It was almost a miracle to get everyone to finish up their food during breakfast and get out of the cafeteria at precisely the forty minutes allocated for it. This was a new regime, no one would be a minute late if I could help it.

My friends glared at me for my new rule but I just shrugged. Giving more power to a person already obsessed with control was a bad decision but at least I didn't have the pleasure of making it. They would just have to take it up with the powers that be.

After I made sure everyone had left, Sophie found me and handed me this cute bracelet she'd made out of colourful rubber bands that I absolutely adored, and while she gave me looked up with shiny, big eyes and told me how she never doubted me getting a post. She had officially become my favorite person. Daniel who?

It was a fairly uneventful day that quickly turned into night.

I had just finished supervising dinner and was on my way out of the cafeteria when I caught a shadow moving outside the building.

Spooked, I hurried out of the hall and on my way to my hostel. I was almost halfway to freedom when a familiar voice made me freeze.

Turning around I followed the sound toward the source at the back of the cafeteria and my jaw dropped.

Illuminated by the strong lights that bathed the transformer was the unmistakable form of Clinton and Kenny.

So this is the important thing she had to get done.

I pushed my glasses up and crouched farther into the darkness so I wouldn't be seen.

I didn't feel the least bit ashamed as I blatantly watched them talk. Although it looked more like flirting from where I stood.

They weren't saying anything of consequence but Kenny was positively glowing, even in the dark. The only other time I'd seen her like this was when she was gossiping.

I shook my head and with a smile, I decided to leave them be.

When I'm done teasing that girl she'll regret not informing me about her latest beau.

I wondered why on earth I always found Kenny when she didn't want to be found.

Getting back to my room I commenced putting my books into my bag because I had plans to study in the Quad seeing as tests were scheduled for this Thursday.

Strapping my bag on I left my already snoring roommates and headed out.

In the Quad, I drew a coffee table closer to the foot of a couch and turned on a desk lamp.

With only a bar of Twix as company, I started slaving away at practicing algorithms.

I didn't know how long I'd sat there looking at numbers but as I stretched out my left leg which had fallen asleep I heard the door open.

I quickly stuffed the contraband wrapper into my bag.

A figure materialized from the darkness.

"At this point I think you just enjoy lurking at night," Daniel declared before plopping beside me. I almost drowned in the minty wave he produced.

"Daniel! Where the hell have you been and what are you doing here?" I punched him in the arm.

Daniel had been scarce throughout today. I caught a glimpse of his curly hair leaving the cafeteria at breakfast but that was it. I hadn't seen him at all after that. And yes, I was a little worried about him because he was my friend and he was prone to giving in to his poor judgment.

He winced and grabbed his arm. "Ow! You know, there are plenty other ways to say I missed you that don't involve pain."

I was glad that in the semi-darkness he couldn't see my face flush. "I did not miss you. In fact, it was quite a good day without your meddling."

"Well, I missed you, babe." The darkness couldn't diminish the brightness of his dentures and I felt my heart soar.

I rolled my eyes. "You haven't answered my question, mister. Where the hell have you been?"

"Well," he adjusted and tossed the book he was holding unto the table in front of us. "You want the long version or the short one? Cos I can answer that in two words. Father called."

"Yikes. What did he say?"

He turned so he was facing me. "You know, I didn't think he even remembered he had an offspring here."

Somehow I sensed that his father hurt him again and he didn't want to say more about it so I let it slide.

I knew what it felt like to be cagey about a touchy subject and even though he didn't tell me what happened I wanted him to know that he wasn't alone. That I was right here.

I took his hand and twined our fingers.

Before I knew it he'd raised our entwined hands and placed a gentle kiss on my knuckles.

And just like that the raging butterflies were set free, turning my insides to a useless mush.

"Why I'm here? I need my favorite bookworm to translate some big, flowery English to tiny, bite-sized pieces I can understand."

I chuckled. "Is that all I'm good for?"

He shrugged one shoulder. "I can think of other things, but I'm gonna need an incentive," he leaned closer but I pushed him back with a laugh before he could ignite that delicious fire.

He jumped to his feet. "Come on, this place is too dark for me."

"As you can see," I gestured to the pile of books in front of me. "I'm in the middle of studying."

"Oh, but I have something so much more fun than math."

"Really? And what might this thing be?"

"I'd much rather show you, but you have to choose to come with me," he held out his hand. "So what do you say, Mara? Take a leap of faith with your favorite delinquent?"

I couldn't help but feel like this was a very crucial turning point in my established life. I knew that whatever Daniel had planned was definitely going to be risky. So my options were either sit here, do the right thing and not compromise my character or give in to a licentious night with the boy that triggered igneous feelings within me every time he looked at me.

Before I could stop myself I reached up and placed my hand in his.

A happy thrill shot up my arm from the place where our skins touched as he helped me stand up.

"Fine, but know we will not be doing any leaping," I told him.

He chuckled. "You're just so freaking adorable," and then he proceeded to leave a kiss on my hairline.

After I'd made sure to put all my books into my bag, we started off through the dim, soundless halls of the school, hands laced together.

"So where are we going?"

"The library."

I frowned. "The library? Are you serious?"

When he'd proposed leaving I didn't know what I had thought but it certainly was something as harmless as going to the library.

"Hey, I still need those big flowery words translated."

When we reached the library I was about to volunteer to go get the key when he opened the door and beckoned me in.

"How did you . . . Wasn't this place locked?"

"Yeah, but I picked the lock."

"You . . . What?" And then suddenly I wasn't so surprised.

"Where did you think I got this?" he waved the novel he was holding.

I blew out my cheeks. "I know this is fun for you, but you really need to stop breaking and entering. We might be in school but it's still illegal."

Then I walked past his annoying smirk and entered the library. The lights were already on and despite how many times I'd been here during the day, it felt weird to be in here at night.

"I found this interesting box of goodies in the back," Daniel strode past me to the back of the library.

"Well, come on now, don't just stand there," he beckoned when he noticed I didn't move.

Sighing I followed him to the furthest bookshelves where a box of books was all but overturned.

I couldn't help the smile that slid onto my face as Daniel plopped down into the space between the shelves and shook his beautiful curly hair out of his eyes. He was just so adorably messy and it took everything in me to not pick up the scattered books.

Taking off my backpack I dropped in front of the opposite bookshelf trying hard not to think of the dust that would cling to my black joggers from the brown tiles that lined the floor.

"I know I'm going to regret asking but, where on earth did you find this box?" I asked as I removed the hardback that was digging into my butt.

After seeing that it was a Rick Riordan I winced and dropped it into the cardboard box.

"Where do you think?" Daniel jerked his thumb toward the frosted glass door of the storeroom that was shrouded in shadows.

At this point, I gave up chastising him and began rummaging through the box.

"I have no idea why anyone would find the need to lock these up," Daniel said as he thumbed through a paperback with a decidedly risqué photo of a woman on the cover.

"I think it's the eighteen and upward section you pilfered," I chuckled.

The harsh light from the fluorescent above us had nothing on the way my face brightened when among the unrecognizable volumes was a book I not only knew but loved.

"Oh! Look at this," I almost yelled in excitement as I pulled out the book with the cursive lettering on a starry background.

"What is that?" Daniel asked, finally dropping the written porn he was going through.

"This," I began, tapping the cool, smooth cover. "is a poetry book. Why We Could Easily be Celestial by Sendhi Murry. I'm not really a poetry girl but I loved it!"

"That's not awfully stimulating," Daniel scoffed.

"Oh Daniel, I thought you'd be the last person to judge a book by its cover. Or title. This tiny book right here was a lifesaver for a ten-year-old girl."

"You?" There was a tenderness to his voice that created a lump in my throat.

I nodded despite it.

"I remember it like it was yesterday. It was a year after the accident and I was not ok but I could at least go days without the deafening crash ringing in my ears. I was in the lounge of the ballet studio waiting for my dad. My mom was supposed to pick me up but at the last minute she said she was stuck with a case.

"I sat there watching parent after parent pick up their little girls until I was the only one there. The ballet instructor took pity on me and invited me to her office with a packet of Capri-Sun. I remember the sky was this bubblegum pink that looked like cotton candy.

"This book was half open on the desk and since I was bored out of my mind I decided to take a peek at it. Ended up with my favorite quote and a renewed sense of purpose."

"Oh yeah?" Daniel's eyebrow went up. "Well, let's hear the quote?" He shuffled his long legs in the process kicking the long-forgotten novel.

As if it hadn't been five years since I'd last held this book I located the page and paragraph.

"The human soul is made up of chaos and that chaos is made up of potential that can be tapped. If left unharnessed, untapped, it leads to having no purpose, no meaning and we end up walking the earth condemned to be nothing but tiny luminous dots, like stars at night."

I beamed as I finished the quote.

Daniel didn't look too impressed but I kept going.

"You should definitely read it. Who knows, maybe it'll give your chaotic soul some purpose."

"Yeah, the thing is, I kinda like the chaos. But," he added quickly to stop me from saying anything. "I will read it, and in exchange, you tell me what the hell a planish is."

With a small laugh, I handed the book over and tried to ignore the way his fingers brushed against mine.

"There's a dictionary behind you," I stated, noticing the district yellow and blue of the Oxford dictionary.

"Where?" he turned in the opposite direction.

"Beside you. Your other side I mean."

But Daniel being the beautiful idiot that he was, didn't even look at the other side of him.

"I don't see any dictionary," he said as he peered at the spines of the books.

"It's on the left, genius."

"Your left or my left?" his eyes were almost dark in the white light but I could see he was trying to act innocent.

"Oh for the love of God," was all I mumbled before I sprang up and crawled over to where the fat dictionary sat.

I pulled the heavy dictionary out but before I had the chance to crawl back to my position I was pulled down, straight onto Daniel's lap.

"Gotcha," his warm breath tickled my neck.

"So this was your ploy the whole time?" A smirk was my answer. "Well, I am glad you're not entirely dumb."

"Ouch, your words hurt me," there was a playful tone to his voice as he tucked a wayward curl behind my ear.

I had no idea which one of us closed the space between us but the next thing I knew we were kissing.

I forgot all about the reason we were even here and just enjoyed the minty softness that was Daniel's lips.

When we eventually broke apart, I leaned my forehead on his and appreciated the way it sounded like we'd both ran a marathon.

"I'm really glad you told me all that. You know about how you found the book. I know it must've been hard," Daniel's alluring voice had a husky quality to it that reverberated in my bones.

I put some space between us; so much that I could look into his eyes but my body was still flush with his.

I twirled a strand of his glossy hair around my finger.

"Everything started after the accident. Daddy started traveling a lot and mom?" I let out a sad, wistful chuckle. "Mom stopped seeing me as her daughter. All she saw was the flaws - the less-than-stellar scores on my tests, not winning more awards - and she set out to correct all of them. Me, I didn't want to cause any more pain, and to be honest it's just easy to lose myself in being the perfect student."

Immediately I realized I was giving too much information I shook my head clear and looked at Daniel. Except for the smooth rise and fall of his chest, he was perfectly still and his pupils were the size of saucers.

"What?" I asked as I tugged on his hair to make sure he wasn't having a stroke.

"Nothing, I was just thinking how lucky I am to be the only one that knows the real you."

"Well, technically, you're not the only one . . ."

The rest of my words never saw the light of day as Daniel's kiss killed them in my throat.

He wasn't to know it but that night, on the narrow, dusty floor between the bookshelves, this flighty, slightly annoying boy had somehow managed to carve a place in my heart all for himself.