Sitting on Vain's shoulder during our first class together brought the term "Cold Shoulder" to a whole new level.

Apparently, deciding to cooperate still couldn't make up for the fact that I had ditched him, putting myself in extreme peril.....

Obviously still angry with me, Vain sat silently in class, the perfect attentive student to anyone's eyes.

I knew him better though, well enough to recognise a brooding mountain of resentment when I was sitting on the shoulder of one.

All things considered, having to sit on a freezing iceberg was actually the most comfortable aspect of this whole classroom experience.

Between the strange looks, I kept receiving from my fellow classmates and the boring lecture the teacher was giving, sitting on Vain's incredibly moody shoulder was practically the highlight of the science lesson.

Unfortunately, after the first ten minutes of forcing myself to sit quietly still, I had pretty much resorted to staring intensely at the classroom door, like dogs do when they want to go out.

Was it even possible to go insane in just ten minutes? Surely, no one could possibly be so immature that they would have a mental breakdown just because they had to sit still quietly for a while...

I glanced at Vain, watching his pale features as he took down notes. From my spot on his shoulder, I could see his long white eyelashes casting shadows across his white skin.

He looked like some sort of nerdy Angel-

I did not just think that.

Slapping a hand up to cover my reddening face, I peeked at Vain from in between my fingers. Thankfully, he hadn't noticed my sudden embarrassment.

Desperate for any kind of distraction, even if it meant breaching the great wall of silence between us and risking almost certain death, I crawled closer to Vain's ear and whispered. "Vain, I'm bored."

I held my breath, expecting Vain to continue stubbornly ignoring me or to at the very least to tell me to shut up.

Though I did feel the shoulder beneath me stiffen, my complaint didn't actually go completely unacknowledged.

Vain's giant hand shifted far below, moving to gently tear off a small corner from his notebook. I watched on in nervous amazement as Vain quickly wrote something on both sides, glancing over to his face once to see his calm poker face concentrating on the task.

Once completed, he silently held it up for me and, hesitating with a mixture of nervousness and suspicion, I took the dinner plate-sized scrap of paper from between his long fingers.

Swallowing anxiously, preparing myself for whatever scathing comment I was about to find, I read the note.

Turn over.

Confused, I turned the sheet over, only find that the other side said exactly the same thing.

Just to make sure I hadn't read wrong, I turned the sheet over again, confirming that both sides of the paper did indeed say 'turn over.'

Scrunching the offensive piece of paper, I had to resist the urge to shove the paper down the Vain's damned ear hole.

"What is this supposed to be?" I asked dangerously, my face likely shifting to a very unnatural shade of red.

Without a word, without a crack in his disinterested expression, he tapped his note pad with his pencil, drawing my attention down.

Entertainment for idiots. Should keep you going for a couple of hours.

Sarcastic. Arrogant. Jerk.

I balled up the note in my hand and threw it at his face, watching in satisfaction as the microscopic piece of paper caused absolutely no damage.

I opened my mouth to tell him where he could take his stupid paper notes, only to find myself completely speechless when Vain's lips twitched. Into a smile.

Oh, my God. Hell just froze over.

Even as I leaned away from him in shock, I saw the faint red shade of a blush taint his pale cheek as Vain turned his face to the side, obviously hiding the smile away from me.

My heart fluttered sharply in my chest.

NO. I tore my gaze away, staring down at my hands and trying not to show my panic. Don't be fooled, Maddison. It's a trick or at the very least some sort of evil smirk. Vain would never smile in the middle of one of his brooding sessions.

Then again, Vain had made a small attempt at humour, something he would never do, if he was seriously pissed off at me.

Curious, I glance back up at Vain, trying to put the puzzle together as he continued to ignore me.

But if Vain wasn't angry, why had he spent the last fifteen minutes sitting stiff as a board and trying his hardest to pretend that I wasn't sitting on his shoulder... My head throbbed. The effort of thought causing intense strain on my brain.

Trying to find some sort of logical solution, a memory of when the two of us were ten surfaced from the depths of my mind.

The time Vain had shouted at me for a solid minute about being a complete idiot.... since I had sprained my ankle after falling off my bike.... trying to do a stunt involving a row of toy cars and a severely traumatise pet goldfish... Yea, in hindsight, I probably deserved it.

After that, I had been stuck in bed for a couple of days, and I could have sworn at the time that Vain would never speak to me ever again.

Instead, he had turned up at my bedside with a pack of cards and a scowl on his face. We played in silence for a good half an hour, me inching further and further away from him as Vain looked about to explode, his face so red and his glare so fierce. When he finally did speak, it was the last thing I ever expected to hear out of my proud friend's mouth.

I'm sorry.

Present Vain suddenly sighed, his shoulder sagging beneath me, seemingly under the weight of my intense scrutiny.

I was surprised out of my own contemplative thoughts when Vain proceeded to raise his hand for the teacher's attention, asking to be excused from class. The teacher took one glance at me on Vain's shoulder and nodded for us to leave.

Collecting his books into his bag and slinging it over his other shoulder, Vain stood quickly from his seat, causing me to grab at his collar for balance.

The movement brought me back to the present, back to the fact that I was tiny, and that I was sitting on my childhood friends shoulder, staring at him like he was some sort of abstract painting I had to figure out.

The classroom was silent as we walked out, and I could feel the gazes of everyone in the room burning into me.

The moment Vain reached the door, I stood up and unleashed my rudest hand gesture upon the entire staring class, smirking at them as we left the room. Enjoy your science class suckers.

Vain walked us down the deserted school corridor, heading towards the eastern courtyard. I sent Vain a concerned look, wary of this strange behaviour.

Hesitant, and honestly a little frightened, I leaned over to murmur into his giant ear.

"Vain... Did you hit your head or something? You do know that you're missing out on class at the moment right? Voluntarily..."

"Maddison, I've been meaning to talk to you about something," Vain interrupted bluntly, his words causing me to stiffen, despite its gentle tone. He paused at the glass door leading out to the courtyard "But we mustn't be overheard."

"... What's going on Vain?" I asked anxiously, starting to feel alarmed. This wasn't like Vain at all.

.... please don't let him be revealing that he's secretly an alien. I know that it would explain a lot, but I don't think I can take it right now... He opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, Vain seemed to notice a reflection in the glass door in front of us. He began to turn, but it was too late.

A dark shape appeared in the corner of my eye, just as something large slammed into the back of Vain's head.