Isabelle always was ahead of the class. Although her friends, who didn't know her well, thought that she was not competitive, she was actually competing silently with others. When she was a child, there was a boy in her class who was smart and liked to compare marks. Luckily, Isabelle was smart and was always better than him. Not long after, she went into a class where there were people better than her. She could not stand it, and worked hard everyday to get better than them. It was this desire to be better that drove her on.

However, Isabelle was very lonely. She used to have good friends, but found herself drifting apart from, them. There was no one to hear her cries at night, no one to shout together in joy when she was happy. She found herself drifting more to the other sex, whom she found easier to understand. This loneliness actually helped her to become more insightful. She understood how to see from different perspectives. She knew what the other person was thinking. By the time she was 12, she already understood that there was no right and wrong.

One night, Isabelle lay in bed, sleepless. She tossed and turned. Then she thought about her entire life. She thought of how she had always been the backup she was always the one standing in the shadows, watching others grow. When they fell, she let them feel pain, let others pick them up. She gave them space and love, felt like she would always be a guardian angel, but never have one of her own. When they played group games, she was always at the back. No one from the opposing team noticed her, yet she was crucial when everyone else was covered.

She thought about how she had matured. By the age of 8, she was so sad, sometimes, when her parents left the house. She wondered if, possibly, she was adopted. She longed for an older brother to take care of her and keep her under his wing. Maybe she couldn't have an older brother, but she had never even felt the warmth of maternal love. Her mother always seemed to not care about her, but loved her younger sister more.

  Isabelle wondered what it felt like to have a carefree, happy, life. She had worried about money when she was 10, saving up and rarely buying anything. She always shared the food if others wanted it and held back, not showing how much she longed to eat it. Maybe this was why, why she was so lonely. All her friends were girls. She thought they were tomboys, but maybe they weren't. They were always so confident about anything. They thought she was tough, both emotionally and physically. But, in reality, it was the scars that made her that way. She was afraid of doing anything wrong, anything that her friends would laugh at her for.

She learnt quickly that everything was not, and never had been, black or white. Everything was just grey, different shades of grey. This was what changed her life forever.

Dylan always felt blind, even if he wasn't. He always made it no big deal, no matter how much it hurt. No matter how he felt, he always laughed it off. On the exterior, he was cool, calm and collected. He was 'popular' and hung out with the 'cool' kids. But inside, he was alone. There were none of his friends that he could trust. He was cautious and wary, and never told any secrets to his friends. When he went to school each day, he made his hair slightly ruffled, he looked like he had just woken up that way, and it was so badass. But in reality, he spent minutes on it, curling every hair "just so", to look the way he wanted.

So maybe he was destined to be alone. He always planned everything to the last minute, but made it look completely impromptu. Dylan was just like Isabelle, lonely.

But one day, he met Isabelle. She shone like a bright light and Dylan was immediately attracted to her. Let's take a look at their very first meeting..

It was the party to celebrate for the freshmen getting into X University, a prestigious school. Isabelle was stood at a corner of the room, looking in longing at the people in the centre of the room. They laughed so casually, so easily Isabelle was envious of them. She would never be able to joke with that crowd and with her luck might even be the joke. Yet however much Isabelle tried to hide, Dylan noticed her almost immediately.

As soon as he entered the room, he practically sensed her presence. Isabelle appeared to Dylan to radiate a sort of soft light, yet unlike other people who appeared to radiate, there was a cold chillyness around her, contrary to the warmth he was used to having. Isabelle looked up as soon as Dylan entered. Not so much because she noticed him, more because everyone around her started to whisper as soon as Dylan entered.

"Hey, isn't that Dylan?" "Yeah, the school hunk. I heard he's a really good athlete too!" "Those are nothing compared to his grades."

Isabelle inevitably looked up and saw Dylan. She caught his eyes and when she looked at them, she detected loneliness. Although there were so many people around him, fawning over him and admiring him, yet his eyes were sad and miserable.

"No, that can't be. He's surrounded by people! You must be dreaming." Isabelle chided herself. Looking at Isabelle shaking her head vigorously, Dylan smiled to himself. "How cute!" He thought before shaking his head too to dispel any weird thoughts. That night after the dancing, Dylan was tired out but he acted casually. Isabelle noticed how he looked and chased off his fans, much to their disappointment and indignance. Dylan thanked Isabelle for her help. As they parted that night, each felt a sense of happiness. Although they could not pinpoint the reason for such feelings, they would soon know and be familiar with the sense of wanting.

"Time to wake up, Isabelle!" Upon hearing her cousin call her, Isabelle jumped out of bed and went to get ready for school. She was excited and anxious as she thought of the bad impression she had left on the students at the welcome party. They would surely hate her, she thought. But she held her head high with the hope that there would be someone willing to be her friend.

"Isabelle, hurry up! You know, I don't want to be late for school." Her cousin Tara was one of the few people who were willing to be her friend. After double checking that she had not left anything behind, Isabelle and Tara left the apartment that they shared the rent for.

As soon as they spotted the building, they gasped in astonishment. It was huge and there were two swimming pools, a spa, a full size stadium and much more! It truly was a prestigious school. Isabelle, however impressed she was, still commented drily, "I only hope that they spend as much money on the education as they do on the facilities." Tara laughed.

They entered the school and headed to the noticeboard to check what class they were in. Tara was in class C and Isabelle was in class A. As Tara moaned about not being in the same class, Isabelle looked closer at the class list. "Dylan!" She thought as she spotted his name written on the list. How would she face all his crazy fans if they were in the same class? She had no idea.

Tara waved her hand in front of Isabelle and asked about her. Isabelle said she was fine so they headed to their separate classrooms, waving to each other till each was out of the other's sight.

When Isabelle opened the door. A bucket full of water started tumbling down. Isabelle leaped out of the way and landed beautifully about a metre away from the bucket. "Who did this?" Isabelle demanded. The sound of clapping shocked her. It was Dylan! "Why?" She asked. A girl glared at her and another glared at Dylan. Isabelle quickly realised that they were fans of Dylan. The girl introduced herself as Ruby and Isabelle noted to not offend her or even cross her path.

"She's really scary," thought Isabelle when Ruby looked at her with a cold expression. Ruby was obviously very protective of Dylan yet Dylan ignored her most of the time. Isabelle resolved to find out their relationship before she graduated. Little did she know what a bad idea that was.

After class, Ruby went over to Dylan and asked him out to dinner. Dylan replied, "Sorry Ruby, I'll have to turn down your offer this time. I'm having dinner with my girlfriend." Ruby was shocked as she did not remember Dylan admitting to any relationship ever. She protested and Dylan hugged Isabelle who was just leaving, claiming she was his girlfriend. Isabelle froze at the sight of Ruby's face, wondering what she did to make her Dylan's shield.