AN:

In this All Human universe in which the characters of Aaa exist, Marshall Lee is the new kid starting at ATHS. It's the middle of his junior year, and he doesn't know a soul in this new town… until he gets paired up with a cute freshman in his theater class. They're complete opposites, but for whatever reason he can't stop thinking about her. One problem, though: she already has a boyfriend, and he's just as perfect as she is. Can he hope to compete with the school's golden boy?

I was inspired to write this by Falling in Reverse's I'm Not a Vampire, but the plot has nothing to do with the song.

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Although, I would very much like to own a Fionna costume. That would be cool. –Dawn

What was I doing here? Was there anyone who could tell me? I didn't mean the school itself, because I actually didn't mind the move, but what on earth was I doing in a drama class? This really wasn't going to bode well for my perpetual bad-boy image. Acting wasn't even my thing! I was a mechanic, not some theater freak!

I sat in the eighth row of the school's auditorium, which was technically two rows past where we were supposed to sit, and I glared at the crimson curtain that hung across the stage. I entertained myself by imagining wonderful tortures for my school counselor or whoever had dreamed up this vile excuse for a seventh period in the planning of my schedule, while the class waited for our teacher to come out and take attendance.

Mrs. Petrikov came out soon enough. When she reached my name, she smiled at me. "Guys," she called for the attention of the other students. It took everything I had not to roll my eyes. "This is Marshall Lee, our newest Thespian." There were some welcoming voices among the crowd, but most of the kids looked wary. Good. I didn't need the drama club claiming me as one of their own.

Petrikov then began to ramble on about beginning work on two person scenes. She said she had already cast us, which was a disappointment to the girls already grabbing their friends. She ran down the list of partners and passed out scripts before dismissing us to start working. I was paired with some girl named Fionna. What kind of a name was Fionna? Whatever. I figured I would just stay in my seat and let her find me. It wasn't like I knew who she was, anyway. I shut my eyes.

When I opened them a matter of seconds later, there was a cute blonde girl sitting next to me. Dang, cute didn't even begin to cover it. She was going to be model-gorgeous in about a year or so. She couldn't have been more than a sophomore, if that. She was holding up a thin stack of papers.

"You're Fionna," I guessed. I was really shocked that I hadn't heard her sit down.

She shook her head, her big blue eyes bright with humor. "Nope, not according to this." She waved the scripts in my face and stuck out her free hand. "Hi, I'm your fiancé, Susan. Nice to meet you, Peter."

I couldn't help the tiny smirk that shot across my face. Well, if I was being forced to pretend to be in love with someone, she may as well have a sense of humor. And wavy, golden hair past her waist.

Shut up, Marshall! Ten minutes in the arts department and you're already losing your edge!

I shook her hand. "Likewise, Susie." I stood up and stretched, brushing back my long black hair. "We don't really have to work today, do we? I mean, shouldn't we get time to… develop our character or something?"

She laughed, a bright and optimistic sound. "It's not or something. It's a crucial part of the artistic process, and that's actually what we're supposed to be doing right now. Don't worry, though. I've got you covered." She winked and jumped up, grabbing my hand and hauling me down the aisle and backstage. "Stay quiet. Pet will blow her lid if she catches us sneaking out of class." We fumbled through the dark until we found a door in a back corner. Creeping through carefully, we were soon in what looked like the empty choir room. Fionna turned around to look up at me, her face inches from mine. "Okay, are you ready?" she whispered. I shrugged, not entirely sure what I was committing myself to. She grinned and pulled me out into a silent hall. "Run for it!" She dashed into the corridor like a demon was on her tail. Startled, I leaped after her.

After winding through unfamiliar halls for what could have been thirty seconds or five minutes, I found myself at the back of the school, outside and overlooking the football stadium, which was just down the hill. Fionna finally pulled to a halt at the hillcrest and bent over, panting with her hand on her knees. I caught my breath and leaned against a tree.

"You know, you really didn't strike me as the kind of girl who ditched class just because some stranger asked her to."

Her laughter echoed between the stadium and the school. "Are you kidding? I got Pet's permission to show you around the school for the rest of the day. I just figured we would get it done a lot faster if you thought you were worried about getting detention on your first day." She grinned at me shamelessly and tossed me the stack of papers. On top of the scripts was a hall pass with both of our names on it.

As I thought about it, I realized that we had made a pretty thorough path through the main parts of the school. Hm, funny and clever. Not to mention pretty and blonde. I would wait for the other shoe to drop, but I had a sick feeling that it wasn't coming.

I smirked and sank to the ground, leaning my head against the tree trunk. I patted the root next to me and she sat. "So you're, what?" I started. "Sixteen?"

"Fourteen," she corrected. "I'm just a freshman, and I'm young for my grade as it is. You're, what? Forty?"

I glared at the sun. "Seventeen, actually. It feels like forty sometimes, though."

"Why is that?"

I clenched my teeth. For some reason there was a part of me that wanted to tell her about Marceline. I had never told anyone about her. I had never wanted to tell anyone about her. She belonged in my old life. If I was going to keep my old life and my old friends in my past, I was going to have to keep my mouth shut. I wanted to start over, I did, and so I couldn't let myself confide in this strange young girl. "It's a long story." I finally muttered.

She rolled her big blue eyes. "Okay, I get that you're trying for the bad-boy image, but the whole mysterious cliché thing doesn't really work for you."

"Oh! I'm trying to be a bad-boy? Well what about you, Miss Perfect? You're such a good little girl, it makes me wonder what you're hiding." I sneered back playfully. There was a flash behind her gaze, but before I could figure out what it was it was gone. Her mouth gaped fumbling for words to defend herself, which made me think I had struck a pressure-point. I raised my eyebrows, waiting for her to respond. A part of my mind was acutely aware of the face that we were face to face, just inches apart. Her breath smelled of kiwis, oddly enough.

Before she could make a sound, her name was called from the parking lot next to the stadium. I looked away from Fionna to see a tall blonde guy about my age climbing the hill toward us. He was grinning broadly. I could could almost see the sun reflected off his teeth like a freaking cartoon. My disbelief turned to amusement when I noticed he was wearing a pink sweater vest.

I snickered like a villain and turned back to Fionna. "Alright, who's the nerd?" She glanced at me awkwardly without a word and stood to greet the freak. When he reached us, he promptly wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into a kiss. I absently felt my hands clench into fists.

When they broke apart, Fionna turned sheepishly to me, arms still around Mr. Pinky's neck. "Um… Marshall, this is Barry. He's my boyfriend."

AN:

To clarify: I couldn't figure out if Gumball has a first name, so I made one up. Since Bubblegum's name is Bonnibel, or Bonnie for short, I went with Barry. I don't like it, either, but it's the best I could think of.

Review please! - Dawn