Ciara was sitting with some girls at the cafeteria of the Irish school. They had just arrived and were having breakfast as they were busy talking. She heard Sean's voice from behind her "I need to sit here next to Ciara. Move..."

Ciara was too startled to even begin to feel outraged at Sean's rudeness and bluntness. He did not even say please and thank you to the girl who was sitting next to her. But again she was used to Sean being so rude to those he outranked. They were nothing to him. The girl quickly stood up and said "I am sorry for being in your way."

Sean said "Move it..."

The girl quickly moved as she picked up her tray and even walked to another table from the shock and fear. They had heard that Sean McNab was moving here but they did not know he was going to crash on them today.

Sean put his tray down and sat down. He then stared at the other girls who were looking at him with fear. He said "What are you looking at?"

The girls got the message they were not welcome. They quickly stood up and left.

Ciara stood up and picked up her tray about to leave the table too but Sean's words stopped her. His tone was much nicer with her. Much more respectful. Much more gentler but the promise was evident "Look. I just want to talk to you. Nothing more. Sit down Ciara. I want to talk to you. It doesn't matter which table you move to, I will follow."

Ciara sighed and sat down. She then ignored him and started drinking from her glass of orange juice.

Sean said "Good. How are you Ciara?"

Ciara said "Fine." She then got on with pouring maple syrup on her pancakes.

Sean said "Can you look at me when I am talking to you at least?"

Ciara dropped her fork and knife on her plate and turned to him "Allright. I am looking at you. Happy?"

Sean said "Yes. Happy."

Ciara said "Can I get back to eating my pancake now?"

Sean said "You can eat your pancake as we talk. But you can look at me from time to time when I am talking to you."

Ciara said "Fine." She then turned to her plate and started cutting her pancakes.

Sean said "Where is Connor?"

Ciara turned to him and said "Baseball practice. Where else would he be so early in the morning?" She then looked back at her plate and picked up a piece of pancake with her fork. She put it in her mouth and said "I need more syrup." She then reached for the syrup but Sean quickly reached for the syrup and their hands touched. Ciara pulled her hand away and took a deep breath.

Sean picked up the syrup and said "Allow me..." He then poured some syrup over her pancakes.

Ciara said "That is enough. Thank you."

Sean put back the syrup on the table. He said "You are welcome."

Ciara picked up another piece of pancake as Sean was watching her eat. She could feel his eyes on her. Ciara turned to look at Sean "Why aren't you eating your pancake Sean?"

Sean said "I will."

Ciara sighed and turned to getting on with eating her pancake."

Sean asked "Do you always come to cafeteria to have breakfast at this hour?"

Ciara turned to him "Yes. I actually do. I am dropped off at the same time at the school as Connor. He goes to attend baseball practice and I come here have breakfast and then go wherever I need to for the day."

Sean asked "Where are you going after this?"

Ciara said "I have not decided yet. I might go to the library or I might go to one of the early morning clubs..."

Sean asked "What sort of club do you normally attend here?"

Ciara said "It depends on what's on for the day..."

Sean asked "I come too."

Ciara shrugged "Come then."

*****

It was after school and the bell had just gone. Sean found Ciara outside her class and said "Hey. How was your day?" She was not surprised to see him. He had told her father he would use every opportunity to follow her around school and he was fine with it. Frankly she did not care. He could follow her around and talk all he wanted. She hoped he would get tired of it at some point. She had patience.

She said "It was ok..."

Sean asked "Where are you headed now?"

She said "To my locker..."

Sean said "I come..."

She said "Fine."

Sean followed her. She sighed as she saw how the crowd parted ways as recognition of who was following Ciara was registering on their faces. Sean had a reputation. No one wanted to be in his way or in the way of his girl. The news had spread fast that who she belonged to. Before they respected Ciara but she was friendly with everyone. Her and Connor were not ones to throw their authority around and beat people up for when they did not like how they looked at them or anything like that. They could. But they did not.

Sean asked "Where were you at lunch time. I could not find you anywhere?"

Ciara was about to respond but then spotted Connor coming towards them and he did not seem happy. She whispered "Here we go again... For the love of god."

Connor walked to Sean and stood in front of him "Keep your distance. You are standing too close to my sister."

Ciara rolled her eyes "Look. Connor I am not a damsel in distress. He did nothing but talk to me today... Leave it... Why can't you be civil with him when he has not wronged you in any way..."

Connor said "Sean... If I hear you have done anything but talk to her..."

Sean said "I will only talk to her. Nothing else... I would be careful with what threats you throw my way... I will throw it back at you..."

Connor stared down Sean...

Ciara said "Connor. Stop it. Ok. I am right here. I have no problem with Sean talking to me..."

Connor said while looking at Sean "You think you are smart... Do you? Asking my sister out knowing there is no way anyone else now can come forward to ask her out because of you."

Sean said "Other guys can come and ask your sister out.. But they have to face me. What is your problem with me Connor?"

Connor said "You are my problem. Hitting on my baby sister... Now she is known to belong to a McNab. An undeserving one too."

Sean said "I am warning you Connor. Do not push me..."

Connor said "What if I do?"

Sean said "Then I might push back... harder..."

Connor said "Great. So we do have an understanding. How about this? Let's go to the boxing club right now. I could use a new warm up partner for today."

Sean said "With pleasure."

As the boys were about to move, Ciara said "No. Do not dare move. Neither of you are fighting because of me..." She turned to Connor " He has done nothing but talk. So you should not fight him when he has done nothing wrong..." She then turned to Sean "And you... do not threaten my brother... I do not like it." She turned to Connor "Now go to your boxing club. You do not want to be late. Your coach may not say anything but we both know father checks your school attendance reports. He would be wondering why you slipped up on your punctuality that is always a perfect score along with most of your other grades."

Connor did not move and was staring Sean down. Ciara said "Connor go to boxing club. I will tell you if Sean does anything that I am not happy with..." Connor was about to argue. Ciara said "And if you are not around, I would find Christian... We had a deal Connor. We talked about this. I want you to not pick a fight with Sean... It is unnecessary."

Connor took a long look at Sean and said "Watch how you treat Ciara."

Sean said "Likewise. I could warn you to do the same. Watch how you treat Ciara. She is right here telling you to go away but you are not getting the message. Leave us be... We were in the middle of a conversation here."

Ciara was rubbing her forehead now "Boys..."

Connor turned to his sister and said "I will see you on our ride home Ciara.... Have a nice afternoon... Bye for now..." He then turned to Sean and said coldly "Remember my warnings."

Sean said "I will... If you remember mine..."

Connor walked away.

Ciara said "Where were we even? Oh yeah. I need to go to my locker..."

Sean said "I will come with you..."

Ciara let him follow. It was not like he was going to take no for an answer."

Ciara reached close to her locker and pointed to her locker "That is mine... But we need to wait... That boy is using the locker next to mine... I do not want to take his space..."

Sean walked ahead of her and grabbed the boy and pushed him inside the locker and locked the door on him. The lockers were pretty huge and a person could fit in them.

Ciara gasped.

Sean leaned to that boy's locker as he crossed his arms over his chest and said "Problem solved. Get whatever you need from your locker and take your time..."

Ciara felt bad for the guy that Sean had stuffed into the locker. But she did not argue. She knew if she argued, it would not have made a difference and it would have just prolonged that guy's misery in the locker.

Ciara walked to her locker. She opened it and put back the books she did not need and grabbed what she needed from the locker and closed it.

Sean said "Great. You are ready to go?"

Ciara said "Yes."

Sean said "Let's go then..."

Ciara said "But aren't you forgetting something? Let that guy out of that locker and then we can go..."

Sean sighed "If you insist..." He then opened the door of the locker and said harshly to the guy "Go to the office and tell them to move your locker some place else far away from here. While you are at it. Tell them to keep this row of lockers free except for this locker of course..." He pointed at Ciara's locker.

The boy stuttered as he was shaking "Yes sir. But if they... said no..."

Sean said "Tell them I said it. They can come to me if they have a problem with it..."

The boy said with fear and horror filled eyes "Yes sir." He nodded.

Sean let him go and the boy ran as fast as he could away from the lockers.

Ciara said "They do not need to free up this row of lockers you know..."

Sean said "They do... For easy access for you..."

Ciara said "I already have easy access. I do not need them to clear the area... I am not the First Lady of the United States..."

Sean said "You are right. You are alot more important than her..."

Ciara could not believe Sean but she knew better than argue. She said "You are just from another world. I swear." She then walked away.

Sean asked "Do you want me to carry your bag for you? Your bag seems pretty heavy. You stuffed so much in there just now..."

Ciara said "It is fine Sean. I can carry my bag... I am not weak. I run, I do press ups and pull ups everyday before I even come to school..."

Sean asked "You wake up that early in the morning..."

Ciara said "On school days yes..."

Ciara then reached her destination. It was electronics club.

Sean followed her inside. The class was consisting of boys only. There were no girls in class. Sean looked at them in an intimidating way and they quickly looked down at their tables getting on with whatever they were doing. The place went totally silent. The only sound was the sound of their footsteps echoing inside the class.

Ciara reached her table. She sat down and put her bag on the table. She took some of the books and notes from her bag and lid it out on the table. She then pulled out something that was in a smaller bag and looked heavier all the while Sean was looking at her. She took it out from that smaller bag.

Sean said "Woah...Is that a ... radio?"

Ciara answered as she placed it on the table "Yes. It is..."

Sean asked "What for?"

Ciara turned to him and said "In case you haven't noticed this is the electronics club. My task has been to design a radio and make it work. I am still not finished with it... I just need to add some new features to it. Now I really need to focus on this so please avoid talking to me unless it is necessary."

Sean said "OK. But where is the teacher. Aren't clubs supervised by teachers?"

Ciara explained. "We have a teacher. Her office is at the back of the class. She is a busy professor who works part time at a college. We can go to her when we need help but we are pretty independent here... We come in. We ask her for help if we need it. She checks the work at the end of the session and then we leave." She then walked away towards an equipment table. She was trying to pick what she wanted. She was examining the tools and selecting them.

Sean stood up and looked around at the guys who were busy working with their eyes downcast. He announced in. a harsh and threatening tone "All of you.... Pack up your stuff and get your useless backsides away from this side of this workshop. Go to the other side and do not use the equipment that is around this half of the room. Keep to your side and we will not have a problem... Do you understand?"

The boys nodded and whispered "Yes sir..." They packed their stuff up and moved quickly to the other side of the room.

Ciara came back to her table and noticed all the boys had moved away. She knew it was what she called the Sean effect.

She got on with her work as Sean was seated next to her at the table and was watching her work silently.

Ciara then noticed footsteps and looked up and saw Christian had entered the room. She looked at him and said "Hi Christian."

Sean said "Hi."

Christian said as he was walking to her table "Hi."

Christian then started examining the radio "This looks good. What hidden functions does it have? Does it repel male disturbance with .... electric shock perhaps..."

Ciara smiled "No Christian. This radio has hidden functions but they are for peaceful purposes."

Christian said "Such a shame. I was hoping you had some hostile functions so you could test them on Sean..."

Ciara said "Stop making such remarks Christian..."

Christian said "Why not? Have you recruited anyone new to your man hating club yet?"

Ciara said "No. There is no such club. I do not appreciate your jokes..."

Christian said "I was not joking. I hear, your long time fellow club member Gabriela has introduced you to some new worthy all American recruit called Eden Carter. Right?..."

Ciara laughed "Stop it Christian. We are not part of a man hating club."

Christian said "Then what do you do when you gather with your groupies over there at lunch times..."

Ciara said "We just talk about girl stuff. That is all. Stop calling me a man hater..."

Christian said "So you want me to use a more fancier word... How about anti-male..."

Ciara sighed "You are making it worse and worse. Stop..."

Sean said "Christian why are you here?"

Christian said "I came to check on Ciara. She is like my sister as you know... I do catch up with her every now and then to see if she has any troubles..."

Sean said "I can sort her troubles now that I am around...But I would appreciate it if you give me a list of her past troubles and the names of the culprits when you can."

Ciara said "There is no need. I have never had any troubles here..."

Christian tone turned serious "I heard Connor had a stand off with you earlier. I hope you can attend this school and co-exist here in peace and harmony with Connor..."

Sean said "Why are you telling me this?... Tell Connor. He is the one who came up to me and threw threats... I have no problem with this guy. What is his problem with me?"

Ciara said "This guy? He is my brother and has a name..." She then shook her head "Guys frustrate me..." She then walked away towards the equipment table again.

Sean defended "That was no insult to Connor.... He is a guy. Isn't he? The last time I checked."

Christian said "I told him the same thing I told you. Pretty much... With some added stuff..."

Sean said "Great. Problem solved then. Why are you telling me this stuff when I have done nothing wrong..."

Christian said "I am telling you this because I know you Sean... I know what you are like..."

Sean looked up at Christian "Good. Then if you know me Christian, you know full well I do not take Kindly to threats and disrespect. Connor needs to stop insulting me in broad day light... If I get offended I will act..." He then stood up and looked at Christian "But I have some self control and I am not offended yet because I understand he does not want me to date his baby sister. He needs to stop the hostility when all I have done is talk with his sister. Ciara was even complaining to him to back off..."

Christian said "Sean... You are not innocent in all this... Obviously you have not given a reason to Connor to see you as a worthy candidate to make his sister happy... He does not like you around his sister..."

Sean said "What do you want me to do?"

Christian said "That is a very legitimate question. There is nothing you can do really. Unless you have access to some means that can take you back to the past and change your course of actions... I dont know have you read a Christmas Carol?"

Sean said "Yes. I have... Scrooge sees ghosts in his dream and he gets a second chance in life..."

Christian said "Yeah. That is a very short over simplified version of the story but that will do. The point is, Scrooge did not even get to go back in time in that fictional story to change his past... So you are pretty much done for. Connor is not going to like you for now..."

Sean said "What do you expect me to do to improve the situation with Connor?"

Christian said "You can't improve the situation. Only Ciara can. The only way that this situation can be improved is if Ciara says yes to going out with you. Connor has a soft spot for his baby sister. If Ciara accepts you he will be more accepting. I would like to see you convince her to go out with you... Good luck with that..."

Sean said "Thank you..."

Christian said "You are welcome..." He then walked away.

****

After the electronics club session finished, Ciara packed up her stuff and stuffed them into her bag. She then made her way outside. Sean followed. He asked "Where are you headed to now?"

Ciara said "My locker. To put my stuff back in there again."

When they reached the lockers she saw all the lockers in her row were now empty and their doors were dangling open.

Sean said "This is more like it."

Ciara sighed but did not make a comment and walked to her locker. Put back her stuff in the locker. Collected other equipment and put them in her bag.

Sean followed her as she walked away and asked "Where are you going?"

Ciara said "To swim..."

Sean said "Swim?"

Ciara said "Yes."

Sean asked "Where?"

Ciara said "At the south side swimming pool of our school. The north side swimming pool is too far away to reach from this building. I prefer to save my time. I swim for fun. It relaxes me. You should try it sometime you know... So you can let off some steam if you know what I mean...""

Sean said "I see. So you have two girls swimming pools here?"

Ciara said "No. They are both mixed actually."

Sean balled his hands into fists and did not say anything.