Ira was more focused on his schoolwork than who he could potentially try to make friends with but there was one person who happened to catch his eye in a rather unfortunate way. His assigned lab partner for the year in his chemistry class happened to be the infamous Sarabeth Storm.
He hadn't paid much attention to her the year before. He only knew her name at all because she liked mixing the chemicals in ways the teacher hadn't specifically told her to so things often blew up.
Her practical exam grades were terrible but if she hadn't messed around so much, she would be at the top of the class. Her knowledge of chemical compositions was second to none.
Ira was always slightly irked that she managed to beat him in every test because he was the top student in their year in almost everything else. He wasn't the best in Fundamentals of Self-Defense either.