• -_Who’s the New Kid?

    -_It’s been a month, and Jessica is back in school. She’s convinced herself that her dad didn’t lift a car for her. And as long as she doesn’t believe that, she doesn’t have to believe that what her dad said happened either.

    * * *


    -_”Ow!” I said as I tripped out of my bed in the morning. Being sixteen and uncoordinated was not easy if you wanted a boyfriend.
    -_I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth but Nikki had locked the door. I knew it was Nikki because she was the only one in our house who locked doors.
    -_”Nikki, let me in!” I shouted at her impatiently.
    -_”What if I’m on the toilet?” She asked, just to annoy me.
    -_”You can still reach the door and I won’t look. I just need to brush my teeth, and besides that’s what everyone else in the family does!” I hate only having one bathroom.
    -_After a moment, she let me in. Sure enough, she wasn’t doing anything but staring at her reflection in the mirror, probably checking for zits. Definitely checking for zits.
    -_”I didn’t know babies got zits.” I teased as I reached for my toothbrush.
    -_”I’m thirteen, idiot.” She responded.
    -_She probably stayed in there for fifteen minutes after I left for school. I don’t think anyone I know got zits until they were 14½ years old, but whatever, she says kids in her class have horrible zits.
    -_The first thing I noticed at school was that my usual parking spot was taken. It was taken by a shiny Alero; obviously it had just been painted silver because it looked like an older car.
    -_Not that old, I decided as I parked next to it, just old enough that there was no way that was its original paint coat. I looked at the car for a second, and then I hurried toward the lobby.

    * * *


    -_During study hall, I sat next to Fiona, the closest thing to a friend I had. She looked up when I sat down, but went right back to her French homework. I started working on my architectural drawing homework. We didn’t usually exchange greetings, we really are just acquaintances; she doesn’t have any real friends and neither do I.
    -_When I looked up, concentrating on trying to remember something, I saw someone I hadn’t seen before.
    -_”Who’s the new kid?” I asked.
    -_She looked up and followed my gaze.
    -_”Derek; he’s in five different classes the same as mine.” She said as she got back to work.
    -_His head snapped up to look at us, and I noticed his eyes were the same piercing green as mine.