On the first day of school, I curled my hair and put on makeup the way Veronica had taught me. I studied myself in the mirror. It wasn’t bad. I still looked like myself without looking like I was trying too hard. I put on a short denim skirt, a blue top, and sandals.

“Another school year,” I muttered to myself. “Here goes nothing.”

My mom dropped me off and I went to look for my schedule. A crowd gathered around the postings on the wall near the school office. I was sad that summer break was over, but the moving chattering mass was energizing. As I approached the crowd, I saw Marco walking up to it at the same time. Pretending not to see him, I turned my head.

“Lilah!” he said. “Hey!”

“Oh. Hi, Marco,” I said.

“You look nice.”

I cracked a smile. “Thanks.”

Trisha appeared on the other side of him. She narrowed her eyes at me when she saw me and grabbed his arm. “Hey Marco, did you just get here?” A look of annoyance flashed across his face before he turned to look at her. She wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

I ignored them and tried to make my way slowly toward the front like everyone else. It was chaotic. Where is Daisy? I scanned the crowd for her and also for Andreas, but couldn’t find either of them.

In front of me, a chubby boy coming back from the board tripped over someone’s foot and fell into me. Pain shot across my abdomen and I screamed as he dragged me down with him. I twisted out and managed to break free of him, standing up before anyone could see up my skirt. The end of his spiral notebook was coiled in my blue top over my stomach and dangling there. I carefully unhooked it from the fabric and lifted my shirt to inspect the damage. There was a long, red scratch running across my stomach, blood oozing out of it. It stung like crazy.

The boy looked at it wide-eyed. “Oh, whoa, I’m sorry! Someone tripped me. Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” I grimaced. “It hurts like hell, though.”

“You should go to the nurse.” He had a baby face and looked like a freshman.

“I think you’re right.”

“What happened?” I looked up to see Marco moving toward me. “Are you okay?”

Some kids stared, but they quickly lost interest and continued toward the board.

“Yeah, it was just an accident,” I said. I pointed to the boy. “He fell and his notebook scratched me.”

Marco glared at the boy. The boy widened his eyes and took a step back.

“It’s okay,” I said. “It’s not his fault. I just need to go to the nurse.”

Marco looked at the scratch and winced. “Ouch. Do you want me to go with you?”

“No, I can do it on my own.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” I waved him away.

He looked at the board. “Do you need me to get your schedule for you?”

I shook my head and moved away from the crowd toward the Nurse’s office. “No. I can get it myself. Thanks.”

The Nurse wasn’t in her office when I got there. The door was locked and the lights were off. I waited a few minutes, but she didn’t show up. Maybe Ms. Edie in the school office could track her down. I held my shirt away from my body so the blood wouldn’t stain it and walked back toward the school office. The crowd in front of the postings was smaller.

When I walked in the office, my heart nearly stopped. Andreas was standing there with Ms. Edie and a skinny, buck-toothed girl with thick glasses named Millie Peterson. He looked great in a black t-shirt and jeans. Ms. Edie barely glanced at me.

“Now Millie, give him a quick tour of the school and then show him where his locker and classes are,” she said.

“Yes, Ms. Edie,” said Millie pushing her glasses up on her nose. She shifted nervously and avoided looking directly at Andreas.

“Oh, there’s one more form you need to fill out,” said Ms. Edie handing Andreas a sheet of paper. He started to fill it out on the counter.

Ms. Edie finally focused her attention on me and noticed how I was holding my shirt. “Is there something wrong?”

Millie turned around to look at me, but Andreas continued to fill out his form.

I stepped closer to the counter between Andreas and Millie and lifted my shirt for Ms. Edie to see. “I got scratched accidentally by someone’s notebook.”

“Oh, my goodness!” she said and handed me a tissue from the counter.

I thanked her and dabbed at the cut. “The nurse wasn’t in her office and the door was locked.”

Millie leaned forward to take a closer look. “Nice abs.”

I laughed, feeling uncomfortable. Millie was a little odd, but I always liked her. I glanced at Andreas. He was staring sideways at my stomach. Without a word, he turned back to his form.

The door opened and Marco walked in.

Everyone turned to look at him. I opened my mouth, but no words came out.

“I thought I’d find you here,” he said to me. “The Nurse’s office is closed.” He looked at Ms. Edie and smiled. “Hello Ms. Edie.”

She smiled. “Hello, Marco. Nice to see you again.”

He looked at Millie and smiled at her like he would smile at any pretty girl. “Hey, Millie.”

Her face turned bright red, but she beamed. “Hi, Marco.”

I narrowed my eyes. Did he always try to charm the ladies or was it natural?

He handed me a sheet of paper. “I got your schedule for you.”

What the-? I took the paper from him. “Um, thanks.”

Ms. Edie got on the phone trying to track down the nurse. Andreas pushed his form over to her. She took it and motioned for him to follow Millie. When she hung up she told me the nurse was back in her office. I thanked her and turned to go. Marco followed me.

Outside the office, I stopped and turned to face Marco. “Why did you get my schedule? I told you I could get it myself.”

He paused, then smirked. “You know you could just say thank you.”

I blinked, feeling like a jerk. “Thank you. But why did you do it?”

“I don’t know.” He seemed to be thinking about it. “I don’t normally do things like that, but for some reason I wanted to.” He flashed me a grin and leaned toward me. “I guess I like you.” He turned and walked down the hall.

I stood there staring after him in confusion, not sure if he was planning some joke that Trey put him up to or if he was still trying to play me. Now he knows my whole class schedule. If he looked at it. Did he? What would he do with it if he did?