I ran my hand through my hair, trying to remember what the heck happened last night. I rubbed my sore temple gingerly, the memory coming back to me. I was running out to see the meteor shower and busted my ass in the hall. At least I’d managed to hit the side of my head so I didn’t have a hideous bump today.

Rubbing the spot, I started to get out of bed, and then an image of Mrs. Houston in a ball gown popped into my head… What was all that about?

A light tap on the door made me turn. My mom stuck her head in and smiled hugely as she saw I was awake. “Good morning, my moonlight,” she said warmly. “Your breakfast is already on the table!”

“Uh, thanks, I’ll be down in a minute,” I said slowly, and she gave me a little wave and left.

I was used to my mom being a little weird, but even for her this was odd—she was usually exhausted after one of her crystal rituals, so I was fully expecting to just grab a Pop-Tart this morning. Huh.

It was later than I usually woke up, so I hurried into jeans, a t-shirt, and boots—I’d had enough of tripping and falling, so no laces for me today. I brushed back my hair into another easy ponytail to poof out at my neck. Already, I was mentally telling Naomi to shut it. But honestly, after yesterday, today couldn’t be any worse.

When I got to the kitchen, my dad and Kamari were already at the table. Dad grinned at me over his paper. “Hey, there she is!”

Kamari smiled too and reached over to pull out my usual chair. “Morning,” he said cheerily, and I waited for him to add “dork” or “weirdo” to that, but…he just kept smiling. Odd. Decidedly odd.

As I sat down, Dad reached behind him and slid my bag over to me. “So I knocked this over last night, and your math test fell out,” he started.

I knew it. They were just luring me into a false sense of security, I thought. Here comes the lecture.

I braced myself, but Dad reached over and squeezed my hand. “It’s okay, Luna. I know math can be a challenge. Why don’t I help you study? We’ll learn those formulas together, and you’ll do better on the retake.”

Thrown, I just stammered out, “Uh, y-yeah, Dad, that would be great. Thanks…”

No lecture? No I know you can do better? Wow, the meteor shower must have put him in a really good mood.

Breakfast was awesome. I actually got to vent about my day yesterday, minus the Demitri parts, and even though they gave me the usual generic parent advice—be the bigger person, rise above, all that junk—it was nice to just be heard.

As Kamari and I headed out, Demitri was approaching our house. The usual flush of God he’s hot rushed through me, but I was used to it by now. He dapped up Kamari and then turned to me with a smile.

“Cool outfit,” he said. “I like the boots.”

“Thanks,” I managed to blurt, absolutely dying inside. He noticed me! He actually noticed me, and I didn’t do anything stupid!

I was so busy texting Chelsea about this absolute miracle, trailing behind them as usual, I didn’t notice the guys were looking at me.

“Lu?” Demitri asked, and my head snapped up.

“Earth to Luna.” Kamari laughed, waving his hand in my face. “Did you hear me, space cadet? I asked what you thought of that movie we watched with Mom. Demitri’s never seen it.”

It took me another second to answer, I was so stunned. Was he really asking my opinion? When he could just be talking to Demitri and pretending I didn’t exist? I was floored, but I wasn’t about to waste this opportunity.

The three of us talked until we reached the school doors, and it was so incredibly normal and fun. I could hardly believe I hadn’t said anything stupid.

“Later, Lu,” Demitri said as we split up.

I gave him what I hoped was a cool little wave. “Later,” I said coolly, internally screaming.

I could not wait to tell Chelsea about this. I, Luna, had actually had an entire, intelligent conversation with Demitri of all people! I was still floating on cloud nine as I slid into my seat, hardly noticing Naomi and her crew sitting behind me.

But then I felt a tap on my shoulder. I sighed, bracing myself as I turned around. Here it comes, I thought. “Look, I know my hair is—”

“Amazing,” Naomi said, smiling broadly at me.

I frowned. “Ha, ha,” I muttered, but she shook her head.

“No, I mean it. Did you do something different with it? It looks great today.”

I waited for the punchline, but it looked like…she actually meant it? This was turning into the strangest day I’d ever had.