"Locker 342," I read aloud from my class time table, "where the heck is that?"  I glanced over at Dinah, hoping she can help me again.  Dinah just shook her head and said, "Dang it!  We're not going to be together.  I have to walk all the way to the other side of the school!  Sorry, Meg, I can't help you."  I must have given a pretty good deflated look because Dinah had a look of thoughtfulness on her face.  "I know who might be able to, though!" Dinah cheered and instantly whipped out her phone, madly texting her friends.  A minute later, Susan and Elliot appear and lead me arm and arm to my locker, chattering madly about some strange thing I didn't understand.  I felt as if my first day would be lonelier without Dinah Colby.

Homeroom was with Mrs. Isselton, and it was the usual, dull and boring.  Next was history with an old fogey teacher, Mr. Johnnson, who seemed to hate us all and our "new fangled" ways.  Then, I had English with Mrs. Isselton again, and finally, it was lunch.

In the cafeteria, I scanned the densely populated area for Dinah and her gang.  I see Kaelyn surrounded by a group of prissy girls in pink, flirting with football players or whatever.  I guess she's fine, I thought.  Before school started, Mom made Kaelyn and I promise that if one sister was having a rough time, then the other one would come and help.  But, Kaelyn would rather die than help me.  Anyway, seeing that my older, Grade Eleven sister was fine, I swished by her table without batting an eye.

I saw Dinah's gang right in the centre of the cafeteria so I plopped myself down right by Dinah.  I opened my lunchbox and began to eat my cherry yogurt.  I look around the table and notice that everyone I met from the Bbq was there.  Dinah was on my right and Anna was on my left.  Peter was beside Dinah and Sam was beside Peter.  Piper was sitting across from me, with Susan on her right and Carl on her left.  Elliot was beside Carl.  Dinah finally noticed me, after having a long conversation with Peter and said, mouth full of Thai food, "Oh, good!  You're here!"

"Yep!" I said quietly, still a bit cautious of Dinah's crowd.  Slowly, I settled down as we discussed very important topics:  What clubs to join, who to like, who to avoid?  Until, we here a girl's voice from behind us, asking, "Can I sit here?"

I turn and see a girl with a million freckles and small amounts of acne.  Her eyes are a dull hazel underneath her blond eyebrows.  Her blond hair was done in a long, French braid, that went down to her waist.  She wore army green capri pants and a white high-low T-shirt.  Over that, she wore a black leather jacket.  She also wore black combat boots.  She looked like someone who I wouldn't want to mess around with, until I saw her scared, mousy, facial expression, and I knew she was no one to fear.  She gripped her lunch tray like it was a lifeline, waiting for us to answer.  I looked at Dinah, who was staring blankly at her thermos of Thai food, as well as everyone else.  "Just ignore her!" Piper hissed at me, "She'll go away eventually!"  So I did.

"Can I sit here?" the girl asked again.

Finally, Dinah made a small, fake cough, and snapped, "Go away, lesbian!"

"Okay." the girl responded flatly and stalked away out of the cafeteria.

"What was that about?" I asked Dinah, "Why was everyone ignoring her?"

"You asked about her at the Bbq," Dinah told me (I was beginning to suspect that Dinah had the memory of an elephant, she remembers everything), "Ember's her name and she is a lesbian girl.  Omigosh, lesbians are so weird!"

"You should avoid her." Elliot said, "She's a strange, little-"

Carl started laughing loudly, "What are you talking about?  You danced with her before, don't be mean to your ex, Ellie!"

"It was Grade One!" mourned Elliot, embarassed.  

Carl turned to me, "Seriously, Megan, I would avoid her.  She goes after girls like you."

Like me?  I wondered, what was so special about me?  I mean, my hair was dead straight and dull no my eyes were boring too.  I looked down at my outfit, it was nothing special.  I had just worn a purple and white striped, three quarter length T-shirt, lavender ballet flats with purple roses on them, blue jean shorts that passed the dress code, and a white hairband.  Nothing as crazy as Dinah's outfits or Piper's pixie cut or whatnot.  I'm just average, I guess.  Why would Ember like someone like me?  

"Okay, okay, okay!" Anna waved her hands everywhere, "Let's change the subject!"  And we talked away the rest of the lunch break.

Next up, I had science.  The lab was very creepy with strange jars with floating things- Organs?  Animals?  I don't know, it was all very strange.  The science teacher, Mr. Earl, looked like Dr. Evil from one of those weird movies Mom and Dad made me watch when I was twelve.  Bald and scary.  He also was sipping tea out of a bluish grey mug.  He gave me the shivers.  Before we could begin, the door opened and Ms. Kings, an assistant teacher, stepped in.  "Excuse me, Mr. Earl," she said, "Mrs. MacKenzie needs to talk to you."  (Mrs. MacKenzie is the Vice Principal.)  

Mr. Earl's scary, caterpillar-like eyebrows, furrowed together as he grunted, "I'll be right over!"  He turned to face us, "You better be good while I'm gone!"  And with that, he left his tea on the counter, and left us, the classroom unsupervised.  Slowly, the classroom began to get louder and louder, as us teenagers began laughing and shouting and pushing each other around.  I recongnized Elliot and Sam right away and waved at them.  They must have not seen me because they ignored me and made there way towards the front of the classroom.  As they walked past my desk, the one front centre, Sam suddenly dropped something.  "Oops!" he exclaimed, "Must have dropped my pencil case or something!"  He bent over and picked it up as Elliot pretended to kick him in the shins.  Suddenly, the door flung open and Mr. Earl roared, "Back to your seats!  This is a classroom, not a monkey house!  I expect you to behave like adults!  Not like five-year-old children!"  He looked on the counter and everyone else looked too, and noticed his tea was missing!  "I like my earl grey tea." Mr. Earl said coldly, "Which one of you stole it and where did you hide it?"

Slowly people started shaking their heads, trying to appear innocent.  I began swinging my legs, a habit I have when I get nervous.

Clunk!

I felt something wet spill over my flats and across the floor.  I looked down and I almost fell apart inside.  It was Mr. Earl's earl grey tea.  Mr. Earl must of noticed this too, because he turned to me and read my name off the class list which he had folded in his pocket.  "Miss Maxwell, I never would have thought someone like you would be a thief!"

"But I-" I protested.

"Please wait until I'm finished.  I expect you to go and clean up this mess and go and fetch me another cup of tea from the teacher's lounge!  Now!" Mr. Earl ordered.

"Yes, Mr. Earl." I squeaked, hurrying towards the paper towels.  As Mr. Earl began his lesson, my classmates tried to pay attention, but their eyes kept falling down to me.  I knew what they were thinking:  New girl.  Hides teacher's tea.  Spills it over her medeokre shoes and has to get down on her hands and knees to clean it up.  I don't want to be her friend.  As I wiped the floor with the paper towel, a lump built up in my throat.  When I was leaving the classroom, a tear slid down my nose.  I quickly darted out and slammed the door.

I ran down that halls as hard as I could, and ended up by the teacher's lounge somehow.  I quietly knocked on the door, knowing I'd be questioned, students aren't supposed to be in there.  In cringed as I heard the hard voice of, "Come in."  I entered a small room, with two plastic plants in either corners and ugly floral pattern chairs and couches arranged to be circling a coffee table covered with newspapers.  Mrs. Isselton and two other teachers I didn't know sat around on those tea.  "There was a spill," I began, trying as hard as I could to sound nonchalant, "Mr. Earl has sent me to get another cup of tea."

"Back door." Mrs. Isselton said in the most rude manner, jabbing her thumb to a big, oak wood door.  I opened it and hurriedly poured some water in from the copper coloured kettle.  I fumbled through the cupboards and found a box of earl grey tea bags.  I let one sink into the bottom of the tea.  Seeing that the tea was done, I went out of that crazy room before Mrs. Isselton could say, "Don't run."

As I was walking back, avoiding any possible spills, I looked down at my ballet flats.  "Oh, shoot!" I muttered, staring at the dried up tea on my once lavender slippers, "Mom is going to kill me!"

"You okay?" I heard a voice behind behind me and whipped my head around.  Unlike Ember's name, I could remember this girl's name for some reason.  "Marionette!" I said.

"The one and only!" Marionette said, "Gosh, I wish I had a different name, 'Marionette' sounds like a doll's name."

"No, I like it." I replied, and I really did like it!  It was nice and rare.  "I'm Megan." I told her.

"I remember, the one from Winsconsin, right?" Marionette asked.

"Yep!" I said.

"I love Winsconsin.  I've never been there, but it sounds like a dream world!  Like everything is Little House on the Prarie!" Marionette said, wistfully.

"Maybe one day you can go." I told her.

"Maybe..." Marionette said, hugging herself.  But, she turned serious and asked, "I saw you and you looked pretty upset when Mr. Earl made you go and fetch him another cup of tea.  I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"You're in my science class?" I hadn't been paying attention to who was in my class or not.

Marionette nodded at me and said, "I told him that I had to go to the washroom so I could make sure you were okay."

"Oh, wow!"  I couldn't believe someone would actually do that for me!  "Thanks," I said, flattered, "that's so thoughtful, Marionette."

"Your welcome." Marionette said matter-of-factly.  She looked at the clock resting on a wall.  "C'mon," she pulled me along, "let's head back to class."

I couldn't believe it, but my day just got a heck of a lot better!