Fairview High School was bustling with enough people to make your head spin. It was nearly impossible to hear yourself talk because of the noise. Two thousand students made the school not only big but also on the edge of being impossible to navigate if it's your first time being there. I heard about it when Larry complained his first year of getting lost and winding up five minutes late to his first class. I didn't believe him, instead attributing it to his having a poor sense of direction.

Not the case.

I found this out the hard way.

Larry and I arrived at school around seven, giving us time to hang out before the first bell. I found my locker and opened it with the school-issued combination. About the time I got my things inside, I heard footsteps rushing to me. I turned to see who they belonged to.

A Hispanic guy stood over me, another Hispanic guy that was nearly identical right behind him. I smiled at them. "Hi! Is one of you sharing the locker with me?" I asked.

The one closest to me glanced around comically and looked back at me. "It would seem so," he said in lightly accented English.

"Great. Well, I took the top, but if you want it, you can have it since I didn't ask first."

"That's okay – I don't mind the bottom." He glanced at the guy with him and he nodded. Then he gave me a smile. "What's your name?"

"Daisy Jenkins. What's yours?" I couldn't believe I'd forgotten to introduce myself. His smile widened and-

Oh wait. Yes, I could believe I forgot.

"Mario Lopez." He held out his hand and I shook it. "We meet again."

"Pardon?" Again? I surely would have remembered a richly tanned guy with wavy black hair and a pair of eyes that are a honey brown – eyes that felt like they could stare into my soul.

He chuckled in a soft way that lured chills to my skin, adding to the ones the air conditioning gave me when I came in. "Yes, again. We used to play together as kids when we were in Bear Creek."

I thought back. I remembered several Hispanic kids playing with me, but none of them could be this guy that probably made every girl fall in love with him by flashing a smile. But I also remembered their names: Dan, Rebecca, Amanda – and Mario. "No way."

He laughed outright this time and nodded. "Yes, way. Oh, and this is Dan." He gestured to the other guy.

The guy behind him stepped forward and shook my hand as well. "Nice to see you again." A slightly heavier accent than his brother, but still barely there.

"Likewise. Where did you guys go, anyway?"

Mario shifted his weight and took a step closer to the locker, setting his bag down with a thump in the bottom. "Here and there." He stood and began ticking off places. "First, we moved across Boulder, then we moved to Branson, St. Louis, New York City, Sacramento, San Francisco, Atlanta, and Dallas."

"So pretty much everywhere in the consecutive forty-eight," I said, my voice tinged with amazement.

He shrugged. "I guess." His eyes shifted to someone behind me.

I turned and found George at his own locker, just two over from mine. He opened it and glanced up. I swear, his face could have lit all of Boulder when he saw me. It made me blush as I smiled back. "Hey," he said coming over, forgetting his backpack at the locker. His arms enveloped me, holding me loosely in an embrace. "Long time, no see." His deep voice seemed to vibrate through me. He had sandy hair that he kept slightly long so it would flop into his eyes. All it had really managed to do was get me to imagine how soft it would feel to run my fingers through it.

"Too long." I grinned at him.

"You look happy. What's the verdict?" He was already smiling. He knew.

"Yes."

He laughed once and pulled me into a tighter hug. A moment later he pulled back. "Does that mean we can go out Friday?"

I felt my smile fade. "No. I still have to wait until I turn seventeen. But it's only two months."

He nodded, still looking happier than I'd seen him in a while. "That's fine. We've waited this long, so what's two more months?" He leaned closer and kissed my cheek.

"Ahem." The noise startled us and we jumped apart. We both looked at Mario and Dan, suddenly remembering they were there. Mario smiled at us. "Boyfriend?"

"Not quite," I answered, blushing. "Almost."

George nodded at them. "George Downs."

"Mario Lopez. This is my brother, Dan."

They nodded at each other. "Twins?" George asked, sliding an arm around my shoulders.

Dan grinned, revealing dimples. "Not quite. We're actually quadruplets. It's us and two sisters. They're off in the ladies' room, putting on their makeup or something."

"Any other siblings?"

Mario nodded. "A set of twins, Jimmy and Maria. They're seniors this year."

"So is my brother," I said.

"Then they're probably going to be in some classes together," Mario said, nodding. "Does he know them?"

I shrugged. "I have no idea. I wasn't as close to Larry back then as I am now. Back then we mostly tried to avoid each other. It was the stage where younger sisters were icky or annoying and older brothers were the ones you tried to avoid as much as possible." I laughed quietly and George chuckled. I could feel him looking at me, but when I looked at him, he was already looking at Mario again.

"What are your classes?" he asked Mario. We'd already compared our lists and found we shared a few classes.

Mario dug around in his backpack and pulled out a sheet of paper. "Do we have any classes together? I have no idea where any of these rooms are, so I hope so." He held the paper where we could see it.

I quickly scanned it and smiled at him. "Hey! We have all the same classes!"

George smiled, too. "Weird, but at least you got someone to help you find your classes."

Mario nodded. "We share a locker, too, so I'm all set."

George's smile faltered, but the gesture was so quick I questioned whether I really saw it. "What about you, Dan?"

Dan fumbled around and then handed us his schedule. "Please tell me I have classes with one of you. I don't know anything about this school, either."

"We have the same," George said. Then he squinted at Dan. "I wonder if we share the same locker."

Dan shrugged. "Maybe. My number is that way, I think." He gestured towards George's locker. "Let's see." He walked in that direction and stopped in front of George's locker. "Guess so," he said when he came back. He grinned at him. "You'll get tired of me by the end of the first semester." He chuckled and I got the feeling he was trying to fit in. What he didn't know was that we were all, in some way, misfits. None of us participated in anything we didn't have to, which made us – academically, at least – somewhat peculiar.

George and I didn't really plan to go college. Our plan was to get away from Boulder. We wanted go to L.A. and figure out what we wanted to do. As much as I loved the mountains and thought they were the best place to retreat to after a hard day and draw, I wanted a change of scenery.

Everyone else I'd met at school was involved in something to make their college apps look good. Like my best friend, Susan. She and I shared a locker freshman year, but I'd known her for a long time. She wanted to go to a good college so she could become a lawyer or a teacher – she wasn't sure which yet – so she did volunteer work somewhere in Boulder and participated in no less than three extracurricular activities. I got tired just thinking about all she did.

George nodded and glanced at Mario. "Well, I'll make sure you get where you need to go. Don't worry about it."

Dan nodded. "Thanks, man. Hey, I saw they have a drama club here. How do I get in?"

"You'd have to talk to the club and the advisor," I told him with a shrug. "I haven't done anything like that since freshman year when I was in both our musical and play. Before that I was into that stuff, but, well." I shrugged.

Mario looked intrigued. "What roles did you get?"

I smiled. "Back in elementary I got the background stuff, but once I started middle school, I always got the lead, including freshman year."

He looked impressed. "Nice." He glanced around. "Is it time for first period yet?"

I glanced at my watch. "No, but we need to start heading that way. Come one. See you guys later." I walked towards my first class, Mario trailing me. Once we got to a stretch where the hallway thinned out, he walked next to me.

"You know, I also love the theater," he said.

I glanced over. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yep." He paused for a moment, as if thinking about something. "Do you have any plans today, or can we hang out some?"

"George and I were planning on hanging out with his friends today, and Susan is busy with her stuff after school. She's in several of the clubs and stuff here," I explained. "But, yes, we can hang out. If you want, we can hang out with George for a while and then go do something else."

He nodded with a smile. "Sounds good. We have a lot of catching up to do, seeing as how I moved in fourth grade."

I grinned. "That was a long time ago."

"Seven years ago. I remember it very well."

"Did you ever go to L.A.?"

He nodded. "Once. Jimmy was in a surfing competition there."

I stopped walking in surprise. "Your brother surfs?"

Mario stopped and turned to me. "Yes." He smiled again. "Is it that surprising?" I blushed, embarrassed. He tapped my arm. "It's okay. Maria surfs, too."

We began walking again. "Do you surf?"

"No. Amanda tried it and got pretty good, but just her. I was the one that stayed more indoors reading or something." He looked away.

"Cool. I never really did like being outside, either. The only time you can find me outside is when I go to the Sunset Amphitheater. I usually go there to draw because it's so peaceful."

He raised an eyebrow. "You're an artist?"

I shrugged. "I draw. I wouldn't say I'm good, though. At least, not good enough to be an artist."

"I'd like to see your stuff," he told me as we walked into the classroom.

I smiled to myself as I sat down in the front row. "Maybe."