Friday changed into the weekend and the weekend breezed into Monday. I stood on the blacktop staring hard at the sunlit green field in front of me. The air was stiff with cold, but a refreshing wind eased its way in. My whitish blonde hair pressed against my pursed lips and refused to move. I didn't care.

This was the same field I yelled at Avani, the same field I played with my friends, the same field I told the class I liked tragedies, the same field I'd known since I was in kindergarten. And there was a girl standing all alone in the middle of it, her brown hair yellow in the sunlight. Her back was turned to me, but I knew what her face looked like. Thoughtful, caring, special. So many words to describe this girl.

Somehow, my experience with Bridget had reminded me of Amy's words. You know, Lucia, you need to talk to Avani. You can't avoid her forever. All weekend those words rolled in and out of my head like waves. I couldn't concentrate on my books or on conversations. Everything seemed to relate to apologizing. Maybe Avani was a stretch, but there was somebody who needed me now.

I stepped forward, my hands curled around the ends of my coat sleeves. The long trudge to the center of the field seemed impossible. I forced my feet to move against gravity and not run back as my heart so wanted. After what felt like forever, I stood in the center of the field.

"Isabelle," I said.

The girl with the brown hair whipped around. Strands tickled my face. "Lucia," she exclaimed. Her gray eyes were wider than usual and more lit up than I'd seen them all March. Hopefully that was a good thing. I nodded. I still have a choice, I told myself, I still can turn around.

Taking a shaky breath, I spoke. "Well, recently, I learned how much my words affect people, even if it's just one word."

Isabelle's gaze never lifted from my face. A slight wind chilled my cheeks. "True, but don't everybody's?"

"That's my point. I only thought long, well-planned out words would help, but as I said, they can be small too." My stomach sunk. She wasn't giving the reaction I hoped for. Then again, she hadn't left. "So my learning the power of words kind of helped me figure out I needed to apologize to you. While I directly said those things to Avani, you must've felt them too since all year you've been trying to bring us closer." The slight wind disappeared, letting the soccer game and my voice be heard clear.

"More or less successfully," Isabelle said. She chuckled. "So you're trying to say sorry."

"Exactly." These were the times I loved my friend. My stomach rose. "I'm sorry about saying those things without realizing that you, and thinking about it now, Leila, and Avani were affected."

"Well, apology accepted, but I already forgave you a while ago. I just couldn't find a way to talk to you. Then again, I did have plenty of chances. I guess I must've been worried you were still angry at me." Isabelle reached out and embraced me in a warm hug. A flurry of emotions swallowed me. So many positive feelings swirled around me, making it hard for me to distinguish them all. I don't care. I have Isabelle back. But she always was back, I just needed to let her in.

"Are you ready for the chocolate milk debate?" Isabelle whispered in my ear.

The emotions paused in their dance. "The what?"

~~~

The chocolate milk debate happened right after recess. Last night's homework came back to me as I remembered having to defend cases on both sides.

Ms. Isola passed around a woven basket with little slips of white paper in them. My hands trembled with excitement as I chose a piece in the corner. I opened it up and saw the red letter M. Excitement soared into me. This was the side I made a better argument and claim for. The red meant I was going to prove why chocolate milk should be used in the school. Beside me, a boy held a blue letter M. He would defend the opposing side.

I hadn't been in many debates before and when I had, I hadn't been much of a speaker.

"Okay, people with the red M, go to the right side of the classroom. Blue people stay where you are." Ms. Isola walked to the center of the room.

I stepped forward and made my way to the other side. It was strange seeing the middle of the room so clear. Two tables were backed up along either side of the room with the chairs leaning in front of them.

I sat down, the cool seat invigorating me. My words matter more than I think they do, I thought to myself. I will do this.

"Okay, who wants to read the claims?" Ms. Isola said.

Before I even knew what I was doing, the words slipped out of my lips. "I'll do it."

On the other side of the room, Ms. Raven's eyebrows shot up. Ms. Isola nodded. "I would love it if you do it, Lucia." She passed me a sheet of paper with my claims on them, one not for chocolate milk, the other for. I read the words inside my head, feeling more comfortable.

"Okay, Arya, you go first," Ms. Isola said.

Arya stood up with a loud thump on the opposite side. She ruffled her paper dramatically. "Chocolate milk should be prohibited in school cafeterias because not only does the drink in question include more sugar than regular milk, chocolate milk is more expensive. Also, not all the versions are healthy."

How am I going to beat that? I shivered. Then again, she did limit what they would be saying. After Arya sat down, I stood. I placed my paper on the seat behind me and took a good look at the other side. Arya, Avani, and Summer were their strongest people, but Avani hadn't been her usual self lately. The rest of the people fidgeted with their clothes and whispered to one another. One girl was talking to Ms. Raven.

"Chocolate milk should be allowed in schools because more people buy milk when chocolate milk is an option and it brings in different nutrients to the table just like plain milk. These are only two reasons and we can back it up with plenty more." I picked up my paper off my chair and sat down. My hands trembled and I was glad the paper contained the energy. That was terrible.

Summer stood up after a long pause of silence. "Very true, but in society today, people drink sodas and eat candies and all these sugary foods. Banning chocolate milk will help people down the healthier path." Her articulate voice rang through the classroom.

"This is so stupid," a boy muttered beside me.

Nobody else seemed to want to speak, so I rose. My hands vibrated even harder and it was a struggle to keep holding the paper."But it should be up to the parents to decide what foods or drinks their child consumes."

Arya shot up. "What if the child doesn't have any parents?"

The answer slipped out of my lips. "Then their guardians decide what they consume."

Arya sat down and Summer stood again. "Looking around this classroom, Lucia, there are so many people who probably don't want to listen to their parents about healthy guidelines. This banning of chocolate milk will help those unhealthy people." She sat down.

"Yeah, but we shouldn't all suffer just because of a couple unhealthy people." The words that came out of my mouth shocked me.

Avani rose, her eyes lighting up with excitement I hadn't seen in a while. "Eighty-five and ninety-five at or above the percentile does not equal a couple people. This is a problem to stress about." Throughout her speech, she didn't look me in the eyes. I sat down in my chair, staring at the floor. I didn't know how much time I spent before I realized that was the first time Avani spoke to me since my outburst.

I waited for Isabelle to finish speaking with Arya and for Kaya to finish arguing with Summer, then I stood.

My hands trembled less and I took a few deep breaths before speaking. "How many of you like chocolate milk?"

A few hands shot up right away and slowly more and more people rose their hands. Only a few people didn't and I knew they weren't because they were on the other side. Ms. Raven and Ms. Isola raised their hands, too.

"Right, so case closed." Pride fluttered through me as I sat down.

Isabelle clapped, then my whole team clapped. Summer joined in and then the rest of her team. Surprisingly, Arya did, too. Maybe she didn't like being left out. I could understand that. A few people hooted. My face churned with heat and my lips were in a permanent smile.

"Settle down everyone," Ms. Isola said. "Looks like the red team wins. Great job, everyone who participated. If you feel like you had a good statement, but wasn't able to share it, hand it in the bin for extra credit." The class murmured to each other and a few people slipped their sheets of paper in the bin on top of the iPad cart.

"Now let's get this room back together." Ms. Isola strode over to our side and tugged a table back into place. Others went and joined her or assisted in pulling out the other tables.

As I finished pushing a chair into place, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I whirled around, my long hair whipping me in my face. Avani stood in front of me, her eyes low, but a slight smile on her face.

"Good job, Lucia." She walked away before I could reply. A flicker of happiness lit up inside me and I felt like leaping through the air. Avani was starting to acknowledge me again or was it the other way around? Was I starting to acknowledge her?

"Hey, Lucia, great job," a smooth voice said from my left. I twisted my head to see Pavel standing next to me.

"Oh, hi," I squeaked. Red heat of embarrassment fluttered onto my cheeks. I clutched the table behind me for support. The scarred wood scratched me sweaty palms.

Pavel didn't seem to notice anything different. His brown eyes refused to meet my blue.

"This is gonna sound weird, but I've been wanting to tell you this practically all year." His thick black eyebrows moved closer together. "Well, you know Celio?"

I found the blind boy on the other side of the room talking with Avani. I nodded. "Isn't he your best friend?"

"Yeah, so I've been wanting to tell you... um... that he's been wanting me to tell you... that he wants to tell you he... uh, likes you a lot?" Pavel turned so red I was afraid he would pop, but I didn't look much different. This was not at all what I thought was going to happen.

"Just wanted to let you know," he said. Then he shuffled off to his friend.

"That was awkward," Isabelle said from her seat.

Mckenzie laughed. "That's a bit of an understatement."

I smiled at my two classmates. I wasn't alone. I circled around the table to my chair and sat down. The bottom was still warm from the debate.

"Okay, take out your science MCAS packets and let's go over the answers," Ms. Isola said from the front of the board.

I made sure as we went over the questions to raise my hand as high as possible. Too many good things had happened to me this month and it was time to show it to the class.