"Ariel!" Parker called from across the hallway, over the heads of a thousand students. I stuck my hand up in the air, knowing no other way to let him know I heard him. 

When I got to him, I pretended to trip on a stray pencil and fell into his arms, and he caught me gracefully. That was my favorite thing to do as his girlfriend. Yes, girlfriend. I know, I know. Cute, right?

"Aye!" Professor called from across the the way. I ran over to him, dragging Parker along, and we performed our secret handshake that was quite frankly too complicated for the rest of the Slick Seven to comprehend.

Dope's hands were flailing, and I knew that something was up. Professor was the only translator we had.

"Dope says we should be heading to our next class soon." Professor translated.

"Buzz kill." Grouch muttered.

"Don't be such a grumpy frump!" Joy playfully punched Grouch in the shoulder, who gave him the scariest stink eye I think I've ever seen.

"Guys, guys! Let's be civil." They all settled down, and Shrinking Violet's shoulders lowered in relaxation at the decrease in tension. 

"But Dope's right, we ought to get going." Parker said, intertwining our fingers together and swinging our arms back and forth.

"One more thing." I stopped Parker and grabbed a tissue from Gesundheit's box, tickling Dead Tired's nose with it, who had fallen asleep against the wall. Dead Tired woke up and Gesundheit snatched the tissue from my hand. I laughed and we parted ways, Parker and I heading to chemistry.

The bell had rung just as I sat down next to Parker, my new lab partner. No more Emiline! After Emiline and Josiah had gotten together, Josiah had changed all his classes to match her schedule, and by some magical stretch of the imagination Josiah managed to convince Mr. Richtig that they deserved to be lab partners. And when Kenny Genzalaus, Parker's lab partner, left for boarding school, I saw my opening and took it. Funny how things work out.

As Mr. Richtig started droning on about molecules, I zoned out and looked into the open compact that was lying on my desk. It was weird to see myself and know Leira would never show up. She was always in the back of my mind, critiquing me, but at the same time it was comforting knowing she and I were apart for a while. The fun thing was imagining that someday, somehow, we would meet again. Until that day comes, I thought to myself. This seems like a pretty good place to stay. I smiled and squeezed Parker's hand.