Tera's make-believe brother came to pick her up early. The sun was barely up when he showed up at her hospital room. He was younger than she expected. Tera had imagined someone much taller, with heavy shoulders, and dressed in black like an undertaker.

The imposter was a kid, around her age and height, dressed in a t-shirt and baggy jeans. He had spiked black hair, a sharp jaw, and lovely tanned skin.

"Tera?" he asked. He smiled, and a dimple appeared on his caramel-colored cheek. "I'm Ailen," he said. "I'm sorry about pretending to be your brother. It's so much stricter at this hospital than at Lavenburg. I just came to pick up your forms."

"These?" Tera asked and drew out the envelope from under her pillow. "This isn't a joke, is it?"

Ailen smiled at her as though her reaction was charming.

"So," he asked as he took the envelope from her. "Did you accept our invitation?"

She nodded.

"Here," Ailen offered as he approached her bedside. "Take my hand. I'll help you up."

Tera wasn't sure if she entirely trusted this strange boy.

She hesitated as he reached out to her. Tera was afraid that if she took his hand, she wouldn't be able to go much further. He probably didn't know that she needed a wheelchair to get anywhere. Suddenly, Tera noticed a figure approaching her door. At first, she thought it was a doctor coming to kick Ailen out, but then she saw the intruder's dark malicious eyes under a pair of bushy eyebrows. He was wearing a pair of pointed-toe cowboy boots. That was no doctor. Tera shakily grasped Ailen's hand in hers and pulled him in close.

"Ailen," Tera whispered. "Did you bring someone with you?"

"Huh? I came by myself," Ailen said, and then he turned his head. At the sight of Ailen, the man backed away and quickly disappeared down the hall. Ailen frowned and pulled back from her. He gathered her envelope under his arm and headed for the door where the man with the cowboy boots had gone. "Aliraine Library, Tera," he said. "Come find me there."

"Wait," Tera said, nearly falling out of her bed. He couldn't be leaving already. "Ailen, I don't know where that is."

It was too late; Ailen was already gone.

*

Neither Ailen nor the strange man would come back that day. Tera ended up calling her grandparents. They said they'll send her sister to pick her up.

Tera didn't even know that Lauren had her driver's license. After a volunteer wheeled her out the main entrance, Tera was waiting for an eternity. During that time, she did discover that not only was she strong enough to walk, she felt better with every step. Finally, Lauren appeared in a beat-up old car that Tera vaguely recognized as being her grandfather's back from before he got sick with dementia.

"So, the doctors say that you can go home now?" Lauren asked, incredulously from inside the car. As Tera clicked open the car door, she noticed Lauren had painted her nails black and had drawn little skulls in WiteOut on them.

"Yup," Tera said. "The surgery went well. I'm fine now."

"Did they really say that?" Lauren asked in shock.

"I can go back to school!"

"I learned to drive while you were away," Lauren explained as they pulled out of the hospital parking lot. "Makes cutting school so much more fun."

Tera laughed nervously as Lauren nearly missed ramming the car into a stop sign. "You're pretty good at this," Tera lied. They drove for a few blocks in silence. Finally, Lauren presented Tera with a box of cigarettes. "Want one?" Lauren asked.

"You smoke?"

"Sure, everyone does."

"All right," Tera said as she picked one of the stray ones hanging out of the side of the crumpled box. She stuck it in her mouth and took a deep breath. Then Tera began to cough uncontrollably. Lauren laughed.

"You have to light it first, silly."

"I don't think I want anymore," Tera said and stuck the cigarette back into the box. "Maybe you should stop too, Lauren. Don't they say that smoking is bad for you?"

"Everyone at Potts does it," Lauren mused as she exhaled a stream of smoke out the window. "You'll see. It's all part of growing up."

"I don't think I want to grow up if that's how it is."

"You're still a little kid, Terror."

"I know that smoking is a bad habit. They tell us that at school."

"Oh, Tera, everyone knows that you don't learn anything useful at school." Lauren rolled her eyes. Tera noticed that she was wearing eyeliner, and her face was powdered white like a geisha. "If you were meant to learn at school, why do they let someone like Aunt Margaret teach there? She hates us; she hates what she teaches. She treats us like we're all idiots."

"Is she that bad?" Tera asked.

"Oh, you'll see," Lauren said with a knowing look. "You'll be coming to Potts in the fall, won't you? Oh, the surprises that are in store for you!" Lauren laughed mockingly. "Don't worry; I'll introduce you to everyone you need to know. We can walk to school together." Lauren handed Tera a lit cigarette. "Here, try again. It's easier after the first one. You're going to have to do this if you're going to hang out with my friends."

The next morning, Tera was back in her old middle school, M.S. 89. She had been out of school for half a year now, and the last time she had been here, she had been in a wheelchair and attended classes with the Special Ed kids. After checking her medical records and finding nothing wrong with her, the administrators placed her in a regular class. As she was assigned a schedule and given directions to her first class, Tera found that she wasn't the only new kid in school.

There was another girl named Sara, who was also going to her first class. Tera was happy to have some company, especially since Sara had the type of deviant looks that would draw all the attention. Sara's hair was stark black and was tied back with a custom made white satin ribbon. She wore an inky silk dress that Tera didn't know people wore outside of classical movies.

First period was Math. Mrs. Appleson had Tera and Sara introduce themselves at the front of the class. As soon as Tera stepped in front of all of them, she suddenly wished she was back at the hospital. There wasn't a single student who smiled back at her or seemed remotely friendly. A student in the front row was loudly banging his chain against the edge of his desk. There was a group of girls giggling just behind him. Tera was sure that the students were giggling at how shabby she looked compared to the delicate Sara.

"I'm Tera," Tera said bluntly. "I live in a house on Horbery Street with my grandparents. "My older sister goes to Potts."

"My name is Sarilandra Lorette Ettwan," Sara said, her eyes narrowed at the hostile audience. "My friends call me Sara, but you should call me Sarilandra," Sara's lip curled up as she added that last part under her breath.

"And where are you from, Sara?" Mrs. Appleson asked curiously. Tera could see why Sara's necklace alone looked like it was worth more than all of M.S. 89.

"I own a modest household in Juturna. I used to live there when I was attending school."

"Juturna?" Mrs. Appleson asked quizzically. "Is that in the city?"

Sara waved that comment away as though it was too trivial to be addressed.

"Juturna does not matter. How about Jubeni?" Sara asked. "Even you must have heard of Jubeni."

Mrs. Appleson went silent. "Well, Sara," she finally said. "We're happy you could join us here at M.S. 89. I'm sure you have a lot to teach us."

Mrs. Appleson turned around to write math problems onto the board. While Tera copied them into her notebook, she realized that her foot was stuck to the floor. As she yanked her leg up, a giant wad of bubble gum flew through the air and landed on her leg. Tera screamed in shock, which sent an eruption of laughter through the class.

Mrs. Appleson spun around and marched up to Tera's desk.

"No gum in class, young lady."

"It's not mine," Tera answered.

"It doesn't matter. You get rid of it," Mrs. Appleson admonished.

"Put it back in your mouth," a boy to Tera's right whispered under his breath, which sent the M.S. 89 kids into fits of laughter once again.

"Quiet," Mrs. Appleson hollered. "Or else you're all going to the principal's office."

"Here," Sara said, handing Tera a handkerchief. "You can wrap it in this."

Tera gratefully took up Sara's offer, and soon the gum was a pretty wad of expensive fabric on the corner of her desk. Even Mrs. Appleson couldn't find fault with that. Although the schoolwork was manageable, she understood that the hardest part of school was figuring out how she was going to protect herself from the other students.

"I've heard of Jubeni," Tera whispered after Mrs. Appleson had gone back to putting up problems. Sara smiled at her.

"I know you have," Sara whispered back. "You're not like the rest of them."

*

If class was hard, lunch period was impossible. In the lunch line, the same boy who had teased her in class, the one named Brandon approached her.

"So it's Anorexic Freak. Where's your buddy, Lux Freak?"

"I'm not anorexic," Tera snapped. "I just haven't been able to eat solid foods for a while." Faced with Brandon's nasty remarks, she suddenly wished that she had decided to skip out on the lunch line as Sara had.

"I can see your ribs," Brandon said, pointing at Tera's collar bone.

"Brandon is a jerk," the girl behind Tera in line chinned in. "I'm Kim, by the way. I like your hair. Is it naturally that color?"

"Yes," Tera replied, relieved that she had an ally in the lunch line. "Thank you. I hardly even brush it."

"Come sit with Jessica and me," Kim insisted as they picked up their respective mystery meats and wilted salads. Tera was happy to see the lunch lady gave her an extra tomato. She felt special. "You don't want to sit with the losers."

As Tera followed Kim to the back of the lunchroom, she momentarily felt guilty for leaving Sara alone. That thought only led Tera to continue faster after Kim with the hopes that Sara won't see her walking away.

"You're not looking for that that rich girl, are you?" Kim asked.

Tera quickly shook her head. "I don't even know her."

"Good. I don't like her. She sounds like a snob. I thought they were going to have scrap her nose off the ceiling this morning."

Tera laughed. Jessica turned out to be a pretty brunette with streaks of blonde in her hair. Tera didn't understand why Jessica's lips were brown until she got close and realized it was a dense layer of lipstick.

"I like your lips," Tera offered.

"Here," Jessica said and rolled over a silver tube of lipstick. "Try it on."

Tera smiled weakly and applied it onto her lips. She couldn't help it. It made her feel like a clown. She laughed.

"Here, rub your lips together like this to even it out," Kim sucked her lips in. "It goes nicely with your dark eyes."

"Really?" Tera exclaimed. "Thank you. I've always wanted real friends."

"Real friends?" Jessica asked. "What kind of friends do you usually have?"

"Imaginary ones," Tera responded. "I have this caterpillar that I talk to. Being here with you is so much better."

Jessica and Kim exchanged glances. Tera had a feeling she already screwed things up.

"I have to go," Jessica said. "I have to meet my boyfriend in the playground."

"Jessica, I'm going to come too," Kim asked. "I have a CD to give to Jason."

"Goodbye, Tera," Jessica said before the two of them stood up and left. Tera finished what was left of her lunch sitting by herself. The rest of the period was uneventful except for a teacher coming by to check their schedules to ensure no one was cutting class. Tera found the idea of cutting class to go to lunch ridiculous. It was much harder to sit alone at a table, keeping her eyes down, trying to be as small as possible than any class. When the bell finally rang, Tera was relieved to be heading to computer tech. She quickly found Sara as she entered a room filled with typewriters from the 1980s.

"Tera," Sara immediately said as though she knew what Tera had in mind. "Are you busy after school? I thought we could do something together."

Tera was about to suggest they visit the neighborhood deli for gum and comics, but then she had a better idea.

"Actually," Tera interjected. "You knew about Jubeni, so I wondered if you'd heard of a place called Aliraine Library."