•Tyler•

     The remaining weeks pass, and before you know it, back to school ads are on TV (which everyone finds so hard to believe), school supplies sales are in the paper, and registry begins. Who ever came up with the idea of school? You sit in classes with a teacher teaching to students they don't care about (except for the favorites, of course. The rest are just nobodies) while the students are frying their brains being around the same people every weekday for an estimated nine out of twelve months of the year. What's the benefit? I have yet to figure that out.
    Despite my hatred for school, I drag myself out of bed and go through my morning routine. I run upstairs, grab a pop tart, and head out the door to my car. My mom takes Maddy, Jay, and Zack to school being that Maddy and Jay are only twelve and seven. Zack is fifteen.
    Mrs. Black gave me permission to drive Jenna to and from school, so I take the turn to her house. The pretty blonde girl is waiting on her porch for me when I pull up. She struts down the stoop, her heels making her sound like a horse as she strides across the concrete. Wind ruffles the blue skirt that I chose over text last night after she insisted that I be the one to make the decision. I feel proud of my choice. Her maroon shirt matches the skirt well.
    "Did you sleep well?" I ask as she shuts the car door.
   "Eh," she says. "I was too nervous."
   "You should've texted me. I don't fall asleep until late, anyhow."
   She plays with her hands and shrugs. "It's okay. I managed. I'm just nervous because of a new school and all."
   I nod. "Seems reasonable."
   "Can I see your schedule?"
   I pull it out of my skinny jeans pocket as I'm backing out and toss it to her. She holds it next to her own schedule sheet.
   "Looks like we have math, science, and English together," she finally states.
   "I call you as my lab partner."
   "You are not looking off of my chemistry homework."
   I laugh. "I didn't say anything about that! Calm down!"
   Jenna grins and rolls her eyes. "Okay, fine." She puts her schedule in the mesh pocket of her navy blue bag and tosses mine to my lap. We sit in silence until we pull into the school parking lot five minutes later.
   We climb out, Jenna shouldering her backpack as I remove my gym bag from the back seat. I turn to her. "Ready?"
   "I guess," she says quietly, her eyes bouncing off of the people mingling in front of the building.
   I loop my arm through hers. "Let's go." We make our way to the doors, dodging people that are heading back to the parking lot.
    My eyes search the crowd until I spot someone leaning against the wall with flaming orange hair. "Hey, Traffic Cone!"
   The boy whips around, fists clenching. His gaze and hands relax when he spots me, a smile spreading across his face.
   "I see someone has dyed their hair for back to school," Jenna says, smirking as we approach.
   Josh grins. "The purple was starting to fade."
   "Dude, you're gonna get made fun of for your hair," I warn.
   "I'll beat em'," he says, growling.
   Jenna laughs. "No offense, but you're a teddy bear."
   Josh lunges toward. "Why you....!"
   Jenna squeals and hides behind me, causing me to laugh. Her eyes land on the boy standing behind Josh. "Who's this?"
    "Oh, this is Mark. Mark Eshleman. He helps us with our band. Mark, this is Jenna."
   Mark leans forward and extends a hand. "Pleased to meet you."
    "The same goes to you," she replies.
    I pull out my schedule to compare with Josh and Mark's. "Looks like we all have chemistry together, which will be interesting."
   "See, that means you have two other copies of chemistry homework to look off of." Jenna nudges me.
   "Looks like someone got a girlfriend over the summer," Mark teases. Heat spreads across my face.
   "I'll explain at lunch," I say. The bell suddenly rings, causing all of the students to stampede toward the entrance. I grab Jenna's arm. "I'll show you to the office. Tell them you're new. The counselor should be able to show you where everything is at."
   "Okay," she says. I lead her through the stream of people to the office around the corner of the hallway.
   Holding open the door, we walk in, catching the attention of the desk lady. "She's new," I say. "Someone needs to show her around."
   The desk lady nods. "I'll page the counselor. You may head to class."
   "See you in fourth period," I whisper in Jenna's  ear. I then turn and walk out the door.

     •Jenna•

    I take a seat in an overstuffed chair while waiting for the counselor. I glance up when a short woman with dark, shoulder length hair walks through the door. She looks like she's in her thirties. When the office lady gestures to me, I know that the short woman is the guidance counselor.
   She turns to me and walks forward, flashing a gleaming white smile. "Hi, I'm Mrs. Oakes, the school's guidance counselor. I hear you're new?"
I nod. "What's you're name, dear?"
   "Jenna Black. I'm a senior," I reply quietly, handing her my schedule.
   She skims it. "Okay, follow me." I rise and follow her out the door. Our heels click against the tile as we pass rows of gray lockers. She stops at number 357. "This is yours. The combination is on your schedule sheet." She keeps walking and gestures to a hallway branching off on the right. "Here's this building's bathrooms."
   I continue to follow Mrs. Oakes down winding hallways until she shows me all of my classrooms. Then, she escorts me back to my first period room.
   "Have a good day, Jenna," she says as she leaves me at the door of World History. I take a deep breath and step into the classroom.

    Well, I've survived two class periods so far. I stop by my locker before third period to deposit my world history textbook. Lockers shutting, papers rustling, and one way conversation fill the air. The noises are so distracting that I don't notice a dark-haired boy next to me until I close my locker door. He stares at me, his gaze making my skin crawl.
    "Can I help you?" I say, adding some sass to my voice.
   He crosses his arms and leans against the locker beside me. "Actually, yes," he says in a deep voice. I raise an eyebrow. "Are you the girl that's dating Tyler Joseph?"
   "Yes...," I say. More people must have noticed us than I thought. "Why?"
   He clicks his tongue. "That's a shame. You could do better."
   I narrow my eyes. "What do you mean?"
   The mysterious boy leans forward, blowing his hot breath in my face. "He's a freak," he spits. "A suicidal freak. You should stay away from him for your own good."
    I shake my head. "You don't know anything about him."
   "I think I do, sweetheart. Last year, he was going to jump off of the school bell tower. He would've went through with it if his buddy, Josh hadn't run up there and saved him."
   I roll my eyes.
   "I'm doing you a favor by saying you should lose him."
   "And I'm doing you a favor by saying that you should mind your own business if you know what's good for you," I hiss, gripping his shirt collar. "Now leave me alone." I march away to third period speech. That boy doesn't know what he's talking about. Tyler isn't like that.