I got ready for school and saw Oliver outside my house to walk to school together. He saw me and his expression brightened. I scratched my arm where my uniform itched. "Ugh. These uniforms are so itchy!" I complained.

Oliver sighed when I pulled up my sleeve to expose my eczema infected arm. It was getting better, but still bad. And it annoyed the heck out of me that everything I wore was itchy. "You know, you should definitely get that checked out by a dermatologist. Sometimes I see you scratch so hard you start to bleed." Oliver said concerned.

"Hey, it's really nice you're worried about me... but one: I've already seen a dermatologist. And two: she said there's no cure, and it's common to bleed while scratching."

"It's called brotherly love," said Oliver rolling his eyes. "But she must have given you some type of medicine! It's not like she's just going to tell you, you have eczema and then walk away!"

"Well, she didn't give me anything." I lied. Obviously, I wasn't a good actor as Oliver shook his head.

"You should never try out for the school play," he said almost smirking. "Now show me the medicine you keep in your bag." I groaned but pulled out the Mometasone.

"Please don't make me apply it! It's too greasy!" I cried. To my dismay, Oliver did the exact opposite. It's for your own good, I thought, trying to convince myself. We ran to school in the rain and got soaked head to toe. Luckily we had gym class together first, so our clothes had time to dry.

The school day wasn't so bad... yet. I knew at one point Lora and her friends would run into me, so I spent my free time getting mentally prepared for it telling. What? I didn't want to look like an idiot to the whole school. And I was right as I saw a glittery pink t-shirt blinding my eyes on my left.

I tried to get my math books out of my locker as fast as I could, but sadly, it was no use.

"Hey, geek. What're you doing? Trying to light the entire school on fire with your hair?" Lora said sniggering. Thankfully Oliver had my back.

"Really Lora? It's the same insults you give her every day." he laughed which left me to laugh too. I hadn't realized this until now.

"Can't even come up with anything else? Don't worry, I have enough time you tutor you and Austin." I smirked. Lora scoffed and that's when I felt something cold up my chest... and Lora's empty drink in her hand. I gasped.

"Oops!" she said giggling. "Not so funny now is it?"

"You will regret this," said Oliver darkly. I looked up and saw fire behind his eyes. It was nothing compared to my red hair.

"Ha! I don't think I will." Lora said grinning. I was going to say something when I heard one of Lora's new friends, Penelope, speak up.

"That wasn't cool, Lora," she said boldly.

"Excuse me?" Lora looked quite taken back. I resisted the urge to laugh.

"I thought you were better than this," Penelope said her back straight and head high. Even I, was a little intimidated even though she looked to be on my side. Lora clearly didn't know what to say to that so she said, "Ugh, whatever." and walked away. When she and her friends, with the exception of Penelope, were gone I said, "Thanks, that was amazing."

"Oh please," she started. "The reason was completely selfish, I just wanted to see the looks on their faces when they had no one to bully." We laughed.

"And thank you too," I said smiling to Oliver. He blushed.

"You're welcome. C'mon we have like, two more minutes until math, we better get going. And I think you're going to need to do something about your shirt." he said raising his eyebrows. I had completely forgotten about that.

"It's okay, it's not like I have an extra change of clothes or anything, though I should," I replied thoughtfully.

"Nonsense!" Penelope said. I was surprised.

"What else am I supposed to do?" I asked.

"I have an extra change of clothes. You and I look to be the same size, so you can borrow mine." I was shocked.

Was one of Lora's friends really helping me? I thought. It sure looked like it. And we did appear to be the same size. I erupted into a jumbled, "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" while crushing her into a hug.

She laughed and said, "Your welcome. Now let's go get you changed." Oliver rolled his eyes.

"Girls," he said still smiling.

The rest of the day was quite exciting let me tell you that. Penelope was new to the school and I figured out why when I saw her at Austin's house. I was there to tutor him and apparently, she was just visiting her cousin, who happens to be Austin, but her parents really liked the place... and that's when I also figured out why Lora wants Penelope as her friend. Austin looked disappointed as I left for home, like there was something he wanted to say, but didn't. Oh, well.

I have a feeling Penelope will be a great addition to our group of Oliver and me. She's our friend now and I couldn't be happier.

I laid down in my bed and closed my eyes. Wow, what a day. I smiled.