Sandy walked into school. "Another painful day…" she whispered. She didn't want to go to first period. She didn't want to have to face HIM. She had been in love with Avery Marks ever since they met in sixth grade. Now, two years later, Avery's appearance and attitude had changed. Sandy didn't like the new Avery, but the new him was getting more girl's attention…including her own. Every day, in first period, Sandy would find him sitting in the corner surrounded by girls. She wondered if she should ever join him. She actually tried once. Things didn't go well.

FLASHBACK: ONE MONTH AGO

Sandy was going to try it. She was going to try to sit with the "popular girls" surrounding Avery. She set her binder down and tried to pep talk herself. "It won't be so bad." she assured herself. "I mean, what's the worst that could happen?" She cringed at her own question. That's the question that every person asks themselves before things go terribly wrong. But, then again, she was't living in a movie. She grabbed the book she was reading, (in case things went badly) and trudged to the popular corner. She couldn't stop staring at Avery. No more glasses, no more braces. Swarmed by girls who would probably chase her off. "Hey, Sandy?" a sugary voice called. Awoken from her daze, she looked up. Alice Feldman was sitting next to Avery, waving wildly at Sandy as if she were across the hall. With her long blonde hair, and flawless complexion, Alice was by far the most popular girl in the entire eighth grade. "Oh Sandy, why don't you sit with us?" Alice asked. She put on a huge smile. The red-headed girl in a mini skirt sitting on the other side of Alice gave her a look that plainly said "WHAT?! Are you nuts?!" But Alice ignored her. "Oh Maggie, sweetheart, won't you go move somewhere else and let poor Sandy have a seat next to me?" she said gesturing to the girl. This only made her huff even more, but Alice winked at her, and flashed a brilliant smile that had somewhat of a nasty tone to it. Sandy didn't seem to notice. She was still trying to get over the shock of actually being invited to sit with them. Maggie grudgingly left, but tripped Sandy on the way. She stumbled onto the chair, this caused a fit of laughter to erupt from the group. Sandy blushed madly, but sat down and tried to laugh. "So Sandy, what made you want to sit with us today?" Alice asked. Everyone's eyes were on her. "Uh… I don't know. I just thought that maybe…" "Because every day all you do is sit at your desk all by your lonesome." Alice interrupted. The group was silent, but trying not to laugh. Alice wasn't finished. "I mean really, Sandy, all I ever see you do is sit there and read." she continued. Suddenly, she snatched the book that Sandy tried to put under her chair and read the title out loud. "The Marine Biology Sciences of Today" Maggie, who was eavesdropping from behind let out a snicker. Alice looked very confused."Well, I haven't read this. Maybe you could tell me about it?" she drawled. Sandy's eyes lit up. FInally! A subject she could talk about! She started talking about all the different types of aquatic creatures, she could name all the types of fins, and continued on about her favorite type of fish. She was unknowingly starting a riot. When she was finished, Alice piped up. "That's very interesting Sandy." she said, sounding not at all impressed. A girl leaned over to Avery and whispered in his ear, "What a geek." It was loud enough for Sandy to hear, and to her horror, Avery laughed.

Before anything else could happen, she jumped up and yelled "What did you call me?!" She didn't know where she was going with this. She felt a mixture of anger, and sadness. She couldn't believe Avery was agreeing with her! The girl looked up and said with an evil grin. "Oh Sandy, sweetheart, we weren't talking about you." She pursed her lips. Sandy wrinkled her brow. "You called someone a geek, and I want to know who you were talking about." she asked plainly. The girl just shrugged. "I wasn't calling anyone a geek. You must be hearing things." she smirked. Alice stood up and walked behind the girl. She started playing with her bun that swept all of her thick, brown hair tightly against her pale scalp. Alice puckered up her lips, and made a sad face. "Oh please, Dee. Tell us who's such a big geek." she pleaded as she played with the loose hairs hanging from her bun."Thanks, Alice." Sandy muttered. Dee just adjusted her bun. Then Avery spoke. "She was talking about Chris, over there." he said pointing to a boy wearing a large army jacket. His dark hair hid most of his face as he hunched over a poetry book. Sandy had known Chris ever since kindergarten when he spilled his juice box and she gave him her own. Best friends from that day forward. Sandy thought he was quite attractive, but she would never even consider going with him. She didn't like him like that, and she didn't want to ruin a great relationship. He would have girls flocking all over him if it weren't for his strange interests. Bug dissection, star gazing, cake decorating,(some thought it was girly) and his favorite, poetry. He was in the middle of reading a Shakespeare book…again. Sandy couldn't understand how he read that over and over again.

Sandy stared at Chris, then back at Dee. She just scowled. It was sweet of Avery to make something up to save her, but she wasn't buying it. Sandy scoffed, "Anyone else?" she folded her arms. "Well, what about Willa over there?" she suggested. A ball of fire was rising in Sandy's throat. Willa was her best girl-friend. She became best friends with her since they met in choir. She was put in charge of giving her a tour of the school in sixth grade, because everyone else at her old school went somewhere else for middle school, so she wouldn't have anyone she knew there with her. Well, there was Dylan McManning. But Willa didn't know him well enough to ask him to be her first friend of these school. That was probably smart. Things might have ended up badly. She could imagine dirty jokes and being teased about them being each other's only friend. Thank goodness Sandy was there. Of course, the first person she introduced Willa to was Chris.

Then Alice smiled ear to ear. "See? They weren't talking about you!" she promised. Arms still crossed, Sandy spoke slowly. "I don't believe you. And even if you weren't talking about me, Willa and Chris are my best friends." The crowd "ooooooohed". Alice's jaw dropped. "You like Chris?!" she squealed loudly. So loud, in fact, Chris looked up from his book and walked over at the sound of his name. How the heck was she gathering this from saying she was friends with him?! Sandy was speechless. Chris walked up behind her. "What's up?" he asked to the circle of bug-eyed populars. Realizing Sandy was in from of him, he poked her, and pretended to roll his eyes. "What could be SOOOOO important, that you just had to interrupt me from my Shakespeare?" he laughed teasingly. Sandy turned to face him. "They think I like you!" she squeaked. Chris frowned slightly. "You don't?" Sandy's heart sunk. Chris was not helping. The crowd just "ooooooohed" again. Someone said Oh, BURN!" Sandy rolled her eyes. "NO. They think I have a crush on you." she said. Chris's eyes widened. 'YOU DO?!" he shout whispered. Sandy was losing it. "NO! They THINK I do, but I DON'T! Chris, you're my best friend! Don't you think that would be a little awkward?!" Sandy blurted out in on breath. The crowd was silent. In fact, the whole room was silent, and most students that were not in the circle were staring. Chris let out a sigh of relief. "Ohhhhhh. Ok, yeah, same here. See, I think of you as my sister, and that would be weird if I were to date my sister." he laughed. Sandy made a face at him. "Good, I'll tell Angela you said so!" she winked. Angela was his younger sister who was just starting sixth grade. Sandy though of her as her sister too.

Alice finally spoke up after the tension had died down. "Awww. You guys are so cute together. You tease each other and everything! That's a sign of a great couple. Chris, why don't just ask her out?" Alice was enjoying herself so much. She couldn't stop smiling. This only caused Sandy and Chris to get angry. "NO!" they shouted in unison. They exchanged looks, and Sandy hit Chris every so gently on the shoulder, and Chris hit back. Maggie stepped back into the circle. "Fighting like a married couple already?" she sneered. The group howled with laughter. Chris and Sandy began to blush uncontrollably. Chris remembered the advice the Sandy herself had given him. "When in doubt, walk away. At least it works about ninety nine percent of the time." And so he did. Chris just walked off. He waited for the giggles and the pointing, but they never came. He just sat down and continued reading his Shakespeare. Sandy smiled to herself. She too thought she would indulge in her own word. She bent over and picked up her science book from under Alice's chair. She took one last look at the group. "Well, it was very nice sitting with you guys today. Maybe I could join you again in the near future." And with that. She left the circle. Sandy smiled to herself. She didn't plan on returning the near future. She didn't plan on returning at all. She was so glad Chris was there to stick up for her, but she wasn't going back. She couldn't take another day like that. She sat down just as the bell rang. "At last." she thought to herself. "It ends." Completely forgetting that the clique would be there. Every day, for the rest of the year. And they had no intention of letting Sandy and Chris live this day down.

END OF FLASHBACK

To be continued...