Danny spares a glance at the strange tall boy walking besides him out of the corner of his eye as the two walk along the empty corridor, the occasional student rushing past them hurrying off to class. He wonders what kind of school Shulman High must be that they've sent Morgan Tookers, currently telling a rather elaborate story about his stint in juvie for stealing bikes, to be his guide on his first day.

"I mean it wasn't really stealing, you know? More like liberating them for a little profit. Is that so wrong?" Morgan asks.

It sounds pretty wrong to Danny but he merely shrugs noncommittally. This is his senior year and he can't believe this is how it's beginning. He should be back home at his old school with Stevie and the rest of his friends. But his Mom had wanted to 'make a fresh start of it' or something and here they were. It wasn't all bad, he figures. At least he wouldn't have to worry about running into Christina everyday.

They turn into the cafeteria where Morgan informs him he can get Beverly, the lunch lady, to make them a special sandwich dubbed 'The Loch Ness Morgan', "Double meat, double cheese, double sauce and double bread. It will give you killer diarrhea, but it's worth it!"

Danny is immensely relieved when Morgan is distracted from his culinary mission by a group of girls huddled around a fashion magazine. Danny recognizes the tan white-toothed face smiling out from the cover as one of those heartthrob actors who is always starring in those cheesy romantic comedies.

"Hello ladies," Morgan croons, "Tamra," he adds with a particular nod to a pretty African-American girl who throws back a lazy, "Hey," before returning to the magazine.

Undeterred, Morgan presses on, "May I introduce, Daniel Mussolini Castellano our newest student here at Shulman High."

"Actually, my name's not Muss-" Danny begins in mortification as Tamra and her friends merely stare back at him blankly, "Forget it," he huffs. "Danny. It's Danny. You can call me Danny."

"Hello, Danny," a cute petit brunette greets holding out her hand to him like a Disney princess, "I'm Betsy Punch. Welcome to Shulman High!"

"Um, hello?" Danny responds taking her hand by the fingertips and jiggling them up and down a bit. Betsy seems unperturbed by the awkwardness of the gesture and continues on happily introducing him to the rest of her group. "And this is Tamra," Tamra sends another tired 'Hey' back to him to match the one she'd given Morgan. "And Gwen," He exchanges a polite wave with a pretty blonde girl. "And this is Mindy," Betsy motions to the remaining girl seated at their table who is still immersed in her magazine. "Just one sec," comes a squeaky voice from behind its pages. "I am just finishing up this quiz. "There," she says with satisfaction flinging the magazine onto the lunch table revealing a round face with shiny brown skin and sparkling eyes, "I knew I was an Autumn! They tried to tell me I was a Spring at the mall last weekend," she finishes with indignation. Then rising from her seat, she comes around the table to where Danny and Morgan are standing.

"Hello Danny. I am Mindy Lahiri. And it is my awesome pleasure to welcome you to Shulman High," she smiles brightly holding out her hand to him as well. Danny wonders what is up with all the handshakes in this school as he takes her small hand in his own and gives a weak, "Hey."

"You are going to love it here," she continues cheerfully, "We've got the welcome back mixer coming up. I'm on the planning committee and it is going to be killer. Next month is spirit week…" As she continues to prattle on in her high pitched voice about all the upcoming social events at Shulman High, Danny finds himself getting more and more annoyed. He's just uprooted his life so that his Mom can get away from the memory of his deadbeat Dad. Not to mention finding out his girlfriend of two years has been making out with his buddy Pauly behind his back. He could give two shits that the playlist for the Sadie Hawkins Dance is filled with Rhianna songs.

"Yeah," he interrupts her rudely, "I'm not really into all that stuff."

It's actually impressive how quickly her voice goes from happy and high-pitched to low and dangerous, "Excuse me? You're not into what stuff, Danny?" she spits out his name like its distasteful to her. "Fun?"

"That stuff's fun for you? Pretty ridiculous if you ask me."

"Well I didn't ask you," she replies. "Excuse me for being friendly. Enjoy the rest of your school year." She finishes with a huff marching away. The others rise up to follow sending him sidelong looks as they go. Great. He's been here for ten minutes and already he's managed to piss off a handful of pretty girls.

Whatever. He isn't here to make friends, especially not one's who think magazine quizzes are adequate barometers of personality and pep rallies are the pinnacle of a good time. He just needs to put his head down, do well enough in his classes to get a scholarship and then he's home free. Just one year. He can do this, he reassures himself.

"Don't worry about Mindy," Morgan chimes in beside him. "She's totally crazy."

"I know, right?" Danny readily agrees. "Getting so pissy, just cause I don't care about her stupid dance. She's a little nutjob."

"Oh no," Morgan clarifies. "She was right about that. You were a total dick. I meant it's crazy she thinks she's an Autumn. Girl is totally a Winter."

Danny heaves a loud audible sigh. It's going to be a long year.

"Cheer up, little buckaroo!" Morgan booms at him with an overly rough pat on the back. "C'mon, I'll introduce you to my crew, 'The Best Friend's Club For Dudes'. They'll love you." Morgan starts off across the cafeteria to where three boys are sitting around a table. Danny trails behind him as Morgan turns around to add, "Just try not to be a total douche to them like you were to the girls, okay?"

"Right. Don't be a dick," Danny mutters behind him. Yeah, it's going to be a really long year.