"Madison. Madison. MADISON!!!!"

"Yes?" I snapped back into reality.

"Pay attention!" Mr. Burke snapped. "Now, class, remember, you have one week to complete your project. Have a good weekend." Brrrrriiiing! School was over…it had begun.

"Hey!"

"What?" I said nervously.

"Why are you so jumpy?" Dominique said huffily. She hated being snapped at.

"Oh, you know the usual. Parents, homework, and just about every other problem a teenager could have. Oh and…her."I leaned back in my chair and sighed, pulling my chestnut-brown hair into a ponytail. The sun gleamed off it, warming it into a rich honey blonde. Even with this change, I hated it. I was so normal. Medium-tall, brown hair, freckles dotting my porcelain skin like roasted walnuts on an ice cream sundae. Well, not everything was normal, thankfully. My eyes were a soft, peaceful blue-purple, reminding me of the ocean mist on a summer day. But when I was mad, they raged dark and stormy, like a tiger, cool and sleek, waiting to pounce. Sigh…

"Madi!!" Dominique (Dee for short) yelled, knocking me out of my daydreams.

"Oh, sorry. Where were we?" I questioned, grinning. Dee sighed and crossed her legs, flashing green and black striped socks that she wore everyday. I swear, she had more striped socks than I had grass in my backyard. You can quote me.

"Oh, yeah!" I said slowly, faking remembrance. Dee's face darkened.

"Yeah." She stated, her tone matching her face. "Her. I'm telling you Madi, she's weird." The her Dee was referring to was my English teacher, Mrs. Coshell. Yesterday, a nobody in our class named Daniel was mysteriously invited to her house to pick up some "special assignment." Daniel hadn't been seen since.

The sun made a bright, warm spot on the carpet of my room; tree leaves glistening from the recent rain outside my window. Dee sat there, curled up on my purple fuzzy couch like a lazy cat. We had lapped into an angry silence, her opinion being Mrs. Coshell evil, mine being she didn't know what she was talking about. Something had been really wrong with us lately. She had been hanging out with a new group for a while, and this was the first time she could come over in days. To make things worse, she didn't like my crush, Duke. Ah, Duke. Something about him was special, though I couldn't quite put my finger on it…

"Okay, look," Dee continued suddenly, making me jerk out of my thoughts and dump half my bag of chips on the floor in surprise. "Let's just forget about this, okay?"

"Okay," I happily agreed.

I was running late, as usual. My mind flashed to Dee's smiling face—perfect skin, crimpy-curly blonde hair, striking green eyes—and my heart swelled with guilt of being almost a half-hour late to meet her after school, threatening to burst my chest. I had been sidetracked after school. Duke had been kinda flirty in math (but that's not why I was sidetracked-promise!) …But—another student had disappeared!!!!! They say she was staying in Mrs. Coshell's room for detention, and well, let's just say she's been in there a long time. I was just closing my locker door when I saw Duke coming towards me from down the hall. Oh, no! Quickly, I slammed the door with an earsplitting bang and tried to run, but—just being me—I tripped over who knows what. I shut my eyes tight and waited to feel the cool tile slamming into me, but strong arms wrapping my waist in biceps like a belt stopped me. I looked up to see Duke's beaming face smiling down at me. He had caught me just before I hit the floor. Tango-style.

"Smooth moves," he joked, a twinkle in his eye, gazing at me like I was a chocolate bar and he was an 8-year-old on a sugar high.

"Nice save," I replied with a grin. As he slow-motion pulled me back into a standing position, I saw his eyes sweep over me, taking in my long, toned legs, small waist and full chest, and when I was standing his arms lingered a little too obviously around my waist. Another up-down. His eyes gleamed his approval.

Looking at him, I laughed suddenly, but groaned as I picked up my backpack and felt its weight.

"Oh, let me get that for you!" he said quickly, embarrassed by not noticing my discomfort sooner. He gently pulled my backpack off me and onto his back, moving cautiously as if I were made of fine china.

"Where were you headed to?" he asked casually, brushing his hand against mine as we walked. I no longer felt self-conscious. My stomach hurt with longing, and I wished I could reach out and grab his hand and never let go.

"Oh, I was just gonna meet De—I mean, Dominique. I'm sure she is still waiting for me!" I realized suddenly, and ran to the front door, my flip-flops thumping with every step on the plush carpet of our lobby. Duke laughed and ran after me and met me outside, panting and grinning. The sweet smell of his breath on my face enticed me, and I breathed deep, savoring this perfect moment.

"That's weird," I mentioned to myself in a whisper. "She's not here." Then, as if an inanimate object could read my mind, my phone buzzed in my pocket and I read Dee's text:

"Hey girl! Sorry, but Casey and

Chris invited me to eat, so I

said yes. Sorry!!! =(

-Dee :p

Duke saw my pained expression and looked bewildered and concerned.

"Is something wrong?" he asked tentatively, his forehead wrinkling.

"Um, no, nothing." I said, not doing a very good job at concealing the tears creeping up to my eyelids. "She cancelled," I burst out in a high, small voice. "I can't believe she cancelled." Duke shoved his hands in his pockets, clearly having no idea what to do to comfort me.

"So, do you, uh, want to, uh…hang with me instead?" He asked, his tone praying for me to say yes. I pondered this for a minute, his eyes pleading.

"Uhmm, yeah. I think you can help me with something."