I

I walk around the front of the school taking pictures of everyone. They don't refuse. I fell in love with photography last year. Now, it's pretty much all I do. I have a website called 'Strangers in Paradise' and most of the photos I take go up there.

I look around and my eyes lock on someone new. I know instantly it's the guy my mom told me about.

He has messy blond hair and is wearing a black jacket over a light blue T-shirt and jeans.

I see him looking at me so I smile and wave. He looks over his shoulder like he's not sure who I was waving to. He turns back and I start walking towards him, raising my camera. I start taking pictures but when he realizes what I'm doing, he raises his hands to cover his face. I lower my camera and smile.

'Don't be shy,' I say.

'I'm not. Just trying to protect your lens. My face might break it.'

I laugh. 'With that scowl it might. Try smiling.'

He smiles a little.

'That's not a real smile,' I tease. 'A smile involves showing your teeth.'

So, he does, and I start taking pictures again. I see a tan, black and white beagle come running up to him. He looks like a stray, which makes me wonder why he ran up to John. My mom told me his name.

I get him to kneel down next to the dog so I can take a picture, but as soon as I start, the dog starts moving away. I frown, and then take a few more of John.

'Do you know that dog?' I ask.

'Never seen him before.'

'He sure likes you,' I say. 'You're John, right?' I hold out my hand. At the same time, I notice he has blue eyes. A dark blue.

'Yeah. How'd you know?'

'I'm Sarah Hart. My mother is your real-estate agent. She told me you'd probably be starting school today, and I should look out for you. You're the only new kid to show up today.'

He laughs. 'Yeah, I met your mom. She was nice.'

I nod, and then glance down at my hand, then back at him. 'You gonna shake my hand?'

He smiles and shakes it. I notice something. His hand is really warm. Warmer than it probably should be.

'Wow,' I say.

'What?'

'Your hand feels hot. Really hot, like you have a fever or something.'

He frowns. 'I don't think so.'

I let go. 'Maybe you're just warm blooded.'

'Yeah, maybe.'

The school warning bell rings from behind me. John looks up.

'Warning bell,' I tell him. 'We have five minutes to get to class.'

He nods.

'Okay, well I should go.' I smile. 'Nice meeting you, John.'

He smiles. 'You, too.'

I turn and walk away, still smiling to myself. There's something different about him. I don't know what it is, but I like it.

First period is a drag; I didn't expect it to be anything but, though it feels longer today for some reason. That's when I find myself thinking about John, and wondering what classes he will be in. And that's when I realize that the whole morning I've been looking out for him, waiting to see him again. That's why it feels longer. He must be getting the big lecture and school tour from Mr Harris.

I walk in to my last class of second period, which is astronomy. I find a table and sit down. I end up staring down at the table in front of me, lost in thought. I would like to say, lost in thought about photography, or maybe… animals. But that's not true. I'm lost in thought about John. I shake my head. I barely know him.

The chair on my right squeaks on the linoleum floor as someone pulls it back and sits down. I look over at them and see Mark. He is wearing his letterman jacket, and his black hair is full of gel.

We used to date, that is, until I realized how he was changing me, and what he is really like. So, I broke up with him. He wasn't happy, but I don't care. It's the best thing I have ever done.

'Hey,' he says.

I just roll my eyes and look away.

Mrs Burton starts off on… something. I'm not sure. I can't concentrate. Mrs Burton is probably something like sixty, has gray hair, and she is wearing a pink wool sweater.

At some point through the class, the door opens and Mr Harris sticks his head in.

'Mrs Burton, sorry to interrupt. Your new student is here.'

Something inside me lifts up.

'Oh, great!' she says in her high-pitched voice. 'Send him in!'

Mr Harris opens the door further and John walks in. Mrs Burton straightens her red glasses as Mr Harris closes the door.

'And what is your name?' she asks John.

John looks nervous. He takes a deep breath. 'John Smith.'

'Great! And where are you from?'

'Fl – Santa Fe.'

'Class, let's give him a warm welcome.'

I clap along with most of the class and John starts walking down the aisle. I smile at him, but he doesn't see.

Just as he is passing us, I see him loose his balance. I know instantly that Mark tried to trip him. Snickers spread through the crowd. I press my lips together and frown. Why does Mark always act like this?

Mrs Burton turns around. 'What happened?' she asks.

John just glares at Mark. They stay like that for a moment and some of the class groans.

'Did you want something?' John asks Mark.

Mark looks around the room, and then straightens up in his chair. 'What are you talking about?'

'You stuck your foot out when I passed. And you bumped into me outside. I thought you might have wanted something.'

Mrs Burton looks over at them. 'What's going on?'

John looks over his shoulder. 'Nothing.' He turns back to Mark. 'Well?'

Mark doesn't reply. I notice his hands tighten around the table while they stare at each other. You can feel the tension in the air. Like when you stretch out a rubber band, and you're just waiting for it to snap. But thankfully, the snap doesn't come. Mark just sighs and looks away. In a classroom, with the teacher around, he wouldn't do anything anyway. I'm worried about what he might do later, though. Mark doesn't like to let stuff go. And showing him up in class? That he definitely won't.

'That's what I thought,' John says. He starts walking back to his table.

Mrs Burton starts talking about Saturn, and its rings. I wonder if she was talking about that before John came in. I wouldn't know.

I feel Mark lean over to me. 'New guy's kind of a jerk, don't you think?' he whispers in my ear.

I decide I'm not going to react, but I do look over my shoulder at John. I see he is looking at me, so I smile, but he doesn't return it.

Mark leans over to me again. 'Later on, do you wa –' I automatically shake my head and push him away.

I glance up at the clock above the blackboard. Not much longer, then I can get away from Mark.

I start doodling on my notepad while I wait.

The bell goes off and I gather my books in my arms. I notice John rush out of the room, and Mark get up and follow after him. I bite my lip and go after him, but I have to get past the other kids from class first and I lose him. He's not hard to find when I get out of the room though. He's on my right, standing to my right, with John. I decide to stand back a bit, just to see what he is going to do.

'– out any teachers around, are you?' I hear Mark ask, or rather taunt. He must have just shoved John, because he loses his balance and falls onto the ground.

I step in front of Mark. 'Leave him alone,' I say.

'This has nothing to do with you.'

'Right. You see a new kid talking to me and you try immediately to start a fight with him?' I snap. 'This is just one example of why we aren't together anymore.'

I look down at John as he starts to get up, so I move my books to one side, and hold my hand out to him to help. When he gets up, he rushes off up the hall. His hand was even hotter this time. Like it was burning. I hope he's okay.

I turn back to Mark and glare at him.

'What?' he asks harshly.

'You know exactly what!'

He doesn't reply to that, he just stands there half staring, half glaring at me.

I sigh out of frustration and walk away.