As the secretary led the boy down a hallway, I ducked into alcove after alcove, hiding from them. Every so often the kid would turn around, frowning. I was in no mood to face him though. He seemed pretty tough.

The secretary finally pointed up ahead to a classroom, and I took my chance. I sprinted past them and through the door, sliding into a seat next to Antonio in record time. "Hey, man, where were you?" He whispered. I shook my head and he smiled, shrugging.

"How's Poop?" His green eyes twinkled and I laughed. "He's called Ludwig, you dolt." As we cracked up, the door to the classroom opened and the tall boy stepped in. He stared at us, nervous. I grinned and nudged Antonio. "That guy's new." He tilted his head again. "Cool."

The guy stood at the front of the class, staring at the floor. Everyone was staring, and I almost felt bad for him. Then he looked up, spotted me, and stuck out his tongue again. This time, when I did the same, he grinned. I frowned. Why would he smile at me? But he did.

I shrugged and let my lips stretch into an even wider smile. He flipped his longish bangs out of his eyes and tugged the bottom of his t-shirt. I suddenly remembered the monstrosity of a shirt I was wearing. My face flamed. So that was why he was smiling. I scowled and looked back at my desk.

Soon enough, the teacher, Ms Bella, walked in. I looked at her blonde hair and green eyes as she welcomed us to the class. She was really pretty. I sighed. Antonio poked me in the side, smiling. "Gilbert and the teacher, sittin' in a tree – " he whispered. I kicked him under the table.

"Boys!" Our teacher chastised us. I blushed, trying to look innocent. The class snickered, but our teacher was turning to the tall guy next to her. Even though she was really old, like maybe thirty, he nearly reached her shoulder. I thought he was about the same height as Matthias.

Ms Bella cleared her throat. "Class, this is… um, what did you say you liked to be called?" He smiled at all of us, eyes twinkling. "Eli." He said. I suddenly realized it was the first time I'd heard him talk. His voice was a little higher than I expected, but surprisingly nice. Then I jumped. "Wait, Ellie? That's a girl's name!" I yelled.

The class erupted into laughter. Eli stood his ground. "It's not!" He protested, waving his arms. "It's short for Elliot!"

Our teacher blinked. "Okay, kids. Settle down!"

Our laughter finally subsided. The teacher glared at me. "Gilbert, can I talk to you after class?" I nodded meekly, then turned to Antonio when she looked away. "Looks like I got a date!" Icrowed. He hit me in the arm. "Ow!" I yelled, and Ms Bella turned to me again, frowning. "Gilbert, this is your last warning."

I got a lot of warnings that day. Mom was not going to be happy.

At lunch, Antonio and I followed the rest of the crowd to the cafeteria. There were a bunch of long tables scattered around the room, and most of them were full. I spotted Ludwig in a corner with a short Asian kid. He looked just as quiet as my brother, and I grinned, ready to go over there. But Antonio grabbed my arm and pulled me towards an empty table near the front of the huge room.

I spotted Eli nearby with a dude with brown hair and glasses. I remembered him from class as Roderich Edelstein. He acted just like a girl during science, not touching anything and making his partner do all the work. I smirked. What a sissy.

As we sat down, Matthias, who was in a different class from us, came over to sit with us. "Wow, guys. Who's the new kid?" He asked, eyes wide as his grin. I shrugged, pretending not to understand him. Antonio did the same. I stuck out my tongue at Matthias as I unzipped my lunchbox.

I made a face when I saw that mom had packed a peanut butter sandwich. "I hate peanut butter!" I moaned. Antonio glanced at the offending item. "Trade you?" He offered, holding out his own tortilla sandwich. Antonio's family was Spanish, and he always had the best food. I grinned and we switched lunches. Matthias coughed. "Hello?"

I looked up. He was pointing at Eli. Antonio looked at me and we snickered.

"Oh, him," I said, faking surprise. Antonio chuckled. "That's Eli."

Matthias stared at us. "Ellie? Like a girl?" His voice was confused.

We smirked. "Yep."

Matthias looked dumbfounded for a couple of seconds. Then he stood up, his tall frame shadowing Antonio and me. He looked down at us, grinning, and suddenly I knew what was coming next.

"Uh-oh," Antonio sighed, before I dragged him to his feet along with me. Matthias looked at me, his eyebrows raised. "On the count of three," He whispered. I nodded, pushing my silvery hair out of my eyes.

"One," Matthias shouted.

"Two," I screamed,"

"Three." Antonio said half-heartedly. We glared at him for a second. Then -

"HEY, ELLIE!" We yelled in unison. Antonio looked around nervously as a group of fifth graders stared at us. He put on his most winning smile as Matthias and I stared at Eli. He pretended not to hear us, his back turned. His hair just brushed his collar and I noticed a band-aid on his elbow.

"Smelly Ellie," I called. Matthias looked at me, his sticky-up hair bobbing.

"Smelly Ellie?" He said, disbelieving. I nodded vigorously. Antonio chuckled.

"It rhymes!" He cried. We now had the lunchroom's full attention. People were staring. Eli's ears had gone red, but he kept chatting animatedly to the guy with glasses. That annoyed me for some reason, so I walked over towards them.

"Hey, Smelly Ellie," I smirked. He didn't reply, so I shrugged and turned to Roderich.

"What's up, sissy?" He glared at me. I laughed.

"Not gonna say anything, loser?" He stood up, and I saw that his hands were shaking. "Scared?" I asked in mock sympathy.

Roderich stared at me. "I think you should go." He said, his pompous voice no louder than a whisper.

I cracked up, doubling over. This guy was too much. I gestured at him, turning back to glance at Antonio and Matthias, who were both looking uncomfortable. Suddenly, Antonio's eyes widened. "Gil!" He was pointing right over my shoulder. Before I had time to see what it was, a long, slender and awfully hard fist had hit me right in the stomach.