Today's my first day of school. My first day of middle school. Danny's locker is near mine and Trina's is three down.

My homeroom is Room 231. Everything is alphabetized. I'm next to a West. I pull my hood up over my head. Is the West Jade? My Jade?

I mumble during homeroom so if it is Tori, she won't recognize me. When the bell rings, I bolt for my locker.

Class goes well until lunch. I'm afraid Jade will see me, so I hide in the library and scarf down my lunch as fast as I can. Then I look around. There's nobody, so I decide to sing.

Come Wake Me Up by Rascal Flatts comes to mind. I smile. I'll sing to Jade.

"I can usually drink you right off of my mind
But I miss you tonight
I can normally push you right out of my heart
But I'm too tired to fight

Yeah the whole thing begins
And I let you sink into my veins
And I feel the pain like it's new
Everything that we were,
Everything that you said,
Everything that I did and that I couldn't do
Plays through tonight

Tonight your memory burns like a fire
With every one it grows higher and higher
And I can't get over it, I just can't put out this love
I just sit in these flames and pray that you'll come back
Close my eyes tightly, hold on and hope that I'm dreaming
Come wake me up

Turn the TV up loud just to drown out your voice, but I can't forget
Now I'm all out of ideas and baby I'm down to my last cigarette
Yeah, you're probably asleep deep inside of your dreams while I'm sitting here crying and trying to see
Yeah, wherever you are baby now I am sure you moved on and aren't thinking twice about me
And you tonight

Tonight your memory burns like a fire
With every one it grows higher and higher
I can't get over it, I just can't put out this love
I just sit in these flames and pray that you'll come back
Close my eyes tightly, hold on and hope that I'm dreaming

I know that you're movin' on
I know I should give you up
But I keep hopin' that you'll trip and fall back in love
Time's not healin' anything
Baby, this pain is worse than it ever was
I know that you can't hear me, but baby I need you to save me tonight

Tonight your memory burns like a fire
With every one it grows higher and higher
I can't get over it, I just can't put out this love
I just sit in these flames and pray that you'll come back
Close my eyes tightly, hold on and hope that I'm dreaming
Come wake me up
Oh, I'm dreaming
Come wake me up
Oh, I'm dreaming
."

When I finish, tears are streaming down my face. "God, Jade, I'm so sorry," I whimper and curl up into a ball, rocking myself back and forth.

Then I feel a gentle hand on my back, rubbing soothing circles. I don't dare look up as more tears drip down my cheeks and leave lines on my face.

I know my makeup's smudged and I'm embarrassed. I don't want anyone to see me like this. I'm shaking. Then I feel an arm around my shoulder, pulling me in close.

Soft hands, with a touch like a butterfly, stroke my long brown hair. I just let loose at this point and my body shakes and quivers with every breath I take.

A harsh voice. "What are you two doing in the library?"

I lift my head to see a girl with shoulder length dark blonde hair talking to the librarian.

"She's just a seventh grader. Cut her a little slack, Ms. Dequette. She doesn't know the rules and she's really shy and scared."

The stern librarian looks at the girl. "Okay, but I need to know her name and guidance counselor and I'll let you two off the hook."

The girl nudges me. My voice is still shaky. "Victoria Vega," I mumble. "Mr. Shay is my guidance counselor."

"Speak up." the librarian orders.

"Her name's Victoria Vega and Mr. Shay is her guidance counselor." I give the girl a weak smile.

"Okay, now go!" The librarian obviously wants to get rid of us.

The girl extends a hand and I let her help me up gratefully.

As soon as we're out of the library, the girl asks, "What's wrong?"

"That's the problem!" I burst into tears.

She sighs. "Friend or boy trouble?"

"Girl trouble," I admit, calming down.

"Who is she?"

"Jade West and she saved my life."

"What?"

"You've heard of Team West and Team East, right? Well, I'm on Team East and Jade's on Team West. In the middle of a war, she kissed me. The worst part is I kissed her back."

"That sounds pretty intense."

"Yeah. Then Team West sunk our ship and it hit me in the head. Jade supposedly swam down and hauled me to shore. Then she told me she really liked me, but we couldn't be together. She brought me to the beach and sang me to sleep. Actually, that song I was singing was the one she sang to me."

The girl sucks in a breath. "Have you seen her since?"

"No, but she was in my homeroom and I pulled my hood up so she wouldn't see who I really was."

"I think you should talk to your guidance counselor about this. Mr. Shay really understands. He could help you."

"But I'm scared and uncomfortable." I look at my hands.

"I'll come with you if it's okay," the girl smiles reassuringly at me. "Let's go talk to Mr. Shay now. We still have fifteen minutes till next period."

"What's your name?" I ask the girl.

"Grace Blue." she answers. "And I know you're Victoria Vega."

"Tori Vega," I correct her.

"Tori." she smiles again. "Now let's go talk to Mr. Shay,"

I'm very scared, but Grace squeezes my hand, offering quiet comfort.

A man with gray hair opens the door. "Hi Grace," he says and then turns to me. "What's your name?"

"Victoria Vega," I whisper.

"Well, Victoria, what brings you and Grace here?" he asks.

I look at Grace. She nods and tells Mr. Shay everything. He doesn't interrupt, but he's glancing at me the whole time.

"And here we are," Grace finishes.

"Well, Victoria, I'd like to see you twice a week, both times during your gym class. You can take a test to make sure you're in good shape. And if Grace doesn't mind, she can come with you."

I nod and he continues. "I'll call your gym teacher and Mrs. Anderson so she knows you won't be at lunch Tuesdays and Thursdays."

The bell rings. "Can I grab my lunch?" Grace asks.

"Sure," Mr. Shay says. "That'll give Victoria and I a little time to get to know each other more."

As soon as Grace leaves the room, Mr. Shay smiles. "So, Victoria,"

"Tori," I correct.

"Tori, I have a few questions I want you to answer honestly. Have you ever considered that you might be a lesbian or bisexual?"

I take a deep breath. "No, not really. I mean, I'll keep an open mind, but Jade's the only girl I really . . ."

Thinking back, I remember how I really wanted to hang out with Cat when I was around nine, but then she found out I was on Team East. I was crushed.

"There might have been one or two more." I say stiffly. "But I like guys, too."

"I don't want to jump to any conclusions," Mr. Shay says. "But to me, it sounds like you're bisexual. I don't know enough about you to confirm that, but that's what it sounds like to me."

I want to cry. There's no way I can be bisexual. I'm straight!

Grace comes in then and I rush out of the room and stand by my locker, just letting the tears come and take over.

Not five minutes later, Grace and Mr. Shay find slumped up against my locker with my face in my hands.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Grace asks me.

I nod.

"Why are you so upset?" she asks gently.

"Because," I sniff. "Mr. Shay thinks I'm bisexual."

She puts an arm around my shoulder. "There's nothing to be ashamed of. It's not like being bi is going to ruin your life."

"It will socially." I point out.

"Oh come on," Grace says. "Lady Gaga is bi. Did that stop her?"

I shake my head.

"Then it won't stop you." Grace tells me.

Then I see a streak of black and Jade appears.

She hugs me so hard I think she's going to break every bone in my body.

"Baby, I've missed you so much."

She catches me in a long hard kiss. "Miss me?" she smirks.

All I can do is nod. She laughs.

"Same school, huh?" she whispers. "I can't believe I finally found you." She kisses me again, our lips moving against each other's. She nips my lip, begging for entrance and then when I finally give her what she wants, she slips her tongue inside my mouth and we begin a battle for dominance.

Of course she wins and presses me up against the lockers. Her hand slips up my shirt and I sigh against her lips. Then I hear someone, actually, two people, clearing their throats.

Jade and I are both panting and blushing when we pull away and she puts her hands in her pockets.

Grace is amused. "So this is how I get to meet Jade." she asks me.

"Yes." I tell her. "Jade this is my friend, Grace, who really helped me out today. Grace this is Jade, my . . . uh . . ."

"Girlfriend." Jade finishes.

"So now we're dating?" I ask her.

"Yes," she smiles. "If you want."

I nod again and she smiles, and then kisses me again. I push her away and she huffs. "Baby, why'd you do that?"

"Because I need to talk to Grace and Mr. Shay," I tell her.

She glares, but it's a nice glare, not the I'm-going-to-kill-you glare. "Fine,"

"Mr. Shay? Am I going to still see you?" I ask.

"Yes." he says. "On Tuesday and Thursday with Grace. And on Friday and Monday, you and Jade are going to see me. You'll get out halfway through your class and then I'll see you. Oh, bring your lunches."

"Okay," I say.

"See you tomorrow, Tori and Jade." he calls.

I hug Grace. "Thanks for everything, Grace."

She laughs. "That's the polite way of saying, 'Go away, Grace, because me and Jade are going to make out now.'"

Jade grins. "I could have just said that,"

Grace smiles back. "See you around."

Jade grins at me. "Time to finish what we started." She kisses me aggressively and my knees almost instantly go weak. I kiss her back and I can feel her startled expression. I grin against her lips.

"You little devil," Jade smirks and slides her cool hand up my shirt. Her finds trace patterns on my belly and then she breaks the kiss to blow behind my ear.

"Dang, Jade." I thought she was finished teasing, but instead, she licked my left ear and then nips it gently.

Soon enough, I know she's waiting for me to do something (although I could let her do this all day). I trail kisses down her neck, and then bite her, but not very hard.

"You forgot about revenge," Jade's voice is silky in my ear and her finger are lighting running down my back, sending shivers up my spine.

With her trademark smirk plastered across her face, Jade sucks on my pulse point and smirks again. Then she bites down – hard.

"Vampire," I mutter. That's going to leave a nice mark.

"Glad I could help." She kisses me once more before the bell rings.

This has got to be the weirdest day ever. Then, right before kids come out of their classrooms, Jade leaves a lingering kiss on my lips that leaves me distracted all day.