"Hey Demeter! How was your summer?" Alonzo Smith asked his best friend.
Demeter Lee smiled. "Hey, Alonzo! Summer was awesome! However, it wasn't the same as school, though. I missed everyone." Then she looked around. "Can you actually believe we're in tenth grade, Lonz?"
"I know," Alonzo said. "But please don't break into the whole 'It seems like yesterday, we were going off to kindergarten' thing."
Demeter giggled. "Don't worry. My mom already gave me that routine this morning. Not my best moment. So how was your summer?"
"Not bad—but I did make the football team," Alonzo said.
"Omigod, that's great!" Demeter exclaimed. "And you know what's even better? I'll be cheering you on hopefully—I'm thinking about trying out for cheerleading."
"That's awesome, Demi!" Alonzo said, hugging Demeter.
Not too long, their hug was cut short when Demeter's boyfriend, Macavity Parker, walked up to them and pushed Alonzo off.
"Hey babe," Macavity said to Demeter, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her full on her lips.
Getting the message, Alonzo said, "I'll see ya in class, Demi." Then he quickly walked away, trying not to mess with Macavity's wrath.
Macavity, keeping his arm snaked around Demeter's waist, walked her over near the garbage can. "Can you tell me why you were hugging Alonzo, Demeter?" he asked in an unfriendly tone. His arms let go of her waist and was now grasping on her arms.
Demeter looked away. But she quickly looked back into Macavity's eyes once he violently shook her.
"It was nothing, Mac, it's not like we kissed or anything," Demeter explained.
Macavity's grip tightened. "Let me just make one thing clear, Demeter Lee. I don't like you hanging out with that boy. It makes me look bad. You're mine now, and no longer Alonzo's."
Demeter's eyes watered as she tried to free her self from Macavity's grasp. "But I never went out with Alonzo. We're just friends."
Macavity pulled Demeter sharply. "Stay away from Alonzo. Got it?"
Demeter started to cry. "Okay, yes, I get it, Mac, please let go!"
Macavity let go. Then he pushed Demeter against the wall. "You better." Then he finally let go of her and walked into the school.
Demeter lowered herself onto the ground and started to cry.
Meanwhile, somewhere inside the school, Macavity's brother, Munkustrap Parker was watching the whole thing between his brother and Demeter. No one ever knew his true feelings for Demeter. And to see her get hurt broke his heart—especially if she was getting hurt from his own brother. So Munkustrap headed outside where Demeter was and knelt beside her. "Are you okay?" he asked gently.
Demeter looked at Munkustrap. She never understood why he was so nice to her—especially since his brother was dating her. But she sniffed and said, "Yeah, I'm fine."
Munkustrap handed her a tissue. "You know, a guy as selfish and ruthless as Macavity doesn't deserve a nice girl like you," he said nicely.
Demeter smiled politely and dried her tears. Then as soon as she was feeling better she stood up. "Listen, Munkustrap. Thank for your help and kindness, but I don't think you should be so nice to me anymore."
"Why not?" Munkustrap asked.
"Because if I'm seen with any boy other than him, they'll be finished," Demeter said. "Besides, I'm not interested in you anyway."
"But—," Munkustrap started.
"No, I don't want to go out with you, Munkustrap," Demeter said. "Macavity loves me, and I love him, and it would be wrong to betray him. So please stay away from me!" Demeter walked off, leaving Munkustrap to recollect his thoughts.
Meanwhile, in the school, Etcetera Sowon was in the seventh grade hallway, looking at her schedule and trying to find where her new locker was. She was beaming. So long, elementary school, Etcetera thought as she walked down the hall searching for locker #129. Hello, junior high. Say goodbye to the same teacher every class and hello to different teachers every class. Say goodbye to cubby holes and hooks and hello to lockers of our very own. Say goodbye to lunch boxes and hello to the school lunch (even if the school orders in from restaurants). Say goodbye to—
"Hi Etcetera!" a girl with brown hair exclaimed, interrupting Etcetera's thoughts.
Etcetera turned around and saw who the voice belonged to. It was Electra Sims, her BFF since the fourth grade.
"Omigod, hi Electra!" Etcetera bounced up and down. "Can you actually believe we're in junior high now?"
"I know, it's so cool just to be standing in this hallway," Electra said. "Goodbye to the same teacher in every class..."
"And hello to different teachers every class," Etcetera finished.
"Goodbye to cubby holes and hooks..."
"Hello to lockers of our very own."
"Goodbye to lunch boxes..."
"And hello to school lunch."
"Goodbye to Barbies..."
"And hello to boys!" Etcetera finished with a huge smile.
"God, Etcy, did you put too much energy sugar in your cereal today?" Electra asked with a smile.
"Of course not," Etcetera said, walking down the hall. Electra followed her. "I had an omelet with ham and cheese, and a low fat vanilla latte. Of course my chef cooked the omelet with egg beaters instead of regular eggs. And the latte had low fat syrup and 2 % milk."
Electra sighed. "You and your nutrition habits, Etcetera. How many times do I have to tell you that you're not fat?"
"I know, I know," Etcetera said, rubbing her flat tummy. "But lots of people in junior high drink lattes. And my mom thinks I should have eggs for breakfast. So I asked my chef to make me an omelet."
"Name one person in junior high that drinks lattes," Electra said, putting her hands on her hips.
Etcetera pointed to herself. Electra rolled her eyes.
"Come on, let's try to find our lockers," Electra said. She stopped at a nearby set of lockers. "This locker says 133..." Electra walked down to 127. "Okay, here is mine. Now let's find yours."
"Omigod, your locker is right next to mine," Etcetera said. "I'm locker 129! We're locker neighbors!"
"Awesomeness!" Electra said as she fumbled with the lock. Then on the first try, Electra got the locker opened. She grabbed her Blackberry and checked out the time. "Oh good, we have time to decorate our lockers."
"Perf," Etcetera said, grabbing her hot pink backpack. She grabbed a hot pink locker shelf, a locker mirror, locker wallpaper, and a mini calendar. Electra grabbed the same things out of her backpack, except hers were purple.
After about five minutes, they were done decorating.
"Wow, this locker looks awesome!" Etcetera said. "I must say, I did a pretty good job."
Suddenly, the warning bell rang.
"Yes! We have the same homeroom," Electra said, looking at both hers and Etcetera's schedules. "And our homeroom is this way." Electra pointed to a classroom at the other end of the hallway.
As Etcetera walked to homeroom with Electra, she thought, Great lockers, awesome teachers (from what I've heard). Man, how great is junior high?