-----CHAPTER 3-----

Today is August 25. The first day as a senior. Ethan and I dropped off Ally, Ellie, and Jinger at middle school. The girls seem to have made best friends so fast. As for Ethan and I, we are good friends-but is it because he only knows me? Probably. Do I want to be more than friends with him? Yes, but that won't happen.

When Ethan and I walked into Homeroom there were loud gasps. I don't know if it was because of Ethan or because I was with Ethan. It was probably both though. Ethan and I sat down in the front of the room side by side and started talking.

"What do you think of High School so far?" I asked turning to him.

"It is small. What is there 300 kids total?" he joked.

"Nope, 343, now." I laughed.

"Wow. Big difference. In Kaville we had 250 kids just in my class," he said smiling. Then he leaned closer and asked, "Who is the blonde? The one with long, blonde."

"Huh? Oh," I said as I turned red and looked at Bailey Huffs. Great, the boy of my dreams is crushing on the meanest, prettiest girl in the eleventh grade. "Oh, that's Bailey Huffs."

"Cool. Thanks. What's she like?"

"Umm. Well, she is," I drew a blank. Do I lie? "Um. You have never met anyone like her, I bet. She is kind of smart."

"Class take your seats," Mrs. Newton said walking in the door. 'Yes! Saved by the teacher.' I thought. "I am Mrs. Newton and I am your Homeroom teacher and I teach English3. I will be seeing you twice a day. Any questions?"

Kids just looked around at each other and started talking.

"No? Okay. Here is your locker numbers and locks. Go ahead and find them. See you in five minutes."

Ethan and I walked out of the room with the others. "What's yours?" he asked.

"Locker 173. What's your number?" I asked.

"Hmm. 172. Side by side again. How 'bout that?" Ethan laughed.

"Yea."

When we found our lockers we put our book bags in and walked back to class. The lockers were on the other side of the building with guess who. Bailey Huffs. Her locker is 167.
"Hey, what's up?" Ethan asked Bailey when we walked by. I couldn't believe it; he gave her that smile and head nod.

'Madison Nair' I told myself. 'Ethan Krebson is just a friend. Nothing more. You knew he would be popular at school. He has the looks and brains.' I sighed.

The bell had rung for the end of Homeroom when I looked up. Everyone was gathering their schedules and sharing what they did over the summer with friends. I got up from my desk and walked out, leaving Ethan with Bailey. 'She can show him around.'

After Pre-calculus and Chemistry it was finally lunch time. I spotted LeAnn at our usual table. She wasn't alone though. Jay-LeAnn's new boyfriend, Ethan, Hans-a guy we occasionally talked too, Melissa-Bailey's friend, Bailey, and Nora-another friend of mine-were sitting there. I sighed again and sat down between Ethan and LeAnn.

LeAnn and I talked about our schedules. We only have two classes together, Spanish3 and English. "Mady, Mom is going to Salten tonight. Can I hang out at your house til 9?" LeAnn asked walking to English.

"Sure. No problem.

"So, do you like Ethan or what?" LeAnn pressured me as I closed the curtains between the two windows.

"He is just a friend. Nothing more," I replied looking away so she wouldn't see my face.

"But you want it to be more?"

"No. It would be to strange. I like him, like a brother."

LeAnn left it at that then. The rest of the night we listened to CDs, talked about our classes, again, and LeAnn showed me some dance moves, as she is Captain of Dance. We were dancing when I heard a familiar car engine start. "Hey, that sounds like Ethan's," I said stopping the music.

We looked out the window and saw Ethan backing out with her. Her as in Bailey Huffs. I couldn't believe it. "OMG!" LeAnn cried. "I never would have thought Ethan with her! Well I guess they are both big shots and have the looks and clearly Ethan would be the most popular guy."

"Yea," I said turning away from the window.

"Oh, Mady, I am so sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"Why are you sorry? I said I don't like him like that!"

"Okay, whatever. Well I better go. Mom will be back in fifteen minutes. I better be home when she gets there. Ttyl girl."

"Okay, bye." I stared after the door while she walked out. She didn't have to leave; her mom didn't care if she was here. She just didn't want to be here and pressure questions.

A few minutes later I decided to peek through the window and see if there was a note waiting. We always talked through notes with one another. We could just call or text, but since the first day we met we have wrote notes.

There was a note! 'Thanks for hooking up Bailey and me! Owe you lots. Ttul." Yea, you do owe me a lot, I agreed. 'Why couldn't he just see us together already?' I asked myself, and then answered. 'Because you aren't popular or cute.'