A.N.: School is almost over! Yes!Very good! And I might be able to see Ani and Oregon this summer! I'm so thrilled! Okay, well, this didn't get as far as I would've liked. This first day of band camp will take at least three chapters. Okay, let's see how this goes, then.

Lisa clutched her lunchbox even tighter than before. Luke didn't seem to phased about going over to sit with Hector, so she assumed they were pretty good friends. They made their way across the small courtyard to the table. Luke sat down next to Shock, with Lisa on his right. On her right was Annie. Next to Annie was the flute player. And completely the circle directly across from Lisa was Hector.

His eyes... she thought, Oh, my god, they're so dreamy. He's like a Disney Prince.

Suddenly, Lisa lost all her appetite. How could she eat? She had to make a good impression! And besides, she was getting a distinctly vegetarian feel from this group and had a feeling her Chef Boyardee ravioli wouldn't go over too well.

"So, how about that intro to 'Love Lies Bleeding,' Annie?" the flute player asked.

Since she'd always been so far away, Lisa had yet a chance to study this girl's face. She was tall, thin, pale, and had beautifully straight brunette hair. Lisa had always wanted to be a brunette. She didn't think she got taken seriously because she was a blonde.

Annie groaned.

"I love that song, I love Elton John, but that is going to take forever to learn!"

Lisa knew which piece she was talking about. The intro was bells and contained entirely sixteenth and eighth notes. Not exactly a walk in the park, especially for a first timer.

"Then why did you pick it?" Hector asked. Annie shrugged.

"It'll be awesome when it happens." Lisa chuckled.

"Assuming we don't kill ourselves first," she muttered. Luke, having heard her, laughed out loud.

Luke's laugh was incredibly loud. You could really hear just how much joy he had inside him. It was absolutely contagious. Soon, everyone at the table was laughing. Lisa felt her face flushing. I never thought I was so funny, she thought, No one ever laughs at my jokes. She watched as they all laughed.

"Lisa," Luke gasped out, "You're pretty funny."

"Yep," she said with a smile, "I'm a funny girl." Hector gasped.

"Oh, my god! You like Barbra!" Lisa grinned.

"The one and only." Shock laughed again.

"Francine, you have some competition!" The tall brunette shot Shock a 'shut up now before I kill you' look.

They're dating? Lisa wondered, Or is he just messing around?

"But seriously," Hector pressed, "You like Barbra?"

"How could you not?" Lisa asked, "I mean: Dolly, Fanny, Yentl. She's amazing!" Hector laughed.

"She sure is." He smiled.

"I actually did a report on her last year," she said.

"I'm gonna have to read that," he said with a smile.

"Hector's a Barbra Streisand obsessor," Annie whispered into Lisa's ear. Lisa laughed.

"It's okay; I am too." Hector high-fived her across the table.

Luke opened his bookbag.

"I told you I'd make it up to you," he said looking at Lisa, "So here." He pulled a chocolate bar from out of his bag.

"Thanks," she said, "But I'm allergic to chocolate." Luke frowned.

"Allergic to chocolate? Oh, my god, that's so horrible! I'm sorry!"

"Don't be," she assured him, "The one time I tried it, I didn't like it. And not just because I bloated up like a balloon."

Annie looked at her concernedly.

"Were you okay?" she asked. Lisa blushed. No one ever, ever asked her if she was okay. Even when she had choked last year, more people had laughed than anything anything else.

"I mean, I had to do a sleepover at the hospital, but I was okay."

"Yeah, that happens to me every time I eat fish," Hector said.

"You two should have an allergic reaction the same day and share a hospital room," Annie said sarcastically, "You can play Barbra Streisand as loud as you want and the only argument will be whether her voice pairs better with Barry Gibbs' or Neil Diamond's."

Shock, Annie, Luke, and Francine laughed. Hector caught Lisa's eye and shrugged. She grinned at him.

"Personally, I love Neil Diamond. And you?" she said.

"Are we related or something?" he asked, giving her another high-five.

"Heffenbacher and Ruiz? I doubt it."

"Wait, how?" Shock asked.

"I was kind of in love with your guys's production of Guys and Dolls after I saw it. I carried the program around with me for weeks before my teacher banned me from having it at school."

"They banned you from carrying a program around?" Francine asked, "That's ridiculous."

"Hey, you losers," came a voice from right behind Lisa, causing her to jump. When she looked, it was one of the snare drummers, a guy she'd heard was named Cole.

"Hey, bro," Luke said, "What do you want?"

"Well, for starters, that chocolate bar."

"Not gonna happen."

"Oh, come on; don't be a jerk."

"Shut up, Cole," Francine said teasingly.

"You know what, Francine? I don't need your sass!" Cole said, also teasing, but still quite sassy. Lisa stared at him, taken aback. He looked, like, twelve, but he had to be older, or he wouldn't be giving the upperclassmen sass. A sophomore, perhaps? Lisa shook her head and pulled out her apple.

Suddenly, she felt a typhoon of nausea crash upon her stomach. She physically could not eat. She couldn't. She would puke if she even tried. Wordlessly, she put the apple back. Hector raised an eyebrow at her quizzically as his possibly girlfriend continued to banter with Cole.

Do not leave the table, she mentally lectured herself, You're not the weird girl here. Don't ruin that the first day.

"Are you okay, Lisa?" Hector asked, "You just got really pale."

"Just a little stomachache," she said with a wave of her hand, "Nothing to worry about."

I'm so convincing, I almost believed myself.

"Do you need medicine or a ginger ale or anything?" Shock asked. She shook her head.

"It'll pass," she assured, more for herself than anyone else at the table.

"At least have something to drink," Annie insisted.

"Really, I'll be okay," she repeated with a bit more force.

"Can I talk to you for a sec?" Hector asked.

Part of Lisa was thrilled. The most attractive guy she had ever seen in her entire life wanted to have a word alone with her. Her heart was pounding inside of her ribcage, threatening to break out like in the movie Alien. Another part of her was terrified. This boy could make or break her reputation before the first day of school. She got up and followed him inside. They walked through the halls, Lisa numbly trying to remember if she'd seen any of this part of the building before. Finally, they ended up at a staircase. He turned around and gazed into her eyes.

"I know what you're trying to do," he said.

"You do?" she said, startled. She didn't know what she was doing, how could he?

"You're putting on a brave face, trying to make it seem like things are okay when they're not."

Oh, that. Her eyes darted downward to her pockets.

"Hey," he whispered gently, "Look at me." She brought her head back up.

"I'm guessing you've had to put up a facade for other people for a while," he said, "But I promise you, we're not like those people. I barely know you, but I care about you. So, no hiding. When you need help, you can always talk to us, okay?" He scanned her face, "Okay?"

"Yeah," she said, gulping down the enormous lump in her throat, "Okay."

A.N.: Hector is just perfect for Lisa, let's admit it. Okay, so what did ya think? Good? Tell me! I can't wait to see everyone's reactions when I post, so tell me!