Inez sat in her homeroom class the day after the scare with Motherboard. Thanks to Dr. Marbles, Motherboard was revived in almost no time at all. But no matter how much she hated it, Inez simply couldn't seem to forget about the tingles Matt's touch had sent down her spine. Stop that! , she mentally scolded herself. Matt's like your brother, nothing else.

"Class, we have a new student today. Her name is Courtney Whiteblock, and she just moved here from Washington. Please welcome her."

A girl about Inez's age stepped in. She was a couple of inches taller than Inez, and had long, thick, curly blonde hair that cascaded down her back. She was fair-skinned and had large blue eyes. Courtney wore a short skirt and tank top and had a large white purse slung over her arm. She flashed them all a wide, toothy, grin.

Well, Inez mused, she certainly looks nice enough. But I doubt she'll want to spend time with Matt, Jackie, and I, she'll probably want to go straight to the popular crowd. I mean, she's even wearing makeup! And it was true. Courtney's lips were glossed and her eyelids were silver. Eyeliner emphasized her already big eyes.

"Tell us about you!" Mrs. Speir was one of those really perky and cheery teachers that make you think they were cheerleaders when they were in school.

"Um, well, I was actually born here. We moved to Washington when I was about four. We came back because of my dad's job. I have an older sister, Kylie, who's in college and a cat named Tinker. I'm not very sporty or studious but I like making friends. I want to be a fashion designer someday."

Mrs. Speir squealed, "Excellent. Now, why don't you sit next to Inez, over there?" She pointed at Inez and Courtney made her way over to her.

"Hi!" Inez smiled warmly at the newcomer. She admired how easily Courtney had stood in front of the class and spoke. Inez was personally terrible at public speaking. She blushed, she stuttered, and she often ended up making a fool of herself.

"Hey!" Courtney beamed. She set her stuff down. Unlike Inez's burgundy, leather-bound notebooks, Courtney had pink, glittery, spiral- bound notebooks. Inez could already see how different Courtney was from her but she only shrugged it off. You shouldn't judge people by their looks, Inez! You barely know her. Besides, she seems pleasant enough.

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"Inez!" Inez turned around to find Courtney behind her. "Hi, Courtney!" Inez opened her locker and grabbed her lunch. She slammed her locker shut and smiled at the new girl.

"Hi. Listen, sorry if I'm being forward, but I don't know anyone here. Could I sit with you- just for today?"

"Of course! Sit with us for as long as you like, okay?" Inez led Courtney to the cafeteria. "Did you bring your lunch, or are you buying?"

Courtney shrugged. "I guess I'm buying. Is the food good here?"

Inez laughed. "I wish I could say it was, but, frankly, it stinks." Both the girls giggled as they walked into the cafeteria. Round tables surrounded by plastic orange chairs dotted the cafeteria.

"This is cool." Courtney looked around appreciatively. "Back at my old school, we had long benches. We all had to sit side by side."

Inez strode over to their usual table. Jackie was already there but Matt wasn't. Jackie was in Inez's English and Math classes and Matt was in her Science and History classes, but since Inez had all those classes after lunch, neither of her friends had met Courtney yet.

"Jacks, this is Courtney. She's new here. Courtney, this is one of my best friends Jackie." Courtney and Jackie greeted each other. Courtney looked at Inez quizzically. "One of your best friends?"

Inez nodded as she opened her water bottle. "The other is Matt. He's probably in the lunch line." She took a sip of her drink.

"Oh." Courtney nodded. "So, like a boyfriend, huh?"

Inez nearly spat her drink out. WHAT? Her boyfriend? "NO WAY!" Inez yelped. Seeing some people stare at her sudden outburst, she lowered her voice. "We're just friends," she spluttered.

Courtney raised her eyebrows at Inez's explanation. "Cool." She headed off toward the lunch line. Jackie smirked. Inez freaking out was kinda funny. She's always so calm. Those two should really get together soon.

"Hey guys." Matt sat down. "Whose purse is that?" He pointed at Courtney's large bag. Inez ducked her head so he wouldn't see the blush on her cheeks.

"Courtney's." Jackie told him. "She's new here and Inez invited her to sit with us." Her eyes suddenly grew huge. "Ew, ew, and double ew!" she shrieked. "What is that?" Jackie gagged at the sight on Matt's tray.

"Meat loaf." Matt sighed. He jabbed at the green, gooey, lump with his fork. When he pulled the fork out again, it was covered in a slimy brown mess. "I think I'll stick to cookies." He pulled a bag out from his backpack. Inside were two large fudge cookies.

"Matt," Jackie wheedled. "Can I have a cookie?"

"Please!" Inez added. Though Matt brought two cookies to school every day, he rarely shared them. Both Jackie and Inez pleaded for a piece every day, but Matt never gave in.

"Nope." Matt leaned back. "Tell me more about this Courtney."

Inez frowned at his reluctance to share. "She's girly. Says she wants to be a fashion designer. Also says she's not studious or sporty. Apparently she used-"

"She thought Inez and you were girlfriend and boyfriend!" Jackie interrupted, wanting to see if Matt would freak out like Inez did. He did.

Matt's eyes bugged out and he began to choke. Inez silently handed him her water bottle and he took a long drink. When he sat the bottle down, his face was bright red, clashing wonderfully with his carrot-colored hair.

"Why in the world would she think that?" Did Inez tell her about me or something? No, she wouldn't have. Wait, why am I even thinking about this?

"It's a long story." Inez replied coolly. Is the idea of us being girlfriend and boyfriend so bad that he CHOKES? And now he's offended? I'm not that horrible. Wait, why do I care?

Courtney returned, holdinga lunch tray covered in the same gunk as Matt's tray. She sat down with a sigh. "I guess you were right, Inez. The food does stink here." She noticed Matt and stuck her hand out to shake. "Hi, I'm Courtney."

Matt shook her hand. "I'm Matt. Did you live here when you were little?"

Courtney nodded. "Yeah, until I was four."

Inez cut in, "How did you know that, Matt? I never told you that!"

Matt ignored her and turned to Courtney. "Did you go to Rainbow Clouds Daycare?"

Courtney grinned. "Yes! How did you-"

"I'm the same Matt you were friends with in the daycare. We played together and ate together and we would meet every Saturday-"

"OH MY GOSH! Matt! I've missed you so much!" Courtney gushed. Inez and Jackie looked at each other and raised their eyebrows.

"We were best friends when we were little. Then she moved away and I became friends with you guys." Matt explained.

Courtney smiled. Then she turned back to her food. "How am I supposed to eat this?" She moaned, poking the meatloaf with her fork.

Matt handed her a cookie. "Here, try one." Courtney grinned gratefully. She took a large bite. Matt smiled back at her, oblivious to the murderous looks on the faces of Inez and Jackie.

"Matt!" Jackie whined.

"What?"

"You never share with us!" Inez cried indignantly.

"So? Look, Courtney doesn't have anything else to eat. And she's my friend."

The bell rang shrilly. Courtney, Matt, and Jackie jumped up and headed off to class, with Jackie still arguing with Matt. Nobody noticed Inez still sitting.

She could remember dozens of times when she hadn't had anything to eat. But had Matt shared? Nope. Now, suddenly a new girl was here and he was being the perfect friend? He had said Courtney was his friend.

"But I'm your friend too, Matt," Inez whispered.

A/N: I need help. I need a modern-day guy's name that seems to scream 'EVIL' but is normal for a guy to have. Oh, and I know the ending of this story was choppy. Sorry. I was having trouble with it.