Hello everyone! I know it's been a LONG TIME between chapters but this one is FINALLY here and I hope it was worth the wait! Hopefully the wait won't be so long for the next one!

Ned felt sick to his stomach. He was on the bus on his way to his first day at John Tyler high school, and he did NOT feel ready. He'd agonized for an hour simply over what to wear, and he hadn't been able to eat anything, even though his mom had made his favorite breakfast. He was nervous. Nervous to the point of wanting to puke. He had left Polk middle school at the top. Now he was starting all over again. He was the little fish in the ocean again. A freshman. Hopefully not fresh MEAT he thought worriedly. He remembered all too well the rather LARGE amount of bullying he'd received from Loomer, especially his first year at Polk. He was terrified of what HIGH SCHOOL bullies might be capable of.

Sitting next to him, Cookie was just as nervous. He was intensely focused on the computer screen inside his glasses, and the remote control in his hand was moving around almost in a blur. All he had said to Ned was that he had an idea on how to make their first day better. Then he'd flicked the power switch on the corner of the rim of his glasses, and hadn't said anything since.

Almost as if sensing Ned looking at him, Cookie suddenly flicked the power switch, turning off the computer in his glasses, and turned to Ned with an expression of excitement on his face.

"Ned, I did it! We are going to rule high school now!"

Ned frowned. Usually when Cookie came up with an idea, it tended to blow up in their faces.

"What is it Cook? Please tell me you didn't hack into the school and rename the bathrooms after us or something."

"Bathrooms?" Cookie frowned. "Why would I…. never mind. You'll like this idea better than that."

"I'm all ears" Ned replied, trying to keep the worried tone out of his voice.

"I researched every teacher on each of our schedules so we know what to expect before we even set foot in their classrooms!"

Ned's eyes widened in surprise.

"Cookie that's BRILLIANT!"

"I know!" Cookie exclaimed, beaming with pride. "The only teacher I couldn't get was the science teacher since they didn't have one listed on our schedules, and I couldn't find one listed on the school faculty list either, but since we have that class together, and today we have it first thing, it won't be a mystery for long anyway."

Ned smiled and clapped his best friend on the back.

"Cook, sometimes you really surprise me, and this time that's a good thing."

"Thanks…..I think" Cookie replied with a slightly confused look. He quickly brightened again and smiled. "The only schedule I wasn't able to research was Moze's because she hasn't shown it to us yet. Lisa is going to be happy though. We have three classes together and the teachers all sound great!"

Moze. Just hearing her name brought the butterflies right back into Ned's stomach. He hadn't talked to her since they decided on resetting their relationship to the friendship level. They'd both been too busy with last minute school shopping trips and getting ready for the school year. Moze's mom had decided to drive her to school for her first day of high school so she wasn't on the bus either. Ned had tried calling her before she left, but her phone was off so he'd simply left a quick voicemail saying he was looking forward to seeing her at school. He'd had to bite his tongue to keep from adding "I miss you" at the end. Even if there aren't any bullies, Ned thought to himself, this whole just being friends' thing might kill me anyway.

"Ned are you ok?"

Cookie's question snapped Ned out of his reverie. He shook his head as though he were trying to clear out some cobwebs.

"Yeah I'm fine. Still just a little nervous I guess."

"Well you'd better snap out of it quick, because we're here."

Ned scanned the lockers, looking for the one with the number that matched the index card the school had mailed to him. According to the card, his locker number was 585, and his combination was 32-9-17. He'd been dismayed to find out Cookie had locker number 472, which was on the same floor but at almost the opposite end. In some ways, it might as well have been in an entirely different building. The floor was packed with freshmen, and Ned couldn't see too far in any direction through the mass of people. Aside from finding his locker, he also didn't see any familiar faces, which made him even more nervous than he already was. At last he spotted the number 585 on top of a locker near where he currently stood. He waded through the sea of people, and just as he reached his new locker, he heard a familiar voice, and his heart jumped into his throat.

"Hey Bigby! I guess we're locker neighbors this year!"

He turned around and couldn't keep the smile off his face for anything in the world. Smiling right back at him was Moze. Losing all control of his body for a moment, he lunged at her and wrapped his arms around her in what could only be described as a bear hug mixed with desperation and a hint of romance. For her part, Moze didn't flinch or lose her footing when Ned's weight thudded into her.

"Somebody's either completely overwhelmed or REALLY missed me on the bus this morning" Moze exclaimed with plenty of humor in her voice.

Ned blushed deep red and awkwardly pulled back from the hug.

"Sorry about that" he replied sheepishly. "You're the first recognizable face I've seen since Cookie and I got off the bus."

"So is that all that hug meant?" Moze asked, tipping her head slightly and wearing a very bemused look on her face.

"Nnn-no. No! Of course not!" Ned stammered. "I'm happy to see you! I'm just trying to explain why I basically attacked you with that hug. Sorry about that."

"No apology needed Ned. But we might want to make sure our lockers work and get to homeroom. Plus we have science together and apparently our homeroom teacher is also our science teacher, so we DEFINITELY don't want to be late."

Ned raised his eyebrow.

"How do you know we have science together? Cookie said he didn't know your schedule because he hadn't talked to you, so there's no way he told you what my schedule was, and obviously I haven't talked to you about my schedule until this very second so….. Are you like a closet psychic or something?"

"You got it" Moze grinned. "I've been hiding my powers for years, so don't tell anyone or I'll mess with your mind and make you think you're a flying squirrel"

Ned laughed. It felt good to be talking like this to Moze again.

"Actually the real explanation is much simpler. Lisa told me. Cookie shared his schedule with her and mentioned he and you were in the same science class, and when I compared it to mine, I realized I was in it too. Plus the school assigns homerooms based on your first class. That's how I knew our science teacher was also our homeroom teacher, and that we were therefore in the same homeroom too."

Ned was about to reply when the bell suddenly rang, telling students they had 1 minute to get to homeroom. His eyes widened, and Moze had a look of near panic.

"Let's go!" he exclaimed.

"Test your locker first!" she responded urgently.

Ned dialed in the numbers as fast as he could but it took him three tries because of how fast he was trying to do it. Finally the locker popped open. He slammed it shut and followed Moze quickly down the hall. They were almost to their homeroom when the bell rang again, meaning they were late. Moze turned to him, about to explain how they should handle this, when a voice billowed from behind them.

"Miss Mosely! MISTER Bigby! I should have expected you would be late on your first day!"

"It can't be…." Moze whispered to Ned before she slowly turned around.

"It is." Ned whispered back, his eyes wide.

Staring at them, a somewhat angry, but also somewhat bemused expression on his face, was none other than… MR. SWEENEY!

Ned sat in the front row right in front of Mr. Sweeney's desk (the last seat available) and had to rub his eyes for at least the 6th or 7th time. He couldn't believe Mr. Sweeney was going to be his science teacher…..again! Mr. Sweeney hadn't spoken since taking the roll call and was sitting at his desk, shuffling around some papers. After a few moments, he looked up, and straight at Ned. To Ned's surprise, he smiled.

"So we meet again eh Mr. Bigby?" Mr. Sweeney said, and the tone in his voice was pleasant. "I suspect this is quite a shock for you. I hope not a bad one."

"No sir" Ned replied. "But it is definitely a surprise. Are you a substitute or something?"

"No indeed! I have taken a full time position here at John Tyler high school, teaching science, both Earth Science for you 9th graders, and also Chemistry for the junior class. I only teach half the classes for each grade, as doing all of them would be too much for even a man half my age. But in order to maintain consistency, the school has set it up so anyone in my Earth Science class will also be in my Chemistry class when the time comes. So you will not only have me as a teacher this year Mr. Bigby, but in two years we will most likely share a classroom one more time!"

Ned actually found himself smiling. Mr. Sweeney seemed puzzled by his reaction.

"Did I say something amusing Mr. Bigby?" he asked.

"No." Ned replied. "It's just nice to have a familiar face."

"Oh indeed!" Mr. Sweeney responded, sounding quite pleased. "Well when I decided it was time to move on from Polk, I had no idea I'd end up here. But I must say that having some of my old students back was a delightful surprise." He raised his voice a little to be heard by Moze, who was sitting directly behind Ned. "Especially Ms. Mosley!"

Upon hearing her name, Moze looked up from the notebook she'd been writing in, and smiled.

"Hey!" Ned exclaimed. "What about me? I'm sure you're happy to have me as a student again….right?"

Mr. Sweeney's smile disappeared as he fixed Ned with a hard stare. Ned gulped. Then Mr. Sweeney chuckled.

"Of course, Mr. Bigby. I did tell you that you were one of my favorite students after all." His expression became somewhat more serious as he continued "But you will also recall I said you were one of my worst students. High school is a lot tougher than middle school. If you want to succeed, you will need to put in more effort. A book full of tips won't be enough if you don't study and do the work, and do it on time! Speaking of doing things on time, I have a tip for YOU Mr. Bigby."

Ned's mouth dropped open. Mr. Sweeney seemed amused by his reaction.

"Yes Mr. Bigby. I have a tip for YOU, and here it is: to avoid being late to homeroom or any of your classes, don't wait for the 1 minute bell to start heading to class. Keep an eye on the time and try to be in class BEFORE the bell. That way you won't have to scramble at the last minute. That bell is a warning that class is about to start. Stay ahead of it, and you'll stay ahead of being tardy!"

"Thanks Mr. Sweeney. That is a good tip, and even though I'm not doing a guide for high school, it's something I'll definitely remember."

"Good. By the way Mr. Bigby, Ms. Mosely, seeing as it's your first day, I think we can let your tardiness to homeroom slide. You're off the hook."

Ned turned around and gave Moze a quick high five. Mr. Sweeney cleared his throat.

"But just this once." He said firmly, but with a twinkle in his eye.

Since homeroom and Earth Science were in the same classroom, the bell only rang once, to mark the end of homeroom and the beginning of first period. Before that happened, however, Ned and Moze took the time to compare their school schedules. Cookie came over from where he was sitting on the other side of the room to join them. All the 9th graders had lunch together, and out of the other 8 school periods, they only had Earth Science in which they were all in together. Ned had 3 other classes with Cookie (Computer class, Spanish, and English) and 2 with Moze (Gym and Algebra.) That left 2 classes in which Ned would have to be on his own, but Cookie assured him Lisa would be in one of those classes, which was Art. The other class, Global history, Ned would have none of his closest friends with him. Cookie gave him more good news however when he assured him that of all the teachers he had researched, the history teacher seemed most likely to be the friendliest. On the flip side, Cookie warned that the English teacher was likely to be the toughest, as his research had revealed that the English teacher, appropriately named Ms. Hammer (though it was pronounced HAY-mer) was short tempered and graded rather strictly.

Ned was glad he'd have Cookie with him and Moze revealed Lisa was in her English class. Cookie and Moze only had 1 other class together besides Earth Science, and that was of course Global history. Ned was a little jealous when he found out that Lisa was also in that class. He was the odd one out in that particular class. But overall, after talking with Moze and Cookie, Ned felt much better about his first day. They spent the remainder of homeroom talking about what they were expecting the rest of the day, Cookie complained that Lisa's locker was nowhere near his, (as it turned out, it wasn't too far from Ned and Moze's lockers) and they all expressed how shocked and pleased they were to have Mr. Sweeney as a teacher again.

Once homeroom ended and Earth Science started, Mr. Sweeney spent most of the class providing an introduction to what they could expect during the year. It was mostly what Ned expected to hear. He was especially excited when Mr. Sweeney announced that the class would be having a field trip in the spring. Of course, the mention of a field trip also pushed his thoughts back to Moze, and the field trip he'd gone on, just a few months ago, and that kiss they'd shared in the gazebo…..

If Ned had been paying closer attention however, he'd have seen another guy in the class, sitting two rows over, staring at Moze. It wasn't anyone he knew, and it wasn't anyone that Moze knew either. This kid was from one of the other middle schools. One of the many new faces Ned was going to become acquainted with.

As class ended, Ned's thoughts had shifted from Moze to wondering what meeting his new teachers would be like. As for Moze, she HAD noticed the guy staring at her. As everyone gathered up their new Earth Science textbooks and informational papers that Mr. Sweeney had handed out, Ned was still not too focused on what was going on around him. But Moze? Moze had turned beet red. The guy hadn't stopped staring and had flashed her several rather dazzling smiles. As everyone filed out of the room, Moze shyly smiled back.

That's all for this chapter! I know it was a LONG time coming. I want to make it clear to my readers out there that even if some time passes between chapters, this is a project I am completely committed to, and even if it comes out slowly, this story will be completed. This will NOT be one of the stories on this site that sits unfinished for eternity. I promise. My schedule is all over the place so I can't give concrete plans for when chapters will be released, but I'll get them out as soon as I can! Thanks for your support!