Hello again everyone! I made a strong effort to get this next chapter out promptly so the wait wouldn't be anywhere close to last time. Enjoy!

Ned and Cookie walked into their second period classroom, and a nervous energy seemed to enter the room with them. After stopping briefly at their lockers to deposit their books from Mr. Sweeney's class, they had made sure to follow their teachers' advice and get to their next class well before the bell was due to ring. Now they were about to meet their first new teacher, Ms. Hammer, and Cookie had warned Ned about her. According to his research, she was one of the shortest tempered teachers in the school, and typically a rather unpleasant person.

As Ned caught sight of Ms. Hammer for the first time, he had a feeling Cookie's research was going to be spot on. She was an older woman but not elderly, probably in her mid to late 50s. She had short brown hair with streaks of gray in it, her eyes were brown, she had just a couple of wrinkles coming from the creases on her face, and her stare as the students slowly filed into the room could only be described as cold.

Ned shivered slightly at the look of her. The vibe she seemed to be giving off was that she WANTED the class to be miserable, and if they weren't, she would make sure to change that. He sincerely hoped he was wrong. Ned found a seat towards the back of the room, and Cookie managed to get the seat next to him. Ned braced himself as the bell rang and the final minute before class ticked away. As soon as that minute had evaporated, Ms. Hammer stood from where she had been sitting at her desk and spoke.

"Good morning class. My name is Ms. Hammer and I will be your teacher this year for English."

Ned couldn't help but shrink away a little at the sound of her voice. It was loud and sharp. There was no pleasantness at all to it. If anything, she sounded a little like what Ned imagined a drill sergeant would sound like. Ned glanced quickly around the room and could tell by the facial expressions on many of his classmates faces that they likely felt the same way. He was pleasantly surprised to see Coconut Head a couple rows over, and was shocked to see that Suzy Crabgrass was also in this class. She was in the back corner, as far away from the teacher as possible, looking like she wanted to blend into the wall. Ms. Hammer's voice snapped Ned's attention back to the front of the classroom.

"This will not be a class for you to goof off in" she said, and swept the room with a stern glance to reinforce her statement. "There will be plenty of work to be done. I expect everyone in this room to keep up with the assignments. Any lazy work will be graded harshly, and any attempts at misbehaving while you are in my class will be dealt with swiftly and severely. This classroom will be orderly. No note passing, talking while I am talking, or texting on your phones will be tolerated. I have no problem giving out detentions as often as I need to. Repeated problem students WILL be sent to the principal, and I assure you, your parents WILL be hearing from me."

Ned and Cookie shared a quick glance, and there was genuine fear on both of their faces.

"However," Ms. Hammer continued, and the rough edge in her voice dissipated somewhat. "If you are prepared each day, keep up with your work, and behave yourselves, you will be fine. We will be reading and studying some of the greatest poets, novelists, playwrights, and writers in history, and I believe many of you will come to enjoy what you read and learn here."

After briefly outlining what to expect during the upcoming school year, passing out a rather stringent guideline on how papers and tests would be graded, and giving out her first detention to a girl two rows over from Ned who had the misfortune of being caught passing a note to a friend, Ms. Hammer allowed the class to use the remainder of the period to talk quietly, with a warning that if anyone got too loud, they would risk a detention.

"I don't know if I can handle this class Ned" Cookie whispered, leaning towards Ned so he could keep his voice low. "You might need to come up with a whole new guide just to survive it!"

Ned chuckled softly and rolled his eyes.

"You mean The Steel Eagle is afraid of English class? If you can take on art thieves, I think you can handle Ms. Hammer"

Cookie nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, that's true! In fact, I bet I'll ace this class and all this worrying will have been for nothing!"

After English class had ended, Ned had a bit of extra time since the Global history class he was headed to next was the classroom located closest to his locker. He spotted Moze at her locker and decided to give her a heads up about Ms. Hammer. As he approached he realized she wasn't alone. There was a guy standing next to her. The two of them seemed to be deep in conversation were talking and Moze, with a big grin on her face, was animatedly talking about something. As Ned got close he caught the end of whatever she was saying.

"Anyway, I had no idea she was going to get so worked up over a simple suggestion!" Moze said, trying to stifle a laugh as she said it.

"Personally I thought it was a good idea" the guy Moze was talking to responded.

"Thanks" Moze replied, flashing a smile so dazzling Ned's jaw dropped.

For a moment he thought about the last time she'd given HIM a smile like that and his stomach knotted. He shook off the memory and cleared his throat to get her attention. It worked as Moze turned her gaze towards him and her expression, though still cheery, changed to greet him.

"Hey Ned!" she said, though Ned noticed a subtle change in her tone. She was clearly happy to see him, but for some reason she sounded less excited than she had when talking to this other guy just a moment ago. Moze seemed to read Ned's unease at not knowing who the guy was she was talking to, as she immediately turned to introduce him.

"Ned, this is Jeff. He's in our Earth Science class. We met after you and Cookie left for English. We're in the same Art class too. Jeff, this is my best friend Ned."

Ned reached out his arm and shook hands with Jeff, but there was a strange feeling of unease in his stomach as he did so.

"Hey Ned" Jeff said, sounding genuinely friendly. "It's nice to meet you. Jennifer here has told me quite a bit about you already."

Ned raised his eyebrow questioningly at Moze.

"When did you have time for that?" he asked, trying not to sound suspicious. "You didn't skip class did you?"

Moze and Jeff laughed almost simultaneously. Ned wasn't sure what was funny about his question, but once again Moze seemed to read his mind and explained without him even needing to ask.

"We just had a crazy Art class" she said, still laughing a little. "Mrs. Fishman, she's the Art teacher, was going over what we'd be doing this year, and I had an idea for an art project that I thought she might like, and she completely lost it. She didn't yell or anything, she just got really flustered, lost track of everything she was planning to say, and ended up going into her office the rest of the class. We basically had almost the entire period to talk. I didn't know anyone else in the class except Missy, and obviously I'm not going to talk to her if I can avoid it, and Jeff came over to the table I was sitting at, introduced himself, and asked if he could sit down. I told him I recognized him from Earth Science, and we kind of just started talking."

"Oh" Ned replied. "Well that's better than skipping class I guess. Though you might end up wanting to skip English when you meet Ms. Hammer."

Moze turned to Jeff and gave him another knowing smile. Ned hated not being in on whatever was going on.

"Actually" Moze said, "English is the other class Jeff and I have together. We compared schedules. He's actually in your Global history class next. Maybe you two can get to know each other better."

Ned wasn't sure why, but he felt almost upset at the idea of getting to know Jeff better. But he didn't let that feeling show. Instead he gave his most sincere-looking fake smile to Jeff.

"Yeah, that might be a good idea. At least now I know there's someone in that class that I'll have met before."

Ned found himself barely able to listen to his Global history teacher, Mr. Atwood, explain about the course and expectations. His mind kept wandering back to Moze's actions around Jeff. She'd just met him, and she already seemed a little too comfortable around him in Ned's opinion. Making matters harder, Jeff was literally sitting right next to him. To his credit, Jeff was being as nice to Ned as could be. Ned couldn't understand why Jeff being nice to him bothered him so much. He was a potential new friend and yet Ned found himself wishing Jeff weren't anywhere near him right now. But why?

Maybe I'm just thrown off by this being my first day in high school Ned thought to himself. Could just be first day jitters making me a little crazy. I did just meet a rather scary teacher just before I met Jeff, so maybe that's all it is.

Ned turned his head slightly to look at Jeff. Jeff was focused on whatever Mr. Atwood was saying and didn't notice Ned looking at him. After a few moments, Ned gently shook his head and tried to focus on his teacher.

Mr. Atwood was basically the polar opposite of Ms. Hammer. He seemed to be a very nice guy, just like Cookie had thought he would be, and seemed excited to be teaching this class. He looked to be in his 40s, short brown hair and brown eyes, and he had a darker complexion, almost a tanned look. His face was very friendly and his tone of voice was warm.

Ned turned slightly to look at Jeff again. He decided, much to his annoyance, that Jeff was a good looking guy. Jeff was about the same height as Moze and Ned, with black hair and brown eyes. He clearly had well-toned muscles and took excellent care of himself. Probably an athlete Ned thought to himself. He certainly looked the part.

Once again Ned found himself wondering why on earth Jeff annoyed him. He hadn't done anything wrong, and had been polite, almost to a fault. When they'd first entered class, Jeff had even asked Ned if it was ok to sit next to him. Ned had felt almost obligated to let him, but Jeff seemed genuinely pleased when Ned said yes. Inwardly, Ned sighed to himself. Whatever was going on, he wasn't going to solve it in the middle of class. He forced himself to listen to his teacher, but inwardly, he was eagerly looking forward to his Computer class next period, when he'd be able to share what was going on with Cookie.

"So basically Moze introduced you to a nice guy and you're bothered by it, but you don't know why?" Cookie asked Ned as they sat at their computers, working on a simple typing exercise their teacher, Mr. Knight had suggested they try.

"Yeah, and he hasn't done anything wrong Cook. Nothing at all" Ned replied, exasperated.

Ned had spent the rest of Global history, alternating between trying to focus on the teacher, and figuring out what exactly he should say to Cookie to try to explain what was going on. He had tried to fit in as much as he could when he first arrived in the classroom, but he hadn't had much time before class started.

Mr. Knight seemed like a nice enough teacher. Older, mostly gray hair and balding, Ned had been surprised by how pleasantly strong and focused Mr. Knight sounded. He supposed he was a little biased against elderly teachers since Principal Pal at Polk had been borderline senile as a teacher. (Though Ned still missed being in his class anyway)

Ned had patiently waited for Mr. Knight to go through the class syllabus, which seemed to Ned to take three times as long as it actually had, because of his eagerness to finish explaining everything to Cookie. When Mr. Knight had finally allowed the class to go to the computers, Ned had almost dragged Cookie to the nearest ones so he could finish telling him about Jeff. Cookie had listened, mostly indifferent to the potential addition of Jeff to their social circle, but had been surprised when Ned revealed how meeting Jeff had bothered him as much as it had.

As Ned moved his fingers across the keyboard, using the method Mr. Knight had shown the class, he was about to ask Cookie if he was crazy, when he was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Hi Ned, Hi Cookie, it's great to see you guys! I thought I'd see you before now, maybe in the halls, or at the lockers, or maybe on the way into school, or the bus, or in one of my earlier classes. Ned, I saw you in Global history but you didn't see me. I guess you were busy. Maybe you were taking notes, or listening to Mr. Atwood, or talking to the new kid next to you. I really like that class. I think it might end up being my favorite. Do you have a favorite? I had a dream last night where….."

Ned smiled as he tuned out the voice of Martin Qwerly. Through several years of practice, he'd learned how to tune out Martin when he'd start going on and on about everything he could think of. Ned would typically let Martin talk for a bit before interrupting him. Usually if he did that, Martin would talk himself out a little bit, and the conversation from that point forward could be normal. Well, as normal as it could get for Martin.

After another 30 seconds or so of rambling, Ned finally prepared himself to interrupt Martin's nonstop monologue of his day and his barrage of unanswered questions. It never ceased to amaze Ned how Martin could ask question after question, never even wait to get an answer, and move on to the next topic without skipping a beat.

Just as he was about to say something to Martin, Ned stopped, realizing Martin had said something that surprised him. Taking a moment to think and make sure he'd heard Martin correctly, (while Martin continued to talk at a rapid pace) Ned finally spoke up.

"Martin, did you say you're in my Global history class?"

Martin stopped talking and looked quizzically at Ned.

"Yeah, I was sitting two rows behind you. Didn't you see me when you came in? I waved. Maybe you need glasses? My mom had to get new glasses. Her-"

"Martin" Ned interrupted, stopping another Martin talk-a-thon before it could get started. "Are you SURE it was me in your class?"

"Of course" Martin replied nonchalantly. "You came in with that guy Moze was talking to in the hallway"

Ned turned to Cookie, an incredulous look on his face.

"See what I mean?" Ned asked him. "I was so caught up in whatever is bothering me about Jeff I didn't even notice Martin was in my class. No one in history has ever not noticed Martin!"

Cookie shook his head in disbelief.

"That's pretty bad Ned. You gotta figure out what's bothering you so much. You're not usually like this. Actually, you're NEVER like this."

"Well, class is almost over" Martin interrupted "I'll see you guys later. Maybe we'll have more classes together!"

Martin walked off to get his backpack and other belongings, while Ned looked down at the keyboard in front of him and shook his head.

"We'll have to finish talking about this in Spanish" he told Cookie. "I have Algebra with Moze next so maybe she can help me make some sense out of this."

As it turned out, Ned was unable to get any help from Moze, as he never had a chance to talk to her. The distance between the Computer class classroom and the Algebra classroom was the furthest distance he had between classes, as they were on opposite ends of the school and on different floors. By the time he reached his Algebra class, the bell had rung 20 prior, and there were only 2 desks left, both on the opposite side of the room from where Moze was sitting. She saw him come in and gave him a friendly wave but that was their only interaction.

The Algebra teacher, Mrs. Stephens, was a prototypical math teacher. She didn't talk much except about Algebra and she looked like she'd stepped straight out of a library. She had somewhat frizzy but not messy dirty blonde hair, round glasses, and a very pale complexion. She had a pleasant sounding voice, but most of the class she spoke in a tone that sounded more like a lecture on tape, and Ned found himself losing focus several times.

As soon as class had ended, Ned had jumped up out of his desk, hoping for a brief moment to talk to Moze, but she had to run back to her locker to grab her lunch, so she promised to meet him and Cookie in the cafeteria. Ned made his way to the cafeteria by himself as he was buying his lunch, and after making his way through the lunch line, he joined Cookie at a table in the corner of the cafeteria. He'd barely sat down when Moze came in. Unfortunately she wasn't alone. Walking right next to her were Lisa…..and Jeff.

Lunch was awkward for Ned. He couldn't talk to Cookie and Moze about Jeff since Jeff was with them at the table, so he did his best to be enthusiastic as they all talked about the teachers they'd had so far and which classes they thought they'd like or hate.

Moze and Cookie had Global history class right after lunch, and Moze decided they didn't want to take any risks being late, so she and Cookie left the lunchroom a few minutes early to ensure they'd be on time. Right after they left, Jeff left as well, leaving Ned and Lisa as the only two left at the table.

Ned had Art after lunch, followed by Gym and then Spanish to end the day. Lisa offered to walk with him to Art class, since they were in it together.

Art class was exactly what Ned expected after Moze told him of her experience with Mrs. Fishman, the Art teacher. Mrs. Fishman was a little goofy in Ned's opinion. She had a bit of a funny sounding voice, and seemed a little intimidated if anyone had a question. But she was also very friendly and, after having the class do an exercise where they drew their favorite meal on a piece of paper and presented it to the rest of the class as a way to introduce themselves, she gave warm compliments to many members of the class on their drawings, including Ned and Lisa, who decided to sit together.

Ned was a bit surprised to see Loomer of all people in this class, and he had a moment of nostalgia when Coconut Head, who was also in the class, accidentally hit Loomer in the head with a crumpled piece of paper he was trying to throw in the recycling bin. Loomer chased Coconut Head around the classroom until Mrs. Fishman, who had stepped into her office to get something, returned. As soon as she opened the door, Loomer leapt back into his seat, leaving a trembling Coconut Head standing awkwardly by himself in the front of the classroom. Ned had to stifle a laugh. It was like old times at Polk.

As class ended, Ned got ready to head to his first Gym class. Since it was the first class of the year and no gym activities would take place, there was no need to change into gym clothes so he had a few minutes to talk to Lisa and find out how her first day was going. She admitted that she was nervous but that overall the day had mostly exceeded her expectations. She was headed to the dreaded English class at the end of the day however, and despite the fact Moze would be there, Lisa was still nervous. Apparently Cookie had embellished a bit on how strict Ms. Hammer had been so Ned had to clear up what had actually happened, which Lisa admitted made her feel a little better.

After parting company with Lisa, Ned made his way to Gym class. Normally the class would go to the boys and girls locker rooms to change before meeting in the gym, but as this was the first class of the year, the gym teacher, Mr. Jewett had the class sit in one section of the bleachers in the gym while he gave an overview of what Gym class would be like. Ned made sure to grab a seat next to Moze.

Mr. Jewett was exactly the kind of gym teacher Ned had expected: physically fit, early 40s with a loud voice and a louder whistle around his neck. He explained that while there would be the typical gym activities like fitness tests, timed mile runs, and even the occasional quiz or test, there would also be plenty of sports played and fun competitions. Mr. Jewett promised a variety of sports would be learned and played by the class during the year, from basics like basketball and volleyball, to more obscure sports like handball.

Moze of course perked up at the mention of volleyball, and Ned was excited to hear they'd be playing basketball at some point, especially since 9th graders weren't allowed on the school's varsity sports programs. There were after school intramurals for various sports at different times of the year, but Ned knew Moze wanted real competition, and a volleyball competition in gym would be a welcome activity for her. Meanwhile Ned was keenly aware he wouldn't be talented enough to make the school's varsity basketball team when he reached the required grade level, thanks to his brief attempt to play on the school team at Polk. He also wasn't big on the idea of intramurals, so this would be his chance to shoot some hoops.

After Mr. Jewett finished going over the goals and expectations for gym class for the school year, he told the class they could use the few minutes left in the period to talk amongst themselves. Ned considered mentioning his bizarre issues with Jeff to Moze but decided the few minutes he had weren't enough to fit it all in, so instead they had a light conversation about their day. Ned gave Moze a couple tips for her English class, and a last warning about Ms. Hammer, and before they knew it, class was over.

Ned headed to his final class feeling a mixed bag of emotions. He liked most of his teachers so far, he was glad the day was almost over, but Jeff was still on his mind, and he still wasn't sure why.

Moze had never been nervous of a class before. But after what Cookie and Ned had told her, she was nervous about meeting Ms. Hammer. She had tried to be the first person to arrive to most of her classes today to make a good impression on her teachers, especially after having been late to homeroom to start the day. But for this class, she'd decided to arrive to class around the time when she figured half the class or so would already be there, so she could blend in. She was also very grateful to have Lisa with her.

As Moze and Lisa entered the classroom, Moze was immediately struck by the appearance of Ms. Hammer. Moze would never have even thought of calling a teacher's appearance intimidating, but Ms. Hammer sure looked the part. Her voice was just as intimidating as her appearance. But, just like Ned had said, after warning the class that she wouldn't tolerate any nonsense, she softened a little to encourage those that did the work and didn't goof off had nothing to worry about.

Moze decided right there that she was determined to never end up on this woman's bad side. Then she had to stifle a laugh. Since when have I EVER been on a teacher's bad side? She thought to herself.

After Ms. Hammer finished her speech and passed out her papers on what to expect in terms of grading, the class was allowed the rest of the period to talk quietly. Just as she had for Ned's class, Ms. Hammer warned that anyone who got too loud would promptly receive a detention. Moze wondered if Ms. Hammer would set a detention record among all the teachers at John Tyler high school.

Lisa leaned over to Moze and broke her train of thought y clearing her throat softly, indicating she wanted to talk.

"So what do you think?" she asked Moze.

"Of Ms. Hammer?"

"Well sort of. I meant of our first day overall."

Moze thought for a moment.

"I think I'm going to like high school" she admitted. "Most of the teachers seem pretty good, I like how the classes look like they'll be challenging but fun, and I'm happy Mr. Sweeney is teaching Earth Science. It's always nice to see a familiar face in a new place."

"Speaking of new things" Lisa said, a smile mischievously playing at the corners of her mouth, "I hear you met someone today. Someone named Jeff?"

Moze blushed. First a little. Then a lot. When she didn't respond right away, Lisa's little mischievous grin became a knowing smile.

"You like him, don't you?" she asked Moze, with a hint of excitement in her voice.

Moze turned beet red at this point.

"But what about Ned?" Lisa asked, her tone changing and becoming much more serious.

What about Ned? Moze wondered as she pondered how best to respond to her friend's question. I still don't know if I can have anything beyond friendship with him. Maybe what happened with Ned shows that he and I should just be friends, or maybe I don't have the right feelings for Ned for that kind of relationship. I don't trust my feelings about him right now, that's for sure. I don't even think I trust HIS feelings.

Lisa was still staring at Moze, expectantly waiting for an answer. Moze sighed.

"I'm not sure Lisa. I'm not sure about anything right now."

But that wasn't true. Deep down Moze knew. I'll tell her when I'm ready she thought. I'll tell Lisa, but I'm not telling Ned. Not for a while at least. It would hurt him too much to know that I have a crush on Jeff.

This chapter was a bit hard to write as I had to introduce the new school and teachers, which was a little tricky to do without going on for too long. Hopefully it didn't drag on too much for any of you readers. Most chapters going forward won't cover just one day, especially not like this unless it's for a major event of some kind. Some chapters may even jump weeks (or months) at a time within the chapter depending on what is happening within the story. Also I know it was a little different to not switch POV (point of view) to Moze until the very end of the chapter, but obviously I had my reason to do it that way! Most chapters will be split a bit more evenly in terms of POV, though some chapters will certainly focus on one character for one reason or another. Also we will see more of Cookie and get some of his POV going forward, it will just take a bit of time as there's a lot that's going to be happening. The teachers, or at least some of them, will also be more involved as the story goes along, kind of like the series but maybe in a bit of a different way as well. You also might see the return of a couple more characters from the series! Just wanted to give everyone a rough idea of what to expect going forward. Hopefully everyone is enjoying the story so far and hopefully I'll get the next chapter out soon!