Zoey continued to wander around the hallway, desperate to find her first class.

I should ask someone for help, she thought to herself. It's better than looking like a complete idiot, like I probably do right now.

As if on cue, out of the corner of her eye she saw two students walking towards her. One was an African American guy with dreads and the other was blonde-haired guy with round-framed glasses. She dared to meet their gaze and saw that they were indeed, looking at her. She braced herself slightly, wondering if they were just creeps coming over to hit on her, but noted that their body language and overall demeanor seemed very un-creepy, to put it simply.

The two guys stopped in front of her, both wearing kind expressions. The African American boy spoke first.

"Hi, I'm Virgil Hawkins. And this is my pal, Richie." Virgil motioned toward the blond, who gave her an awkward smile. "We couldn't help but notice you seem kinda lost."

Zoey rolled her eyes. "Am I that obvious?"

Virgil looked over at Richie, catching onto the girl's sarcastic tone.

"To put it straight, yes," he chuckled. "Are you new here?"

Zoey nodded. "Yeah. I just moved to Dakota last month." She didn't really want to bother explaining why. She doubted anyone really wanted to hear her the story about her parent's divorce. Thankfully, Virgil didn't pry.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Zoey."

"Nice to meet you, Zoey." Virgil extended his hand, allowing her to shake it. Richie followed his friend's example, outstretching his own hand.

"Pleasure to meet ya."

Zoey glanced up at the blond before taking his hand. She couldn't help but notice the strong and firm grip the boy had, despite his geeky appearance. It was almost enough to make her...blush.

"You too."

After they had exchanged introductions, she stood there with her two new acquaintances, wondering how they would fit into her junior year. As if Virgil read her mind, he cleared his throat to speak.

"The reason why we came up to you was because we thought you could use some help. We could even show you the school around if you want." Richie nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, that'd be cool," Zoey said, "I could really use that kind of help right about now."

"Cool, what's your first class?" Virgil asked.

Zoey looked down at her schedule. "It says I have...physics with McGill."

Not hearing a response, she looked up to see the two friends looking at each other with knowing smirks.

"What?" she asked suspiciously. Both Richie and Virgil shared mischievous expressions.

"Oh, Mr. McGill..." Virgil started. "He's quite a..."

"Character," Richie finished.

Zoey stuck her hand on her hip. Clearly something was up.

"What's wrong with McGill?" she demanded.

"Everything," Richie muttered. Virgil elbowed his friend in the gut.

"There's nothing seriously wrong with him. It's just, he seems to lack, I don't know..."

"Personality," the blond finished, earning a glare from Virgil. "Sorry. Continue."

Virgil cleared his throat. "It's just that sometimes, we feel like he needs to loosen up."

Richie rolled his eyes. "His class is so boring. We had him last year for Chemistry. It was torture. Normally I like working with chemicals and all that stuff, but he made me hate it."

Zoey felt her heart sink. The last thing she needed was a pain-in-the-butt teacher that would be hard to get along with.

"Great," she muttered. Virgil detected the concern on her face and comfortingly put his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, Zoe. It's not that bad. Richie tends to exaggerate. Besides, we have the same class as you."

Zoey's face immediately light up like a Christmas tree. "Really?!" she exclaimed.

Richie chuckled. "Yep. You won't have to brave his class alone, Zoey. We're here for you.

For some reason, hearing him say that gave her warm, fuzzy sensation inside. It was good to know she had allies who had her back.

"Thanks, guys," she smiled. Virgil returned the smile.

"No problem, we'll walk you there.

For the first time since she had moved, Zoey felt her spirits being lifted. She had been miserable for so long, but it looked like things were finally turning around. She had some new friends she could hang out with, not to mention they were friendly, sincere, and sweet. Not to mention she found the blond, Richie, to be kinda cute. She walked between her new friends, Richie to her left and Virgil to her right, to the ominous class known as Mr. McGill's Physics class.