"Okay class, today we are going to learn about..." a middle-aged man announced in his draggy, monotone voice. Mr. McGill was somewhere in his fifties, average height and on the stocky side. The large bald spot on top of his head, with the exception of a few gray hairs, shined under the florescent lights of the classroom. Plastic framed glass sat on the bridge of his nose, resembling an old librarian. His eyes were glazed over and he looked tired. Tired and bored, like all the fun had been sucked out of him into a giant, super-strength vacuum.

Zoey turned around to face Virgil, who was sitting directly behind her.

"Does he always start his classes that way?" she asked.

Virgil paused, and then nodded. "Yeah, pretty much," he replied.

"And does he always talk in that voice?"

Richie was sitting at the desk to Zoey's right. His hand was propped against his cheek, forcing himself to stay awake.

"Uh huh," he groaned.

Zoey smirked, amused by the blond boy's antics. "I see what you meant when you described his lack of personality."

Unfortunately for her, she didn't have a clue that Mr. McGill was staring right at her, his eyes burning a hole through the back of her head. Virgil quickly noticed this and alertly tapped her on the wrist.

"Uh...Zoey."

Zoey furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, until Virgil pointed toward the front of the room. She quickly spun around to see Mr. McGill watching her, along with the rest of the class.

"Please pay attention, Miss Parker," he ordered. Zoey looked sheepishly down at her desk. "Sorry," she apologized.

When Mr. McGill turned around to write some formula on the blackboard, she turned around and glanced at Virgil and Richie who both gave her an encouraging thumbs-up. His class definitely wasn't going to be so bad with them there with her.

Finally, about forty-five minutes later, the shrill sound of the bell dismissed the class and the three friends stood up to leave.

"So Zoey, what class do you have second hour?" Virgil asked as the three left the classroom.

Zoey pulled out her schedule from between the pages of her notebook and handed it to Virgil. Virgil took it and studied it with Richie looking over his shoulder.

"Aw, it looks like you don't have any classes with us before lunch," he concluded.

Richie adjusted his glasses, frowning. "That's too bad."

Zoey was silent, clearly as bummed out as they were, if not more.

"But we will still see you at lunch. Maybe we can all sit together," Richie said, trying to cheer her up.

"Yeah!" Virgil piped in, "And we can walk you to your next class, which is…" he glanced back down at her schedule. "…Business Essentials. Hey, I think that's what Frieda has."

Zoey looked at Virgil in confusion.

"Who's Frieda?" she asked. Virgil noticed Zoey's quizzical expression.

"She's one of our friends," he explained. "You'd like her, except she can get a little crazy sometimes."

Richie chuckled. "Haha, watch out for Hurricane Frieda!" he joked. "When ideas get in her head, it's useless to try and stop her."

Zoey forced a smile, a little unsure about who this "Frieda" character was and what she was like. Though, on the other hand, she thought it'd be nice to have a girl friend to talk about girl things with. Things that the boys wouldn't necessarily understand.

Virgil and Richie walked with Zoey to her Business Essentials class. Since it was kind of out of the way of her other classes, she was glad she had the guys with her so she could get there on time.

After a few minutes, they stopped in front of a classroom at the end of the hall that had BUSINESS ESSENTIALS written next to the door. Many students were already inside, excitedly chattering with one another. Zoey turned to Virgil and Richie, feeling an enormous amount of gratitude for her new friends.

"Thanks for helping me find my class, guys," Zoey said. Virgil waved her comment aside.

"No problem."

"It was our pleasure," Richie added. "So I guess we'll see you at lunch then?"

Zoey nodded. "You will."

"And don't worry about getting lost, Frieda will show you there," Virgil reassured her.

As if on cue, they heard a familiar voice call from behind them.

"Virgil! Richie!"

The three turned around to see Frieda was already sitting at a desk in front of the classroom, wearing her usual upbeat smile.

"Hey Frieda!" the guys waved.

Zoey smiled at her at as well. She looks nice enough.

It was then that Virgil glanced at the clock. "Richie, we really have to go. We only have a little over a minute."

He glanced at Richie, whose mouth was twisted into a playful smirk. "Race you there?"

Virgil grinned. "Game on," he challenged.

Without a second to spare, the two started bounding down the halls as fast as their legs could carry them.

"See you, Zoey!" they called from behind them.