Monday before school, I found myself sitting on the steps with Joel, as usual. Joel kept pestering me about what had
happened Friday, but I didn't feel like talking about it. I spent the entire weekend wondering about who my guardian angel
was and why he felt the desire to save me. Don't get me wrong, I was greatful that he had, but I was just curious about his
motives. I found myself daydreaming about what he was like and wondering if I knew him.

I was pulled out of my daydream when the ground started to vibrate, meaning that Zander was about to pull in to the parking
lot. Joel gave off a loud sigh, as he had become accustomed to doing every time Zander pulled up. I watched and Joel glared
at Zander as he jump out of his truck. To my shock, he didn't look like his usual, dark self today. He had on a pair of
baggy blue jeans that were way too low and a red tank top that showed off his muscular arms. The biggest shock of all was
the fact that his hair was now too short to be pulled back in to a ponytail. It hung down in to his eyes in the front and
was nice and loose in the back. It seemed that he had redone every aspect of himself except for his violet eyes, which stood
out bright and bold from behind the loose strands of hair. " Damn!" I said before I had a chance to catch myself. Joel
whirled his head around to stare at me. I quickly looked down at the ground, embarrased that I had been caught staring at,
as Joel would say, "the enemy." Joel, for some reason, still couldn't stand Zander and as he put it " don't trust him as
far as I could throw him!" "Hey Mina, Joel," Zander said as he walked past us on his way in to the school.I couldn't help
but stare as he walked by. His transformation made him look....well, it made him look downright sexy!

" Hmph! What's he trying to do? Become a member of the Brady Bunch?"

" Shut up, Joel. You're only saying that because you're jealous! (sarcastically said)"

" Jealous? Of what? That wannabe? He's probally doing that to impress some cheerleader."

I just nodded, tired of this argument already. After saying goodbye to Joel, I left to go to my locker, hoping that I'd
run in to Zander there. As I had hoped, he was at his locker, putting books in to his locker. He looked even better up close
than he did from a distance, if that was possible. What a miracle a decent hair cut and colors can do!" Wow, you look great,
Zander! Why the sudden change?" I asked as I opened my locker. A tiny smile slipped on to his face as he looked down at the
ground. If I didn't know better, I would have thought that he was blushing a little. Finally, he looked up at me.

" Hey, didn't see you come up. So you like the new me, eh? Figured it was time for a change."

" Yeah, I do. Couldn't imagine doing a total 180 for no reason though..."

" There's actually a reason, but you'd laugh if I told you."

" Oh, come on! Tell me! I won't tell anyone. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?"

" Well, as long as you don't tell anyone. You know how I live with my uncle, right?

" Yeah, but what's that got to do with anything?"

" I'm getting there. You see, he sort of wants me to... oh why am I telling you this?"

" Zander! Tell me now, no cliffhangers!"

" He wants me to start dating,ok? He thinks that by having long hair and wearing what I normally do is scaring girls away.
Geez, can't believe I just told you that...You have to promise not to tell anyone, ok?!?"

" (laughs) Is that what this is all about? Zander, trust me. You could get any girl you wanted in this school! They all
adore you. (laughs) I never imagined you to be the kind who's not obvious about their looks!"

" You think I am cute?!?"

" Yeah, I do. But not in that traditional surfer blonde way. You're....like mysteriously attractive. Oh, I bet you now
think I'm a total weirdo, don't you? (laughs)"

" Not at all. Can I walk you to class?"

" Sure!"

With that, we closed our lockers and started to walk to English class. I was feeling slightly embarrased and part way
confident at the same time. I kept glancing over at him during the walk and had to force myself to look away. He kept
running his hand through his hair, obviously not use to it being so short. Suddenly, I just had the desire to run my
fingers through it too. Between all the note taking and watching I had done lately, I never had realized how much time I
spent actually thinking about Zander. He looked over at me then with a curious look in his eyes. That little smile came
across his face again as he looked away. I then remembered the first day I had met him at the cafe. He had given me that
exact smile, right before Raye had told me that he could read minds. I couldn't help but wonder if he was reading my mind
now.If he was, he gave no sign that he was doing so. As we got to the classroom, he held the door open for me and said,
" Ladies first." I giggled a little as I walked through. He lightly gave me a little push on my back to hurry through and I
couldn't help but blush slightly.

Just as his uncle had expected, every female in the class turned to check out the new Zander. His eyes glanced around the
room before they finally rested on me. " Told ya," I teased while elbowing him. He just laughed before taking his seat in
the back next to me. I started hating all the girls in the class after awhile. They each took turns looking over their
shoulders at him. I decided that between the time I talked to him at the lockers and now, I had finally admitted
to myself that I was starting to fall for Zander. Next step was not letting it show. To the scouts, he held the number one
spot as the most probable person to be our evil shapeshifter. To me, he was too nice to want to kill me like the
shape shifter had. For the first time in awhile, I was depressed when the class was over. As the class packed up and started
to leave, Zander asked me to join him for lunch. I was thrilled beyond belief and was only capable of nodding my head in
response. In the hallway, I stopped Joel, who glared evilly at Zander because he was standing next to me. After talking to
him quickly, he said that he'd talk to the girls and create a cover for why I wasn't eating lunch with them. Now that all
that was out of the way, Zander and I walked out to the lunch area together.