Marissa got to school a little bit earlier than she had the day before, wearing a creme sweater, a red-and-black plaid skirt-and Ray's jacket. It wasn't long before her ensemble was the talk of the school.

"Did you hear?" a junior muttered as Marissa walked by, "She went out with Ray Budds last night. Look, she's wearing his jacket, too! That proves it."

"Look at her hand," a sophomore whispered, "Is she wearing his ring yet?"

"What makes you think she would be?" the junior replied. "I don't they're out going to the hill or anything yet."

"She got his jacket on the first date," one boy muttered. "You never know."

"I think they're going steady," the first one piped in.

"No they're not!"

"They so are!" the sophomore whispered heatedly. "I mean, that look on her face says it all!"

"How can you tell-"

Marissa turned around to face them, smiling acidly. "I may be new," she began, "But I'm not deaf. If you're gonna whisper, do it quietly. Now, did you want to say something?"

"Is that really Ray's jacket?" one of them asked.

"Why don't you ask him?" Marissa laughed. "He's right there," She gestured over their shoulders at Ray, who was coming closer. "Well?" They just stood around, shrugging. Marissa rolled her eyes and walked away.

She had somehow managed not to talk to Ray throughout all of Homeroom Literature, probably because he was busy bragging about their date. She had a few objections to that, but nobody was coming up to her and asking for a lap dance, so he couldn't have been saying anything too bad.

The whole class went by pretty quietly, except for Emma constantly prodding for details about the previous night. The end of the class couldn't have come too soon. She walked into her History class and sat down.

"Er, hi," Ronnie said, hesitating as he noticed her jacket. So that's where she had been last night. "Are we still on for lunch?"

"Sure," Marissa smiled. They left it at that, not wanting to get caught talking again. It was a good thing too, because at that moment, the door opened and someone stepped in.

Only it wasn't the teacher. The principal cleared his throat. "Your teacher won't be here today. You're welcome to leave," No one had any objections. They rushed out of the room. Marissa followed Ronnie, Gerry, and Julius out to the cafeteria.

"So where did you move from?" Gerry asked.

"Oregon," she said. "I moved here in the beginning of the summer,"

"Sunshine here moved from California," Gerry said.

"I told her that myself," Ronnie muttered.

"California," she repeated dreamily. "That's cool. I miss it there," They seemed confused. "I was born in California. I lived in San Francisco until my dad died when I was fourteen. That's when I moved to Oregon,"

"See, nobody knows that," Ronnie said, "Everyone knows I'm a Californian and I'm suddenly 'Hippie Boy'. It's only right that we call you Hippie Girl,"

"No thanks," Marissa laughed. "I don't look the part. But I just miss how pretty the whole place was. I mean, during the summer, you could stay outside and the sun would be up until eight."

"Sounds great," Gerry said.

"It sure was," Marissa sighed. "I need to go now. I've got places to be. You can call me at around five, okay?"

* * * * * *

"Hello?" Marissa asked, answering the phone from the receiver in her living room. She had just changed her clothes, and was trying to put on her shoes and talk at the same time, which was extremely difficult to do, considering she had the phone propped against her shoulder, and had a duffel bag in one hand.

"Hey, it's me,"

"Um, all right," she said slowly, "And who is- me?" she asked. "I'm not exactly psychic or anything. You're gonna have to help me out a little."

"It's Ray," he said.

"Oh," she replied. She had been expecting a call from someone else.

"I didn't catch you at lunch today," he said.

"I was at some auditions," she said. "They ran the whole time."

"Okay, I can get that, but I didn't see you after school either," he said, "Where were you then?" He was starting to get a little nosy.

"Even more auditions," Marissa laughed. "Not that I'm not glad that you called, but I thought you'd have other places to be. Don't you need to go soon? I thought you had practice today,"

"Yeah, you're right," he said, "How did you know?"

"I just do," she laughed. "You know, I've just noticed a very interesting bit of information. The cheerleaders have practice at least every time that the football team does. I don't need to keep an eye on you around them, do I?" she asked.

"Of course not," he said smoothly, "I'll see you tomorrow," he said, hanging up.

"Maybe sooner," she laughed, picking up her bag and hopping out the door. She got onto her motorcycle, something her father had gotten her before he had died, and drove back to the school.

About ten other girls were already on the field when she got there. A couple of them were wearing old G.W. cheerleading uniforms, and most of them were in old Hammond uniforms. Marissa felt like the odd girl out, wearing the uniform from her old high school in Oregon, but she walked over, dropping her bag on the ground next to everyone else's.

Seeing as it was their first practice, the athletic director came to oversee. He stayed a bit away from them, and watched until everyone had arrived.

"Okay, from what I hear, you've got a new captain," he said, just as the football team came out. They looked on in interest, anxious to see who had gotten the coveted spot of cheerleading captain. The director had the pickiest criteria around as far as cheerleading was concerned, and was obviously bent on making an example of this new captain. "Let's see what you got,"

Marissa came running up. "What'd you have in mind?" she asked. "Like, this?" Only one thing ran through everyone's thoughts. She couldn't be human, from what the rest of the squad saw. She launched herself into a series of flips that seemed humanly impossible. She kept going for about two minutes without stopping, then, when she was done, she popped up, smiling brightly. "Good enough?"

Seeing as the cheerleading squad didn't need any further help, the director found no other choice but to leave. Marissa got right to business.

"Look at the new captain," Alan whistled, staring across the field. "The squad's looking really good this year. Hey, Sunshine, keep that jaw off of the ground. Man, what are you staring at?"

"Girls in short skirts," he laughed dumbly. "A real welcome sight. And the captain's a pretty nice package on her own,"

"Remind you much of California?" Petey asked.

"I think the captain looks really familiar," Gerry said, squinting at the group of girls. "Damn, you guys, I think that's Marissa,"

"No way," Ronnie laughed. "That can't be her. I did not just check Marissa out."

"I dunno, man," Petey said, "There's a tiny resemblance I guess,"

"There is NOTHING like Marissa on that girl over there," Sunshine insisted adamantly. "I mean, Marissa's taller-and she doesn't wear her hair like that. No way,"

"It's gotta be her," Gerry insisted, "I'm sure,"

"No way," Ronnie repeated, "Watch. I'll get her to look this way, and you'll see. Marissa!" The girl in the air turned her head to see who had called her, and then landed on her back.

"What's your problem?" she yelled back. "I'm trying to practice over here!" She rolled her eyes and got back to trying to teach some of the others to flip.

Now, throughout practice, Gerry and Ronnie took turns yelling at her, just to see her fall down. When practice was over and they came out of the locker room, she ran over to them.

"Are you gonna be like this all year?" she laughed, "Because if you are, I'll quit the squad right now,"

"You wouldn't," Ronnie said in mock surprise, "And deprive us of the sight of you in a miniskirt? I thought you were better than that,"

"Aw, shut up, Bass," she laughed. "Have you guys seen Ray?"

"He was just here," Ronnie said unenthusiastically. "I guess he cut out early. I think I upset him when I said I thought you were-a nice package."

"All right," she laughed, socking him playfully on the shoulder, "I'll see you around, then," She ran out to the parking lot, got back onto her motorcycle, and went home. She dropped everything and ran up to her room, slumping onto her bed without bothering to turn the light on. Suddenly, she heard the door shut, and someone jumped on top of her. She squealed loudly and started reaching around for something to throw.

"Hey," Ray laughed, putting his hand lightly over her lips to keep her from screaming. She squinted at the familiar voice, and squealed loudly.

"Very funny," she laughed, pushing him off of her. She turned on the light and opened her door again. She pushed him down onto bed. "You scared me to death! How did you get in here?"

"You left the window open. It was too much to resist," he said. "How come you didn't tell me you were going to be at practice today?"

"It was supposed to be a surprise," she laughed. "I mean, aren't you surprised? I never thought I gave off the cheerleader vibe. But really, I'm totally knocked out after that practice. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah," he said, sounding slightly disappointed. He left her room, but didn't leave the house right away. He heard her pick up the phone and start dialing. He stayed for about the seconds to catch the first bit of the conversation.

"Hello, Davie?" she said. "Yeah, we should talk."

Ray shook his head and left. Those few extra seconds provided no answers at all.

* * * * *

"Who's Davie?" Ray asked, coming up behind Marissa as she walked into the school building.

"Excuse me?" she replied. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Who were you on the phone with last night?" Ray said, pulling Marissa aside into an alcove between two rows of lockers. "Anyone important that I ought to know about?"

"I thought you left," Marissa said, crossing her arms. "What were you doing hanging around outside my room?"

"I'm just asking a question," He said. "I mean, I think I have a reason to know."

"I never thought I had to explain what I did to you," she said. "Why should I? I mean, it's not like we're going out or anything," Ray looked like this was an absolute surprise. "Did you think we were together or something? I wasn't even officially single on the first day of school," she said.

"What?" he said.

"I had a life back in Oregon, you know," she said, "And I've only been single for about-" she looked at her watch. "Eleven hours," Ray still looked completely floored. "I just called my boyfriend back on the West Coast and broke up with him. The long-distance thing wasn't rolling with me."

"So that time we went out you were still with another guy?" he said.

"Aw, quit mouthing off at me," Marissa said, rolling her eyes. "I mean, it's not like you have any reason. It was just one date. I mean, it's not like I was going steady with two guys at once."

"Well, I thought we were- you know," he said.

"I guess you don't wanna be anymore, so I don't see why you're still hanging around here." she said, rolling her eyes. She turned to close her locker, but Ray kept her from walking away

"I never said I didn't want to be with you anymore," he said. "I just hoped you would have told me. So will you?"

"Will I what?" Marissa said, trying not to laugh.
"Be my girlfriend," he said.

"Me?" Marissa giggled. "You sure?"

"Positive," he said, pulling her towards himself and kissing her.

"I told you they were going steady."