"Wait! Katie! I think I love you!"

Katie paused in the act of walking away—why was she even doing this?—and turned to look at Freddy. "What did you say?"

He took at deep breath. "I love you." When she was silent for a long time, he took her hands in his. "Please, Katie, believe me."

She sighed happily and hugged him. "I believe you. I love you, too, Freddy."

Freddy smiled, then bent to her ear, and said, "Katie!"

She pulled back, rubbing her ear. Did he have to say it so loud?

"Katie! Katie!"

"Come on, Katie, get up! You're going to be late for your last day!"

Her eyes snapped open, and seeing her mother leaning over her, Katie groaned. "I'm up, Mom, I'm up! I don't know why, though, seeing as the last day is absolutely pointless."

Katie's mom gently gave her daughter a small whack before leaving the room, calling over her shoulder, "Breakfast is on the table."

Trying to get out of her bed, Katie got tangled in her sheets and fell to the ground, issuing a soft curse. Managing to free herself, she kicked the sheets back onto the bed before stumbling to the mirror, still half asleep. Bracing herself on her desk, she stared at her reflection, smirking slightly. "Nice dream," she informed herself. Grabbing her hairbrush and turning away, she added, "Just wish it was real."

Katie ran through the crowded hallways, ducking under an open locker, jumping some dropped books, and avoiding a collision with as many people as possible.

"Bye, Katie!" a girl from the track team called, and Katie flashed a quick smile over her shoulder before turning a corner. She slowed down a little to pass a large group of boys, catching a quick snippet of their conversation.

"—and Amber said that she's coming to our school—"

Amber. That name tickled in the back of her memory, but soon vanished when Katie finally spotted five of her friends down the hall. Picking up a bit more speed, she reached them in little over three seconds, stopping herself by grabbing on to two of their shoulders and yanking them forward a little with her momentum.

"Ouch! Hey!"

"Katie!"

"Sorry," Katie gasped out between deep breaths, "I'm a little"— wheeze—"late. Mr. K"—gasp—"wanted to talk to me about"—pant—"my term paper."

Katie's best friend, Summer, sighed. She had been one of the people that Katie had grabbed onto. "Well, we were only waiting for you for about a minute. Jones over there came late, also," she said, motioning to the blonde boy that was the second person Katie had used to stop herself. "And he didn't even have a good excuse."

"Yeah I did!" Freddy Jones protested, and turned to the boy next to him. "Right, Zack?"

"Oh, totally," Zack agreed fervently. "Mrs. Collins not waking you up when the bell rang was way unfair."

"She didn't wake you up," Katie gasped in shock. She actually thought that falling asleep in class was a bad habit, but she knew that agreeing with Freddy would irritate Summer, a favorite pastime of their band. "How rude!"

"That's what I said," Billy chimed, nodding.

"She did that to me, once," Alicia added, and everyone but Summer made pitying noises.

"Alright," Summer finally snapped, and the five laughed. "You've all had your fun. Now let's go! Tomika called me a few seconds ago—"

"We know, we were here," Zack interrupted.

"—and she said that everyone else is already on their way." Summer shot Zack a deadly look. "And I was informing Katie, not you."

Zack opened his mouth and Alicia clamped a hand over it. "Let's just get to Tony's Pizza before you try to get a rise out of Summer, okay? My mom's been waiting, and if we don't get there soon, Frankie will have eaten everything."

Freddy came to his friend's defense as they walked towards Alicia's mom's car. "Hey, he's gotten better. He only eats two whole pizzas now."

"We've all changed this year," Katie said, thinking back over their freshman year.

"Oh, definitely," Freddy said sarcastically, watching as Summer opened the car door and slid in. "Being picked on and harassed for a whole year can do that to you."

"Don't be stupid," Alicia snapped from the passenger seat, and her mother made a small sound of protest. "You were only picked on so much because you kept insulting the upper classmen."

"No I wasn't! Zack, back me up."

Zack shrugged. "Sorry man, she's right."

"You said what?"

"I was never picked on."

"Dude! Why'd I even ask you? You're brother's the star line backer of the Varsity football team, of course you weren't picked on." Turning to the girl seated next to him, he said, "Katie, you know that I'm right, right?"

Katie shook her head. "Only person who ever irritated me was Nick."

Zack said, "Oh yeah. There was that one time at the beginning of the year when Nick made a stupid comment about my hair, but that was really the only time."

"Nick and his friends don't count," Summer said. "They pick on the Seniors, and they're only Sophomores."

"Very true," Billy said from the back seat.

"Hey, yeah!" Freddy turned around to look at the other boy. "I'm asking all the wrong people! I know Billy's been picked on tons this year because of his pixie-ness!"

"That is enough, Fredrick," Alicia's mom snapped from the driver's seat. "Or will I have to be calling your mother?"

"Sorry, Mrs. Smith." The rest of the ride was spent in blessed silence.