Lunch time was a ritual.

Logan and Laney made their way down the hall. They were heading to the band room. They always did this during lunch; in fact, they never had a lunch. They wouldn't call it skipping or playing hooky; you can't skip something you don't have, right?

"Are you going to talk to Oliver?" Laney asked, chewing on a piece of her red-streaked hair. Logan gave her a look and kept walking. "You can't avoid him forever you know. He's in all your classes, right? And plus he's my friend too. I'm not going to stop hanging out with him just because you're afraid to face him." Logan narrowed her eyes at Laney.

"Gaw, can't you just shut up about him for five minutes?"

"I think you're just jealous because he came to talk to me first about it, aren't you?" Laney let go of her hair and tugged on Logan's arm. "Admit it."

"Shut up! That's not true and I'm tired of you assuming all the time." She gave out a noise of frustration and sped up, walking away from Laney and heading in a different direction: the girl's bathroom.

When she was sure she had lost Laney, she pushed open the bathroom door and walked in, her insides flaming. 'Laney always thinks she's right. But she's not even close. She doesn't know shit about my life.' Logan approached a mirror and frowned at the girl staring back at her. Then she realized she wasn't the only one in the bathroom.

She heard sobbing behind her coming from a stall. Logan was a people person, so she called, "Are you okay?" The sobbing stopped. "Who's in there?" Logan asked. There was silence. Then the stall door swung open and there was a girl sitting on the closed toilet seat. She stared at Logan and looked like a ghost, even the vibes she gave off felt dead. Logan stared at her. She looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen her.

The girl stood up and pushed past Logan, walking to the mirror that Logan had just seconds ago occupied. She stared at herself in the mirror with her hands on her face. She looked like she might start crying again.

"Why aren't youat lunch?" Logan asked, trying to make conversation.

The girl turned her eyes to Logan by looking into the mirror. "I could ask you the exact same thing." She turned around.

"I haven't been to lunch a day this year. I just don't like the school's food." Logan shrugged. There was an awkward silence, then Logan asked, "Why were you crying?" The girl stiffened.

"I can't believe you're asking me that. Only the whole school knows." She had a tone of sarcastic ness in her voice. Logan looked down, then she looked back up and realized where she had seen her before.

"Oh yeah, you're that cheerleader aren't you?"

The girl narrowed her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, it's just, I remember seeing you at the games," Then she added, "you know, cause I'm in the band and everything." The girl stared at her. Suddenly her face relaxed and she smiled for the first time since Logan had first seen her.

"You're in the band?" She asked, busying herself with paper towels, trying to clean her tear-streaked face. Logan nodded. "You guys do a good job."

Logan smiled. "Thanks. You guys do too."

Suddenly the atmosphere changed. "I don't cheer anymore." She glared at Logan with darkened eyes. Logan made a face.

"How come?"

"I'd rather not talk about it. If you want to know, ask any other student in the school. It's like my life is in the daily paper. Everyone knows more stuff about me than I do." She tossed the paper towels at trash can and missed. "What's your name?" She bent down, picked up the balled up towel, and stuffed it in the trash can.

"Logan Moore. I'm a junior."

"Me too. My name's Bailey Baker."

Logan instantly recognized that name. 'She must be one of the A & B's.' Logan thought, looking the girl up and down. A & B stood for Abercrombie and Bitch, a term used for all the popular snobs, given by the band. In fact, it had been Oliver who had came up with it.; it slipped out of his mouth one day and had stuck.

"You say you're in the band?" Bailey asked suddenly, and Logan jumped.

"Yeah, I play the xylophone, and on occasion the chimes, bass drum, cymbals, -"

"Do you think you could, um, introduce me to your band..teacher leader guy?" Logan bit her lip. This girl knew nothing about band.

"You mean our director, or our drum major?"

"What the heck is a drum major? I just mean that guy with the beard and he wears those icky vests all the time." Bailey stuck out her tongue. Logan laughed.

"Icky vests? Um, yeah I could introduce you to him. Any special reason?"

Bailey bent down towards a purse that was by the sink ( Logan had wondered whose it was ) and stood up. She held out her hand and in it was a drum stick.