The next morning, Amber was hurriedly twirling her combination. She definitely didn't want to get caught by Spinner again. So when she noticed a shadow on her locker that wasn't hers, her heart dropped.

"So...are you ready to meet some 9th Graders?" the friendly voice asked.

When Amber turned around, she was startled. Craig seemed awfully big all of a sudden, and she shrank back.

"Oh...umm..." Amber said nervously, trying to stall for time. She really didn't like meeting new people.

Craig took that as a yes, and grabbed her wrist.

"Amber, this is Manny and Emma. Guys, this is Amber. She's new here," Craig gestured at the two girls standing in front of Amber.

Once the introductions were over, Emma turned to Craig.

"Angela said the sweetest thing the other day! Oh, Angela is Craig's little sister, by the way," Emma told Amber. She turned back to Craig and continued, "She said that her hero was you, Craig, because you were the best big brother!"

Amber's face tightened, and her pasted-on smile quickly faded.

Seeing Amber's distressed look, Craig hastened to say, "Emma babysits Angela sometimes."

Amber nodded, and Craig, still worried about her, told Manny and Emma, "We have to go to class now. See you guys later!"

Amber shook herself a little, and smiled again. She waved cheerfully to Manny and Emma as Craig led her to class.
Everyone was talking animatedly when Amber shyly took a seat at the table of 10th graders. They didn't notice her, and continued to chat about the topic at hand: her.

"Honestly, I don't know what's with her."

"Yeah. Amber's just, so...so...weird!"

"She isn't all that friendly either."

"I'll say! I think the only person she's been a little friendly with is Craig!"

"Uh huh. But it's not like she's not civil to everyone else, you know."

Amber sat quietly through the whole conversation. She munched on her sandwich while listening to them speak. She even nodded her head in agreement at some of the points made.

"Really. I wonder what's wrong with her?"

Amber slammed her hand down on the table so hard that it shook. Her brown eyes were ablaze with anger; they almost looked red. Her shoulders were tense, and her jaw was clenched.

"Nothing. Is. Wrong. With. Me."

The words came out, one by one, clipped and accentuated. They hung in the air, still vibrating with the way she furiously said them.

The other kids at the table were shocked into silence. The other tables around them were still alive with laughter and gossip, but this table was a mute island among the others.

Craig walked over to the table and slid into the seat next to Amber, unaware of the tension.

He casually asked, "So. What's up? Is something wrong?"

Amber looked straight at him and calmly replied, "Nothing is wrong."

She stressed the 'nothing.'

Craig immdeiately realized that he had intruded on a scene where not everything was going right.

Paige broke the silence by apprehensively saying, "Hey, guys? What do you think of this shirt?"

The 10th graders easily fell back into conversation about normal things.

Amber sat back and quietly observed again.

At the end of the day, Amber was relieved that school was over.

Craig tapped her on the shoulder. He stood with his arms crossed, determined to figure out what happened at lunch.

Amber noticed the resolute look in his eyes and wondered what he wanted to know. They walked over to a nearby bench and sat down.

He asked bluntly, "What happened at lunch?"

Amber winced at the reminder of that incident, but looked steadily into Craig's eyes.

"I just had an argument with some of the other kids."

Craig glanced at her oddly.

"An argument? That wasn't just an argument. People don't get quiet like that because of an argument!"

Amber softly questioned, "Why do you care?"

Craig was spared from answering that awkward question when Spinner loomed behind him.

"What do you want?" Amber asked irritably. Apparently, the scenario at lunch was still fresh in her mind.

"Look, girl. I don't know who you think you are, but just because you're new, don't think you can get away with doing what you did at lunch. Believe me, if you try something like that again, you won't live to regret it."

He pounded his fists together menacingly. He was clearly relishing the idea of pummelling tiny Amber into pieces.

Craig got up and rose to his full height.

"And what makes you think you have the right to harass Amber like that?"

At this, Spinner started to head toward Craig. Amber gasped and reached out to hold Craig back.

"No," she pleaded, "Don't do this for me. You don't need to. I'll be fine. Really. I can defend myself."

He reluctantly sat back down.

Amber stepped toward Spinner and spoke in a strong voice. "Look, Spinner. You can tease me, make fun of me, whatever. But when my friends are involved, don't even try me."

"Friends?" Spinner echoed. He laughed rudely. "What friends? You don't have any friends, Amber."

Amber glared at him. She then grabbed Craig's wrist and dragged him away.
Amber slammed the front door of her house and stomped into her bedroom.

She muttered under her breath, "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with me? Humph. Wait until they see what it's really like."