Disclaimer: Uh, same as last chapter I do believe.....

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It was finally lunch, and Miss. Koonze was leading both her and Mr. Duncan's class down to lunch. Every other day they switched so the other could get some gradework done. Mr. Duncan's class wasn't just 6th graders, however. No, it was actually 4 kids of every grade that managed to score the highest on their assessment tests.

They reached the lunch area and waited to be dismissed. Ray saw Katie enter with Eleni and Michelle, two girls she knew to be her friends, and smiled briefly at her. After a careful scrutiny, Miss. Koonze let them go. She had to make sure they all looked presentable for, after all, they were the oldest (and smartest, in the case of Mr. Duncan's class) of Horace Green Preparatory.

Lauren and Emily walked in with Ray, saying their good-byes as they headed for the lunch line. In the meantime, Ray went to say hi to Katie. She walked up behind her and tapped her back. Katie spun around, smiling at Ray before excusing herself from her other friends.

"You're back! How are you feeling?" Katie asked. Ray smiled before explaining everything. She told her about her case, why she had it, and about the hospital. She had to take three pills, she explained in the morning for a month, two of those three at night as well.

"Well, at least you're back and getting well. I'm sorry to hear that all that happened."

"No big deal. Would you like to sit with us today?" Ray asked her. Katie nodded and followed her to the lunch line.

Once they had their lunches, Ray led Katie to her table. "Guys, most of you know Katie. Katie, this is Margot, Stephanie, and Remembrance. You know the others." Katie smiled and said hi to them all.

Remembrance extended her hand and smiled. "You can call me Memory. It's shorter than Remembrance." Katie laughed and nodded, shaking her hand. She took a seat between Ray and Hailey, setting her lunch tray down.

"So, Katie, how's everything been with Mr. Schneebly?" Hailey asked. Of course, Hailey being one of those 'too-smart-for-their-own-good' people, she just had to ask.

Katie shrug and wound her spoon around in her mashed potatoes for a bit. "He has us call him Mr. S. Summer thinks it's because he can't spell his own last name." Stephanie and Margot laughed a bit at this. "And we started a class project today."

Everyone looked at her. They had never done any class projects when they were in 5th. They had done projects for class, but never one project as an entire class.

"What's the project?" Amber asked. Katie looked at them as if pondering on what to tell them.

"Come on, you can tell us," Kaidence said. "Even if it's supposed to be secret. You know you can trust us."

Katie sighed, then spilled. "Okay. He says it's called 'Rock Band.' It doesn't start until next quarter, but he thinks we should get a headstart. We weren't supposed to tell because if anyone finds out we started early, we'll be disqualified. Every school will be competing."

Lauren, Hailey, Remembrance, and Ray all looked at each other skeptically. "What's the prize?" Ray asked.

"He didn't say, only that a win would go on our permanent record."

The four band members laughed and received strange looks. Hailey placed a hand on Katie's shoulder. "Babe, hate to tell ya, but that ain't no class project." At Katie's confused look, Lauren elaborated.

"See, it's called Rock Band because that's what it is. And you're getting a headstart because he wants you to play Battle of the Bands. The other schools? They're the other bands."

Katie sat there, a bit stunned. Remembrance patted her back. "Don't worry, it's going to be fun. So what are you playing?"

Katie told them she was playing Bass, along with who all was playing what else. Ray remained pretty silent throughout lunch, and the rest of the day for that matter. It was nice being back and all, it was just going to take a bit for her to get back into the swing of things again after being gone for so long.

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A/N: For anyone who cares, Rae (I spell her name differently in this story)is now out of I.C. She'll still be in for a good bit of time, but she's getting better. Thanks also to all who reviewed!

--renee--