One of their classmates, a red-haired boy named Charles, came walking up to them. He smiled shyly at Rachel.

"Hi Rachel," Charles said. "Oh, hi there, umm… Carla." Charles turned and scampered off, blushing when Rachel seemed to smile at him.

Rachel and Cassie kept walking. "See," Rachel said. "Charles smiled at you."

"He also called me Carla," Cassie said with a huff.

"Has he ever said anything to you before today?"

"Well, no," Cassie admitted.

"See?" Rachel asked smugly. "That's progress for you."

Cassie sighed. Another boy, this one who Cassie didn't know very well – she had at least known Charles as someone who passed her in the halls and sat in the same classes as she did. Cassie could vaguely remember that his name started with a J, but that was about it.

He had short black hair, light hazel eyes, and he was smiling at Rachel like she was the only woman on Earth.

"Hey Rachel, how's it going?" he asked.

"It's going well, Jawan," Rachel said offhandedly. "Jawan, you've met Cassie before, right?"

"Oh, sure" Jawan didn't really care who the short, stocky black girl standing on Rachel's right, all he really cared about was the fact that, for as long or as short as the time was going to be, Rachel was talking to him. Still, best to be polite. "Hey, Kendra, nice day isn't it? I'll see you in class, Rachel." Jawan waved good-bye and left.

"Kendra?" Cassie demanded, shooting Rachel a look of disbelief.

"He gave you a definite look," Rachel tried to reassure her. "So he's not very good at remembering names, there's no reason to hold that against him."

Cassie was a little less than convinced. "He seemed to remember your name very well."

Rachel didn't have anything to say to that, and the two of them kept walking. Another student, this time one that Cassie recognized as Joseph, from a horse-riding class that she had attended a few summers ago. Cassie remembered that he liked to be called 'Joe', so that was the name she addressed him by.

"Hey there, Cassie. Whoa, you look different today," he said, giving her a quick once-over.

"New outfit?" Rachel suggested helpfully.

Joseph shook his head, dismissing that suggestion. "No, it's not that. Although, now that you mention it, those clothes do look good on you. Cassie, you look like you've put on some more muscle. Have you been trying to bulk-up?"

Rachel reached out, pushing Joseph aside with one slender, elegant hand. Cassie sighed.

"That proves absolutely nothing," Rachel said, trying again to be reassuring.

Cassie didn't buy it. "Uh-huh, I look fatter."

"Some guys are idiots," Rachel said offhandedly.

"Not Jake."

"Jake is the exception that proves the rule," Rachel said, rolling her eyes at Cassie. Looking ahead, Rachel saw that the boy in question was walking up to them. Probably on his way to somewhere else, judging by his expression. "And look, here he comes now."

Jake was walking with some of his friends. They weren't members of the Animorphs, but that was why it was all the more important that he kept in contact with them. Jake knew that his entire life couldn't just be about being the leader of the Animorphs and fighting the Yeerks. He turned, and caught sight of Cassie and Rachel walking towards him.

"Hi Cassie, hey Rachel," Jake said, trying to sound like he was just passing by and didn't know the two of them very well. He didn't know if there were any Controllers nearby, but caution had kept him alive and free for this long, and Jake wasn't about to ignore it now.

"So?" Rachel asked, stepping backwards and gesturing to Cassie as if showing her off.

Jake blinked, not knowing what Rachel wanted, he didn't know how to respond. "So… what?"

"The outfit!" Rachel said, clearly exasperated that no one seemed to notice all the work she had put into picking her best friend's new clothes. "The outfit! The one that doesn't have dry, crusty bird-poop on it anywhere," Rachel huffed. "Doesn't she look great in it?"

Jake finally smiled, one of the rare slow smiles that Cassie so enjoyed seeing. "Of course she looks great, she always does. Have a good time in the Dry Lands this afternoon, and be careful, okay? I'll catch up to you guys in science class."

Jake walked away, leaving Cassie with a happy smile on her face, and a nice warm glow inside. Rachel, however, couldn't resist taking a shot at her best friend's un-admitted boyfriend.

"Okay, so he's an idiot too." Rachel grinned teasingly at Cassie.


Cassie responded in kind. "No, you were right the first time," Cassie smirked smugly. "Jake is the exception."

Rachel laughed, and it wasn't long before Cassie joined her. They started walking again, having stopped while they talked with Jake. The two of them soon stood at the door of their first-period class: History.

Cassie sighed, as was her usual reaction upon entering this classroom. Aside from the fact that History wasn't one of her favorite classes, the classroom itself was as stuffy and airless as a closet. The only thing one could see out of the classrooms only windows was the blank bricks of the gymnasium's wall.

Cassie and Rachel both took their seats, and Cassie tried to remember if she had done her homework last night. Cassie sighed, realizing that she had in fact remembered her history assignment. Opening her binder, Cassie searched through the folders she kept inside. Cassie almost had it, when she was distracted by a very familiar voice.