Spot,

SUUUUUUUUUP? Lol. Uhm. Well…this is kind of serious. I've been noticing that you don't eat a lot. Are you sick? Do you just eat at home? Because when I was going to middle school in Iowa this girl Naomi was anorexic, she never ate. Are you anorexic? I hope not. You can always talk to me. lylab!

xoxo jess

I look around me in homeroom. Katie is sleeping, Jackie is complaining about her boyfriend, Albert is lying and Tyrell is fixing his shoes.

No one I like is in my homeroom. I start to shake, but I'm trying to make sure no one notices. Jackie asks me if I'm alright and I nod. She then takes out a pop tart and starts stuffing her face. She has no control. I breathe. I do have control.

The note gets ripped into tiny pieces, the little hearts over the "i's" and all. I shake it off like you shake off a fall in soccer. You've got to suck it up, be a man.

The bell rings, homeroom is over.

Moving on to Advanced Placement English. Everyone I know is in the class…including Jessica. I haven't thought out any response and I don't know what to do. What is it with girls and their little notes folded into squares? Girls never actually speak to each other; they correspond through candy floss colored ink. It is annoying.

A lot of things annoy me. I wonder if that's why all supermodels are bitchy.

I walk in with self-assurance even though Jessica's note (which fully proves how stupid she is) has shaken my confidence. I take my seat as Jack proceeds to tell me that his homeroom teacher made the quarterback of the football team break down and cry because she's giving him a detention for being late. I absorb the information, pretend to care, and let out a little fake laugh. My mind is racing.

How did Jess get into AP English? Why is Jack so skinny? How come David is staring at Nora like that? Where is the English teacher?

"YES! WE HAVE A SUBSTITUTE," Anna calls out to the whole room as she walks in late. Anna always knows who is absent and when clubs have their meetings because she does the morning announcements. Anna really hates school, but she goes out with David. I guess opposites really do attract. Anyway, Anna and I hate each other. We play the same position in soccer and we both like Converse but we hate each other. I put my head down on the desk and prepare myself to sleep for an extra forty minutes.

"Eh…Spot?...Spot. SPOT." Jess just keeps repeating my name over and over and over again.

I'd love to smack her in the face.

"Did you read my note?" She asks eagerly.

"Yes, I'm fine though, thanks for your concern," I reply effortlessly. I do not stutter and my voice doesn't get higher like it does when I'm nervous.

It is the first time I have ever lied perfectly.