Wednesday, December 10, Second Period

The oddest thing happened to me this morning.

I expected it to be a day not unlike any other: get up, go to school (which Lilly was calling a "festering hell-hole" this morning), see Mia, work on the booth, go home, work on the booth, eat, homework, bed.

So imagine my surprise when I find a card with a picture of a fruit dipped in chocolate in my locker.

Yeah. A fruit dipped in chocolate.

I don't get girls sometimes.

At least, I think a girl left it (oh please, oh please, let it not be that freaky guy in my fourth period).

The handwriting, though, was decidedly feminine, but completely unfamiliar. There was only this message in there:

Roses are Red

Violets are Blue

You may not know it

But someone loves you.

…Always good to know.

So I'm completely stunned, and matters don't get any better when I realize someone is directly behind me: Felix.

Inwardly I groan, but the situation really isn't that bad: at least it wasn't Trevor (although I suppose I could've said it was from my hot nonexistant cheerleader girlfriend and he would've quickly left).

However, before Felix could comment (or silently contimplate, or whatever it is Felix does), the bell rang and I remembered that today was the day Lilly was supposed to have her walkout.

Hahahahahahahahahahaha.

Looking at the clock (9:52 AM), there's only 8 minutes until 10, the time the walkout's supposed to be.

I wonder if Mia's going to do it.

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Later—Fourth Period

Well, whaddya know?

Turns out at exactly 10 o' clock AM there was a fire drill.

A fire drill. The exact time and day of Lilly's walkout.

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Which makes me wonder… could Mia have told the authorities about Lilly's walkout so they could plan a fire drill?

No… no Mia wouldn't do that. It's just not in her nature to be disloyal.

Even though there's more than a slight chance I'll have a cold tomorrow morning, due to the fact we had to stand a good half-hour in the rain without jackets because couldn't go to our lockers to get them—I now have an unexpected ally for Mission: Tell Mia.

Judith Gershner.

Oh, yes, you read it right: Judith Gershner.

Of course, Judith is in my second period so our class was huddled together so our teacher could count us all and etc., etc.

Somehow, someway, Judith knew.

"So," she whispered conspiritually to me so only I could hear, "how long have you liked Mia?"

Dumbstruck is not an adequate enough word for my expression that moment.

"What?"

"Oh, come on," Judith rolled her eyes. "There's a reason I got into Columbia, you know; not just because I can clone fruit flies."

Really now? (That was sarcasm, in case you missed it.)

"But… still…."

"I'm a girl, in case you haven't noticed," she sighed. "I know the signs. Girls are more intuitive than boys, you know…. So anyway, what are you going to do about it?"

"Do about it?" I sputtered. "She has a boyfriend!"

"So?" Judith said. "She doesn't like him."

"How do you know?" I demanded, trying to get my stupid organ of a heart to calm down.

Judith just shrugged. "If you put down your laptop for one second, maybe you can see that the only thing Mia feels for Kenny is discomfort. It's obvious that his affections are smothering her and making her feel nothing but uncomfortable in his presence. Duh."

"Well…" I confessed, completely bewildered by her analysis, "I was going to tell her at the Carnival…"

"Perfect!" Judith applauded. "You know what would be a great way to tell her?"

"What?" I wanted to know.

"Make a computer program or something! Do some special effects and then she'll be completely impressed!" Judith swooned at her own cunning. "It will be so romantic!"

"You're forgetting Kenny," I reminded her (and myself, for that matter). "What about him?"

Judith waved me off. "You'll see. In a couple weeks time, they'll be broken up."

Huh. I am so sure.

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Later, Sometime Around… 11?

So the rest of my day was spent working on two projects for the computer club: one for the booth, and one especially for Mia.

All I can say is this: I hope Judith is right….

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Notes: So I realize that perhaps Michael's getting too lovey-dovey, so while there is lots of references to Mia, Michael seems like a normal guy who is worried that he'll be rejected by the girl of his dreams.

I know in the book Judith didn't help Michael at all, but I thought it might be a nice twist to her character—the girl Mia thinks is keeping her and Michael apart is really trying to get them together. Is that irony, or what?

Thank you so much for all the reviews! And I hope you guys aren't too mad that this story is being updated so slowly! Another chapter should be up before Halloween, I'll give you that…

Written: September 17 in less than a half-hour, so if it's bad, I'm sorry.