As the years went by and life at home with her father became more and more chaotic, Spinel still felt the need to stay optimistic despite everything. She still held out hope that one day, Kimber would come back and everything would be great again, even if the chances of her big sister being found alive became more and more slim. She also grieved for not just her Aunt Petunia, but her mother and siblings. She was still trying to adjust to life without them, but at the same time she knew that death was permanent and that the finality of death was just a fact of life. Still, as distant as her father could be while drunk and trying to emotionally shut himself off from the world, at least she still had him.

A month after her fourteenth birthday, Spinel began attending Eleanor Roosevelt High School on the Upper East Side of Manhattan as a freshman. It still amazed her that she was even able to get in, being just one of the 140 students the school selected out of over 6,000 applicants to get in that year in 2012. Coincidentally enough, 2012 also happened to mark the ten-year anniversary of the high school's establishment.

Being fourteen now, Spinel still kept in touch with some of the people she'd gotten to know while growing up. While the Bradford quadruplets grew too busy to spend much time with Spinel anymore (especially Pearl, who'd decided to befriend Petunia's alleged cyberbully and murderer Rose Curtis for some reason), they still took time out of their lives to talk with her and Jeremy over the phone whenever possible. Spinel also still hung out with the friends she made in elementary school, especially girls like Chloe Thompson and Indiana Hartley.

For the first few months of her freshman year, Spinel would roam through the halls with Chloe and Indiana. She liked this school and just about everyone in it. However, she felt like she didn't fit in anywhere, especially not with the good kids (or at least, what Eleanor Roosevelt High considered to be good kids). It was considerably harder for Spinel to try to find other people like herself, especially when she mostly interacted with kids older than her, and she didn't have much experience when it came to boys and other things girls her age were wont to do. Still, Chloe and Indiana were well-liked among the freshmen, so Spinel's mind was somewhat at ease.

One day, during lunchtime, Spinel noticed out of the corner of her eye some boys hanging out from underneath the bleachers at the baseball field, some Black and some white and others biracial like her. She could see that they mostly dressed up in oversized T-shirts and baggy jeans, smoking and lighting their cigarettes and joints, with one of the members even wearing sunglasses that barely covered his eyes. Spinel couldn't help but be curious about just what they were up to, and she practically skipped over to where they were.

The guy wearing sunglasses just grunted and scowled upon seeing her. "Ah, shit. Here comes another one of those good kids. Thompson must have sent her... or Hartley."

Spinel seemed totally oblivious to the tone of his voice or the look on his face. "Hi, guys! I couldn't help but notice you hanging out here. I bet you guys are having lots of fun."

"Yeah, right." The guy wearing sunglasses proceeded to blow smoke into her face. "Like I'm gonna fall for that act. Are you gonna squeal on us, too?"

Spinel gasped and just took a step back. "No, of course not! What you do is your business!"

The guy wearing sunglasses looked back at his friends and then laughed before calming down. "Oh my God, then it isn't an act. You really are a nice girl, aren't you? Thank God. The world needs more people like you out there. What's your name anyway?"

"I'm Spinel." She smiled at him. "Spinel Reynolds."

The guy wearing sunglasses tilted his head at her in intrigue. "Spinel, huh? What a silly name."

"Thanks, my big sister gave it to me when I was born. What's your name?"

The guy wearing sunglasses smiled. "I'm Hudson Evans." He kissed her hand. "Very nice to meet you, m'lady."

Spinel couldn't help but blush at Hudson's gesture. "Oh my... so gentlemanly."

"Thank you." He gave a small wink at her and then held out a cigarette at her. "Wanna try a smoke with us?"

Spinel just looked at the cigarette in Hudson's hand uncertainly. "I don't know. My daddy says that smoking's bad for me."

"C'mon, only just this once. It's up to you if you want to keep smoking after that."

"You really mean that?" Spinel looked at him suspiciously.

"Of course I do. You trust me, don't you?"

"Yeah..."

"So are you gonna try a smoke with us?"

Spinel stared at the cigarette for a while and then snatched it from his hand. "Just this once."

"Alright!" one of Hudson's friends cried out. "Go, Spinel!"

The rest of Hudson's friends chanted Spinel's name while she lit the tip of the cigarette and took a long drag, practically until the halfway section. As soon as she exhaled, she let out a hard cough, which prompted Hudson and his friends to laugh.

"Hey, don't make fun!" Spinel protested. "It was my first time!"

"I know, I'm sorry," Hudson apologized while continuing to laugh. "Well, you tried it. Are you gonna keep doing it?"

Spinel just shrugged. "Eh, probably not. It was nice to try something new, though."

"Well, it was worth a shot." Hudson patted Spinel on the shoulder. "Alright, I think lunch time's over. You know where to find us next time, don't you?"

Spinel eagerly nodded. "Uh-huh. It was nice meeting you guys." She started running back inside the school. "Bye! I hope to see you again soon!"

By the time Spinel had gotten back into the building, Chloe and Indiana were already walking off to their respective classes. Spinel managed to catch up with them in the brief time they had before class was supposed to start up again.

"Hey, Chloe," Spinel began to speak. "Hey, Indiana. How was lunch?"

"It was... alright," Chloe answered hesitantly. "Food was pretty bland, to be honest."

"Yeah, same here," Indiana chimed in. "Okay, we gotta go to class now. Talk to you later."

With that, Chloe and Indiana were off to their next classes, leaving Spinel to find her own class as well.