It was the first day of school and Faye was filled with both excitement and sorrow. These past few weeks had been wonderful. When she wasn't at the diner working, she was with Chris or the rest of the Gang. A week or so after that first kiss, Chris asked her to be his girl. He tried to hide his nerves under a layer of carefree cool. While he took a shaky drag from his Winston, she nodded and nearly knocked him over with a powerful hug.

As sad as she was to see the summer end, there were new adventures to be had. She riffled through her closet tossing outfits aside. She finally threw on a simple yellow dress and a black cardigan. "Faye honey! Shake a leg!" her mother called out from the hall. "Yeah mom! Just gotta put on my war paint," she said grabbing her make up bag. Her shook her quivering hands and applied eyeliner and lipstick to her unsure face. She stared long and hard into the mirror. "You're gonna be fine. It's different here," She said out loud to her reflection. "You're brave." Shaking her head, she slung her bag over her shoulder and trotted down the stairs and out the door. She ignored her mother's inquiry about breakfast. She was too keyed up to eat. She wanted to take today head on.

The sun was making its way into the sky. The air had a slight chill. Her old therapist told her to find beautiful things throughout her day. This morning was certainly beautiful. She smiled and looked around the neighborhood. She didn't live in the nicest neighborhood, but it had it's own strange charm.

The high school was an unfriendly stone building. Looking up at it made her feel so small. Glancing at her clock, it red 8:00. Damnit, she thought. She came thirty minutes too early. "This is what happens when you get anxious," she scolded herself. She plopped down on the cold cement stairs and riffled through her bag. Shoving her sketchbook aside, she decided on her copy of, 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Her mother frowned when she selected the book from the shop. Reading about mental illness fascinated her. Those people that came loose at the seams. Or rather reading about it made her feel less alone. People began arriving at around 8:10, but she was too engrossed in the book. When she found herself getting anxious, she either grabbed a book or her sketchbook.

"Hey Stranger," a familiar voice called out. Glancing up she spotted Gordie coming up the steps with Chris trailing behind. "Watcha reading?" Gordie said glancing at her book. She held up the cover and stammered. "It's about these men in a mental ward. It's intense. Intense but good."

Chris beamed down at her as she described the book.

"Sound's boring to me," Teddy said coming up behind as he clapped Gordie's back; pleased at his own humor.

Rolling her eyes, she shoved the book in her bag. "What DOES excite you than?"

"Higher education of course!" He said motioning the building and heading inside.

"Why does he always get the last word?" she muttered with mock annoyance.

Chris slipped an arm around her and kissed the top of her head. After locating lockers and looking over schedules, she felt her nerves ease a little. She had English first hour with Gordie and third hour history with Chris. She looked around the busy halls as Chris quickly showed her around. She was half listening as they made their way through the crowd.

"Faye? Are you there?"

"Yeah!"

He smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she smiled. "Ya know, first day jitters."

He wrapped an arm around her as he guided her to English.

"See you in History?"

"Do I have a choice?" she said with a soft laugh.

School wasn't the horror she imagined in her head. The teachers seemed nice enough. The students were alright. A few looked at her funny. Members of the crowd, she assumed. She could take the looks. If she learned anything by her last school, it was that looks were the least of her worries. By her last hour, she was breathing a whole lot easier. A student behind her tapped her on the shoulder lightly. She leaned back curiously and whispered, "Yes?"

"Aren't you the girl that went crazy and fainted?" a male voice whispered.

"I don't see how this is relevant to math class," she whispered harsher than she meant.

"You crazy or something? He inquired.

"Water off a duck's back," she silently repeated to herself. She felt a hot blush crawl onto her cheeks as she replayed that humiliation.

She felt the student tap her on the shoulder again before whispering something she couldn't quite catch.

She hyper focused on the math syllabus the teacher was reciting with little enthusiasm. The clock ticked slowly to 3:30. As the bell rang shrilly throughout the building she snatched up her bag and headed out of the door. Before she was out she stole a glance at the mysterious boy behind her. He had greasy brown hair and was clad in jeans and a t-shirt. Nothing about him stood out. His eyes meet hers with a wink. Something about it made her stomach sour.

Out on the school lawn, she let out a deep breath. Arms wrapped around her shoulders suddenly. She reactively gasped and pulled away. After whipping around, she was greeted with Chris's confused eyes. "Did I scare you?"

She clutched herself and chuckled, "You could say that."

She leaned in for a hug and took a deep breath. "How was your day?" She said breaking away.

Heading away from the school, he snuck an arm around her waist.

"Oh, ya know. Just your average first day. First day and Teddy already ticked a teacher off." He chuckled and cocked his head, "How was your first day?"

"Pretty good. I mean, a few stares but everyone was real nice. Cept, this one kid in math class. Buggin' me. Asked me if I was crazy. Gave me the creeps. Even winked at me," she laughed nervously. "Maybe he didn't mean anything by it," she said with a shrug.

He tilted her chin up and said, "I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it. Not sayin' its right but, some people let their curiosity override their manners. You tell me if he gives you any more trouble," he said with a firm tone.

She smiled and rolled her eyes. "How much trouble can one person be?" she said to herself more than him.

How much trouble CAN someone be? Right?