By lunchtime, everybody seemed to know that I was going to the Spring Dance with Juniper. Tom had told Alex in second hour, who had told Kate in third, who had told Steph and been overheard by Jessica Stanley, who had told the entire school population in under five minutes. I got a few jealous glares from other guys as I made my way into the cafeteria and sat down on our usual table.

"So where is this Juniper girl," Kate asked. "How come she's never here at lunchtime?"

I shrugged. I didn't want to tell them about what Juniper did- she had told me that as a friend. And I didn't want them getting a bad opinion of Juniper before they even met her.

"I think it's so great you're going with her to the Spring Dance," Steph said to me.

"Lucky you got in early, I heard there were ten more guys in line behind you," Tom joked.

My face darkened. I knew Ben and Daniel would be angry, Ben especially. I wasn't looking forward to seeing them after Gym class.

The second I walked into the change rooms they cornered me. They had been sending me death stares all lesson, when I was talking to Juniper. We hadn't even talked about much, just the good weather that was supposed to be coming. Well, good for Forks, anyway.

"So, you asked her to the Spring Dance then?" Ben asked me.

They towered over me, but I refused to be intimidated.

"No," I said, "She asked me."

They seemed surprised by this. Obviously they had been planning on using the 'she just said yes to be nice to you' line, but it wouldn't work now.

"Well," Daniel said, "I suppose she felt she had to ask you. You follow her around like a puppy dog,"

My mouth opened in surprise. Followed her around? When had I ever followed her around? I only ever saw her in Gym class.

"Yeah," Ben said, instantly agreeing. He put a hand on my shoulder, mockingly. "Like, no offense man, but it looks a little desperate,"

He laughed, and Daniel joined in. I look behind them at the other guys, wondering if anyone was going to help me out. But all of them were either ignoring us or grinning along with Ben and Daniel.

"Well, have fun at the Spring Dance Andy," Ben said, picking up his bag and heading for the door. "That is, if you're still going with Juniper by then."

I ignored him. I knew Juniper wouldn't bail out on me. She wasn't that kind of girl.

I went home and started my homework. My mom came up to my room and knocked on the door, even though it was wide open.

"Hey mom," I said.

"Steph's family are coming around for dinner," she said.

"Cool," I said, not really caring. Steph would have as much homework as me, and we wouldn't get to do anything fun. Steph's family came round for dinner almost every month. When we were younger Steph and I had played. Now we studied.

My mom sat down on my bed.

"So, how's school?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Fine,"

"How are Matt and Tom? And Alex and Kate?"

"They're good,"

My mom nodded, smoothing my bedspread.

"Have you made any new friends recently?"

I froze and looked at her. She looked back innocently.

"Why?" I asked.

My mom shrugged.

"When I invited Tonya over she said that Steph had been talking about a new girl at school called Juniper. Apparently she's a friend of yours."

I shrugged again.

"Yeah,"

My mom looked at me carefully.

"Why haven't I heard anything about her,"

Once again, I shrugged.

"Not much to tell,"

Which was a total lie of course. I could talk about Juniper for ages. Just describing her eyes would take me a good half hour.

My mom stood up, apparently satisfied, and left. I cursed Steph for mentioning Juniper to her mom. Steph and her mom, Tonya, were really close and Steph told her everything. Normally it didn't bother me.

I went back to my homework, but now I was distracted. I couldn't stop thinking about Juniper. I wondered what she was doing now. Was she doing homework too? Or was she working? Or was she doing something else entirely? Was it stupid to hope that, just maybe, she might be thinking about me too?

I had never hated Gym Class, but now I looked forward to it all day. Every time I saw Juniper I felt that strange bubbly happiness. I didn't care that Ben and Daniel looked ready to punch my face in, as long as I got to see those green eyes.

"Hey Juniper." I said as soon as she arrived.

"Hi Andy," she replied. I liked the way it felt when she said my name. It made me feel special.

She frowned, and I wondered what I had done wrong.

"Um, Andy?" she said, almost hesitantly. "About the Spring Dance."

I remembered Ben's words. If you're still going with her my then. I hadn't thought Juniper would bail out on me. Had I been wrong? There were, after all, a lot of guys that wanted to take her. Guys a lot better looking than me...

"I understand. It's okay." I said. Even though she was bailing on me, I still wanted to be her friend. I wasn't going to make her feel bad about it.

"Do you even know what I'm going to say?" she asked, confused.

"That someone else has asked you and you're going with them instead." I said. Stating the obvious, really.

"No! No, I wasn't going to say that." she said, and my deflated spirit lifted just a little. "No, it's just that I've been asked to do a song on the night. It'll only take a few minutes, it's just one song."

"So you're still going with me then?" I asked her.

"Of course I am." she said, her bright green eyes sincere.

"Oh. Good." I said, feeling like an idiot. Of course she wasn't bailing out on me. I'd been stupid to let Ben's words get to me.

"So, whatcha wearing?" she asked me, teasing.

"No idea." I said, then worried it had been a serious question. "Why? Do you care?"

She shook her head, a smile on her lips.

"Turn up in a paper bag, I won't mind." she said, smiling prettily. I found myself staring at her lips, wondering what it would be like to kiss them. They looked so soft and warm. I wanted to press my own lips against them, to taste that smile and the beautiful girl it belonged to. But I never would. Juniper and I were just friends after all. We were going to the dance as friends. That was all we'd ever be.

I had grown used to not seeing Juniper in the cafeteria, and so I was surprised when I saw her blonde head standing in line to buy her food. I wondered if I should tell her to sit with us. I knew my friends wouldn't mind. But would she want to sit with people she didn't know?

I was still debating when I saw her heading for the exit.

"Juniper!" I called out to her.

She stopped dead in her tracks, and slowly- reluctantly- turned around.

I was beginning to regret saying anything when she obviously didn't want to be there, but I couldn't do anything about it now. I beckoned her over with my hand. She walked towards our table and smiled at me, but her smile was uncertain.

"Hi Andy," she said.

My friends had all turned to look when I'd called out to her and now they were all staring at her. I hoped they weren't making her feel self-concious.

"Hey Juniper," I said, "You wanna sit with us?"

She looked unsure. She glanced around the table at my friends. Steph smiled encouragingly, but the rest of them kept their faces blank.

"Um..." she said, hesitating. "Okay."

I made room for her and pulled a chair over. She sat down.

"This is Kate, Steph, Alex, Matt, and Tom." I said, pointing to each of them as I said their name. I realized I'd probably gone too fast and overwhelmed her, but I could hardly do it again.

They all said hi to her.

"Hi," Juniper said, "Nice to meet all of you,"

She smiled uncertainly again, and I felt bad for making her sit there and try to make conversation with strangers. She obviously preferred wherever else she went at lunchtime.

"So, Juniper," said Steph, the first one to start a conversation as always. "How long have you been in Forks?"

"About a month ago. I moved here early February." Juniper replied.

"Cool." Steph said, smiling in a friendly sort of way.

After that, conversation became easier. They asked her a few questions about herself, and then she stopped being the centre of attention and became just one of the group, which I could tell she preferred. I felt a sort of victory at introducing her to my friends. She looked like she was enjoying herself, after that initial awkwardness. I was sad when lunch was over and I had to go to fifth hour. But I knew I'd see Juniper in Gym class.

"So, have you fallen behind on your homework?" I asked when I saw her.

"I'll be okay," she said, smiling at the joke.

"Did you enjoy having a lunchtime off?" I asked her. I said it casually, but I meant it as a serious question. When she replied, her voice was sincere.

"Yeah, I did." she said. "Your friends are nice."

"Yeah, they're pretty good," I said, glad they'd made a good impression on her. I decided to tease her a little. "It took a little to convince them you're not a freak, but..." I trailed off, grinning.

"Thanks." she said, in a rather bad attempt at sarcasm. I grinned.

I was glad that she decided to keep sitting with us at lunchtimes. I'd worried that it would be a one-off, but the next day she came and sat down at our table like she had done so forever. The girls always had their own conversations and now was no different- Juniper was dragged into discussions about clothes and shoes, although I guessed she wouldn't mind, she seemed so into them herself.

Gym class was fun with Juniper. We didn't really do what we were supposed to, and we laughed a lot. Ben and Daniel hadn't bothered me as much lately- they just glared at me a lot. But it didn't really bother me; it was a small price to pay for Juniper's company.