I take Alice's advice and get my hair cut right after school. I don't have any clue what to do with it, so I let the girl decide. She looks like she's barely out of high school herself, so I'm pretty sure she'll know what looks best. When she's done, she hands me a tube of something she calls "product," shows me how to make it look good, and then takes my money.

At home, I stare into the mirror, kind of amazed at what a simple haircut can do. I let it get out of hand, growing it out down to my chin, but I didn't realize it was so bad. The new style shows almost my whole forehead, and it's all messy. The stylist squealed when she fixed it, so I hope that means it looks good. I think it looks good, but what do I know?

There's nothing I can do about the glasses, but I do notice they look much better now that my hair isn't getting caught in them. My mom doesn't shut up through dinner about how nice I look, making me feel kind of like I used to look pretty bad.

That belief is confirmed the next day when Alice claps her hands in first period. I waited in the hallway where I ran into the girl yesterday, but she never appeared, so I had to go to class with my tail between my legs. Alice's reaction perks me up a bit, but not much.

"You look so handsome!" Her voice is little more than a whisper, but her excitement is infectious anyway.

I puff up a little bit, wondering if maybe I look good enough for the girl to stop and hang out for a minute if she sees me in the future. If she sees me again, that is. At the moment, I feel confident enough that I'd stop to talk to her, anyway.

I still don't understand a word Alice says throughout class, and I also still don't care. She's writing our presentation on her own and doesn't seem to mind, so I let her. In between one-sided discussions about Old Hickory, she throws out ideas for how I can find the girl. I tell her about stalking…um, waiting for Brown Eyes before class, and she laughs out loud.

When the bell rings, she leaves me with promises that she'll have more ideas for me soon. She wants to get her friends in on the search, and that freaks me out a little. Knowing that others will be all in my business makes me nervous, but I'm willing to risk it for even one more minute with her.

After lunch, I walk into French class and take my seat behind Emmett McCarty. As far as I know, we don't have a quiz scheduled, so I'm a little shocked when he turns around and addresses me.

"Yo. You're looking for a girl?"

Alice works quickly, it seems. I can't even feel weird that I kissed Emmett's girlfriend in first grade, either. If anyone can find the girl, it's him. He talks to anyone and everyone, even if it's to get the answers for his homework. No one cares because he's just that fun-and if they do care, they don't say a word because he's effing huge. I wouldn't want to piss him off, in any case.

I notice I still haven't answered, so I nod quickly. As an incentive to help me with my plight, I pull my homework out and lay it on my desk, facing him, so that he can copy the answers while we talk.

"Kick ass," he mumbles, scribbling quickly on his own paper. "You should sit with us at lunch tomorrow. Then you can point out this girl if you see her."

I'm taken aback at the invitation. It's not exactly a "Welcome, welcome!" but it's a chance to sit with people who might talk to me. I usually bounce around from table to table, hoping no one notices that I've encroached upon their space. They usually don't.

"Um, sure," I stutter. "I could do that. Do you think anyone would mind?"

He raises an eyebrow and smirks, and I know no one would dare say anything if they did have a problem with me being there. So I shrug and thank him before panicking about what I should eat for lunch. Does the elite bring their own lunch or is something from the cafeteria good enough? Maybe they don't eat at all and get something together after school. I don't want to stick out and make it obvious that I don't belong, but everyone's going to know that right away, anyway.

"How'd you know who I am, anyway?" The words burst from me before I can stop them. "I mean, I know Alice told you, but how did you know…"

"Who she was talking about?" he finishes for me.

"Yeah. I mean…" I don't even know how to continue.

"Dumbass," he mutters, finishing up with my homework and sliding it back toward me. "We were friends in fifth grade. Do you remember?"

I do remember. There was a group of us, including Jasper and a guy named Garrett who moved away that summer before sixth grade. When we started school again, Jasper was relegated to the geek crowd, Emmett started junior high football and cemented his future as the king of the school, and I kind of faded…into nothing.

"I wasn't the one who decided we weren't friends anymore."

His words rock me thoroughly. Of course, I felt left behind when he started making friends on the football team and hanging out with the older guys, but he never shunned me or anything like that. I guess I figured he wouldn't have time for me anymore and made the decision for him. I wonder if it hurt his feelings when we all moved apart. I accepted it ages ago, but I never asked him. It makes me wonder how Jasper feels about it all. Maybe I need to go over to his house after school to ask him.

I can't say anything else, but I do think about Emmett's words for the entire hour of class. It's kind of weird to find out that I'm not as invisible as I thought. All this time, I thought he forgot me, but he remembers everything. I wonder if he remembers the night we TP'd Mrs. Galt's house. She was our music teacher, and we all hated her for making us lip sync when we weren't good enough for the concerts.

Jasper isn't home when I stop by after school, so I tell his mom I'll catch him later. Then I return home and lock myself in my bedroom to relive that moment-the moment my life changed. I still don't understand the magnitude of this change, but I know it's going to be enormous.

Thank you again to TiffanyAnne3, my super beta.