"Hey!" I said, waving my arms and making a total fool of myself in general. "We're over here!"
Iggy turned sharply toward the sound of my voice. He steeped cautiously in our direction, ears picking up every noise, building himself a map of the high school quad.
"Hey, Max!" I swiveled around and smiled.
"Tess!" I yelled, giving her a hug. Nudge was close behind.
"Oh my gosh!" she said excitedly. "I'm SOO excited! Because it's, like, the first day of school! The first day is SO much fun. It's the best, because, like, there's all these new kids, and new teachers, and all the cool now school supplies and stuff! I hope Nick will come over here. He's fun, even though he is quiet. Oh! Do you think we'll-"
I stared pointedly at Nudge, and she quieted.
"Hey, Iggy!" Tess called, jumping into his arms. His face broke into a smile.
"Hey, Tess! How was your summer?"
Tess was Iggy's girlfriend, and she'd been in Trinidad for the summer as part of an educational program. She was kind of the smart one of the bunch. Anyway, Iggy had really missed her, and they had IMed back and forth for EVER. It was super cute.
I turned from their joyous embrace toward the vaguely familiar black Audi that had just pulled up. I strode over, smiling.
"Hey, Nick!" I said, waving. He got out awkwardly, swinging a black backpack over his black-clad shoulders. Really, something was wrong with this boy.
Nick looked at me passively. "Max."
I grabbed his arm and dragged him over to the rest of the group.
"Tess, Nick. Nick, Tess." I said, gesturing between them. Tess smiled and nodded. Geez, everyone was smiling today. The bell rang in the distance.
"Crap!" Iggy yelled, racing off. We followed, Nick awkwardly tagging along. I turned to him.
"Show me your schedule," I demanded. He looked at me.
"I'll help you find your classes!" I said impatiently, tapping my foot. "Or you'll be late." I added as an afterthought.
Finally, he passed it to me, no sign of emotion whatsoever. I rolled my eyes. "C'mon, I thought were past that!"
He looked at me. "But now we're back to Square One. Sucks, huh?"
I glared. "Just give me the stupid schedule."
I scanned the paper, mentally comparing his and mine.
"We have homeroom, 1st, lunch, and gym together. Follow me."
I started purposefully toward the double doors of the school, Nick trailing after me.
"Are you always like this?" he asked suddenly.
"Like what?" I asked blankly. This was starting to give me a strange sense of deja vu.
"All... sarcastic. And stubborn."
I glared. "You make me sound like I'm PMSing. But yeah, this is pretty normal for me."
He looked at me oddly. "Just take me to math."
"And there you have it. The top five things to never, under any circumstances, order from the cafeteria." Iggy concluded, leaning on Tess. Nick nodded slowly.
"Hot dogs, macaroni, sloppy joes, taco salad, and spaghetti. Got it. I'll keep that in mind." he said sarcastically, sliding his tray onto the table. I stared at him knowingly.
"Exactly, young grasshopper. We have taught you well."
"Yeah, you've taught me to stay away from the giggling clusters and what not to eat from the cafeteria. That's not really that much."
"And how to totally fail at kickball! Oh wait, you already knew," Tess added, scooting her chair up next to Iggy's.
"No way. My team totally won. You're just in denial."
"Nuh-uh! Our team was totally owning your team!" I yelled.
"We definitely won, but if it makes you happy, go ahead and think that."
"Glad to know you care about my happiness. I'm deeply touched."
"As you should be."
Now I was ticked. The girls team had TOTALLY been beating the guys team, but the game got cut short. So now all the guys were positive that they would've won. And Nick was really not helping the situation.
"Really, though. How will you ever survive the next three periods without me giving you my helpful advice?" I said.
"I'll be there in 5th, so then you can have any words of womanly wisdom I throw your way then." Tess added.
"I think Dylan'll be in 7th, though, so there's that problem." Nick replied. I thought for a moment.
"Just throw a pencil at him if he tries to flirt with you. That usually works for me."
"Somehow, I doubt that flirting will be the problem."
"What will the problem be, then? Do tell. We're all dying to know, as you can see."
"You see, he'll be so frantic to hang out with me, since I'm so awesome and all that, he'll be willing to go to desperate measures."
"Please elaborate."
"He'll use force."
"One would imagine so."
"It might harm himself, myself, or the people around us."
"Yes, it's only logical."
"Do you have a sarcastic reply for every occasion?"
"Most of them, but I'm a little lacking in the modesty department. Maybe you could help me out with that?"
"I could teach you, but I'd have to charge."
"Okay, now you're making 'My Milkshake' references. I'm not that advanced yet."
"All in due time, young grasshopper."
"Max! Nick! Stop flirting and start eating!"
We both stared at Ella.
"Flirting?" Nick said doubtfully.
"Really, Ella? Really?" I said in the same tone.
"Oh!" I said suddenly, turning to Nick. "I was going to invite you kneeboarding this weekend, but we got too busy 'flirting'." I said, doing air quotes.
"Kneeboarding?" He replied blankly. My jaw dropped. "You've never kneeboarded!" I yelled disbelievingly. "Now you HAVE to go!"
"What if I'm going back to Utah for the weekend to pick up some more stuff from my old house?"
"I'm not giving you a choice here. You're coming, whether you like it or not."
"I'm really not that enthusiastic about this."
"Who said you had to be? You just have to show up at my house, get in the car, ride to the lake, and kneeboard. Simple."
"I have a sneaking suspicion there's no way out of this."
"Really? What gave it away? The firm words? The assertive tone?"
"Personally, it was something about the posture."
"I see."
"But I guess I'll go."
"You had better, or I will murder you in your sleep."
"I'm not going to take up on that offer. Maybe if I ever become as emo as everyone at your school seems to think I am, but not now. Saturday morning at your house?"
"Yeah. Remember: be there or die."
"Gotcha."