High school was a huge deal to Benny, Usnavi, and Lincoln. The three boys has been speaking of nothing else for two weeks, voices regretful and excited at the same time. They were sad to be leaving behind the elementary school where they could pass Sonny and Nina in the halls and make funny faces at each other, but they knew that high school meant more freedom. They had picked out all their classes themselves and teachers would no longer patrol the hallways.
On the last day of summer vacation, both Nina and Lincoln laid out their clothes for the next day. Nina, who was only in sixth grade, would be wearing a plaid jumper and a white blouse. Lincoln tried to remember that she was still a girl when he saw her choice, but he couldn't help thinking about how nobody at his new school would be wearing anything like that.
Lincoln had chosen a plain blue T-shirt and dark jeans, but he couldn't help thinking that it was nowhere near impressive enough for his first day of high school. Feeling terribly nervous, he replaced the T-shirt with a red collared shirt, smiling to himself.
The next morning, Lincoln had dressed with care, making sure his shirt was not wrinkled. He cleaned his glasses with a washcloth while Nina put a headband in her curly hair, turning around in the mirror to look over her outfit.
"Look, it's Usnavi and Benny!" Nina told Lincoln, pointing out the window. Lincoln dashed over, scanning the street below for his friends. He felt his stomach turn over when he realized that both Usnavi and Benny had on plain T-shirts and their jeans had rips at the knees. Looking down at his own attire, Lincoln tugged at the bottom of his shirt unhappily.
"Much too formal," he said critically, tugging the shirt over his head as he stumbled into his room. He grabbed the blue T-shirt he had replaced the day before, changing quickly before Usnavi and Benny came up. Running his fingers through his neat hair to muss it slightly, Lincoln deemed himself ready.
((Change))