MARCH 9

I sat down at the lunch table with my friends, having just come back from the nurse's office. I had to go there to get my shot before I could eat. And then I had to make sure that I ate everything that I took insulin for, or my bloodsugar would go low.

Being diabetic at school was even worse than just being diabetic.

Although it did stop my friends from stealing my food, so I guess that was a plus. They used to steal my food all the time. Now that I was diabetic, they left it alone. They didn't want my bloodsugar to go low, showing once again that my friends could be pretty understanding and considerate when it really counted.

Willow looked at me as I started eating – she'd become part of our group that first day back from the break. It was an easy fit. The rest of the guys thought she was awesome and welcomed her without question into our group of friends. "You know, you don't have to go to the nurse's office to get your shot. We don't care if you do it here at the table."

Ty made a face. "Uh, yes. We do care."

Willow rolled her eyes.

"Most of us don't care, except for the big baby over here." She fit in so well with our group, she really did. She could give back any crap that was thrown at her. She was amazing at the Five Kingdoms. She could act, though she didn't like acting enough to join the drama club. She was funny. She was girly but not really girly. She usually wore a funny tee-shirt. Today, her shirt said, "I tried to be normal once. Worse two minutes of my life."

Adrian kept asking her to marry him, even though he had a steady girlfriend. He was just saying it to be a doofus.

"I actually can't," I told Willow. "School rules. They might be worried that I'm going to share my needles with my classmates, so I have to keep everything in nurse's office."

She rolled her eyes again. "To do what? Drugs? Seriously? Didn't you switch over to the pens instead of the vials and syringes? You can't use those kinds of needles for drugs. I'm sorry, but that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"Yeah, I think it's pretty dumb. And I switched over just last week." When I first started taking the shots, I'd been using regular needles, and vials of insulin. But I'd switched over to what was called an insulin pen – at least for my Humalog; the nighttime Lantus was still with a vial and a syringe. The pen was more portable, kind of like an Epi-pen. But the needles were ones that could only be used with an insulin pen. So Willow had a point. It's not like they could be used for drugs or anything.

Ty shuddered. Willow, Tommy, and Adrian were never bothered by me talking about needles and stuff, but Ty…He hated needles more than I had when I'd been diagnosed. I was no longer bothered by needles. "How can you guys talk about needles so easily? They give me the creeps."

"Um, maybe because it's part of my life? Quite being such a baby. Get over it. You're not the one who has to actually take the shots."

We were quiet for a little while, just eating. Then Tommy grinned at me. "So I know that things have been totally crazy for you the past few months, but do you still have a crush on Brittany?"

"Brittany who?" Willow asked.

I narrowed my eyes at Tommy. "Why?" I asked slowly, ignoring Willow.

"Yes or no. Do you?"

"Yes."

"She just broke up with her boyfriend this morning. You should ask her out. I mean, wait a few days first. You don't want to ask her too soon."

Willow looked extremely frustrated. "Brittany who? There's like, ten Brittanys in this school."

"Brittany Gold. She's one of the volleyball players," Adrian explained. He pointed to a girl with long, blonde hair and super-model legs sitting a few tables away from us. "That's Brittany. And Stryk has a major crush on her."

Willow scowled. "Are you serious? You have a crush on her?" She tsked, shaking her head. "She's in my speech class. You could do so much better, Stryker. You really could."

"What's wrong with her?" I demanded.

"Are you serious?" she asked again. She turned to look at the rest of my friends. "Is he serious?"

Adrian frowned. "What's your deal? Brittany's hot."

"That's it? Just hot?"

Tommy shrugged.

"Guys, seriously. You have got to think about more than just whether a girl is hot or not. I'm sorry, Stryker, but it would never work between you and her. Not for long, anyway."

"Why not?"

She pinched the bridge of her lightly freckled nose. "Men," she muttered under breath. "Stryker, do you like to play volleyball?"

"No."

"Do you like to watch volleyball?"

"Not really."

"Do you know how to read sheet music?"

I had no idea what that had to do with anything, but… "Yes."

She looked surprised. "Wait, really?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I play the guitar. My dad taught me how to read sheet music and play the guitar when I was four. My dad's written some songs, too. I can't write songs, but I can read them. And play them. I can sing, too, though I wouldn't say I'm amazing at it."

"Huh. Interesting. I did not know that. Anyway, what about choir?"

I grimaced. "No way. I hate singing in a choir."

"That's not what I meant. Do you like going to choir concerts?"

"No. Why?"

"Brittany's in choir. Did you really not know that?"

I shook my head.

"Did you happen to know that she writes a fashion column for the school newspaper?" Again, I shook my head. I'd had no idea that Brittany was involved in so many things. "I'm guessing you probably didn't know that she's on the polo team, either. You know, that game you play on horses. Where you hit a ball with some kind of stick. I think. I don't know what that game is all about."

"Wait," Adrian said, "we have a polo team? Since when?"

"Um, how would I know? I'm still pretty new here. But I guess it shouldn't be surprising for a school that's big on fencing to have a polo team, too." Willow shook her head in despair. "You guys are just sad. Seriously. Stryk, you hardly know anything about her. She also does cotillion balls. I'm telling you, it will never work. You, with a debutante? Please."

She said the word debutante like she was some English princess.

"How do you know so much about her?" I wanted to know.

"Like I said, she's in my speech class. She really likes to talk about herself. I don't think there's anybody else in that class that talks about themselves as much as she does."

Ty gave me a look of sympathy. "You know, I think I've got to agree with Willow on this one. You and Brittany don't have anything in common."

"Thank you," Willow said to him. "I'm glad somebody in this group has some sense."

"Whatever. Haven't you ever heard the saying that opposites attract?"

"Yeah, but you have to have something in common, or you'll never have fun together," Willow said.

I shook my head. "You two are wrong. I'm going to ask her out. I think we'll be great together."

Willow threw her hands up in the air, obviously frustrated with me.

So I'm going to up another chapter in just a few minutes. Mostly because I doubt I'll have any time tomorrow to post one. So you get two today.