Hayley fluffed my hair. “You’ll do.” She ate the rest of the Pop-Tart and checked her teeth for food. “I hope Mr. Cork lets us get away with murder.” Our AP English teacher made learning fun. And it helped that it was the last class of the day. We also had French together right before lunch. Our lockers were in different hallways, but I was sure she would move her things into mine by the end of the week.

“I love him. It’s too bad Madame Bleek is such a bitch though,” Hayley said. She and Madame Bleek butted heads daily. Ms. Bleek wanted us to learn how to conjugate verbs and learn all the parts of a sentence in French, and Hayley wanted to curse and have conversations about food. It was funny to watch, but also stressful.

“Maybe if you let her teach instead of always trying to mess with her, we both could enjoy the class more,” I said.

She nodded, then shook her head. “I know I’m an ass, but so is she. Come on. Let’s go.”

* * *

“Where are you going, QB? Whoa. Look at you.” Max looked me up and down and gave me a low whistle.

Heat spiked my cheeks. I bumped his shoulder. “Hayley wouldn’t let me wear workout shorts and a T-shirt on day one.”

“Good call. You clean up well.”

“Go to class. I’ll see you later.” I had first period with Max, but I needed to drop off my dad’s phone. He left it on the kitchen island in his haste to leave.

I turned the corner and walked into a very busy front office. A thin veil of panic covered the room. I scanned the place, hoping to see my dad so I could get in and out quickly. Ms. Clarissa was busy with two students, the office aide was trying to make copies of something but the copier wasn’t cooperating. One of the admin assistants was on the phone making very big hand gestures while the other one was rapidly flipping through folders in a filing cabinet. I smiled at the familiarity of it all. First day was a rush even in the front office.

What I wasn’t expecting was a very cute blonde sitting on a chair outside my dad’s office. I was awestruck. I knew everybody and didn’t have a problem talking to people. But there was something about her that made me want to simultaneously run away and also get to know her. I was confused. I smiled at her and walked into my dad’s office.

“Looking for this?” I held up his phone.

“Thanks, honey.” Even though I was holding it in my hand, he patted down his jacket pockets as though he would never do something as irresponsible as leave his phone behind.