“Today, we are forming project teams so that each student can gain something valuable from the other,” Ms. Reed said as Darcy sat at her desk. Ms. Reed was a tall, stately woman who reminded Darcy of the Statue of Liberty. She would have been a perfect model for the statue if Lady Liberty had been a black woman. She never would have been called pretty, but it was possible she might have been called a handsome woman. “For this assignment, each of you will be working with someone you’ve never worked with before. ”

Darcy was worried. If she was not teamed with Brisana, maybe she would be teamed with some really dumb student who would pull her down. Darcy was a little ashamed of herself for thinking that way. Grandma used to say that all flowers are equal, but different. The simple daisy was just as lovely as the prize rose. But still Darcy did not want to be paired with some weak partner who would lower her grade.

“Darcy Wills will be teamed with Tarah Carson,” Ms. Reed announced.

Darcy gasped. Not Tarah! Not that big, chunky girl with the brassy voice who squeezed herself into tight skirts and wore lime green or hot pink satin tops and cheap jewelry. Not Tarah who hung out with Cooper Hodden, that loser who was barely hanging on to his football eligibility. Darcy had heard that Cooper had been left back once or twice and even got his driver’s license as a sophomore. Darcy’s face felt hot with anger. Why was Ms. Reed doing this?

Hakeem Randall, a handsome, shy boy who sat in the back row, was teamed with the class blabbermouth, LaShawn Appleby. Darcy had a secret crush on Hakeem since freshman year. So far she had only shared this with her diary, never with another living soul.

It was almost as though Ms. Reed was playing some devilish game. Darcy glanced at Tarah, who was smiling broadly. Tarah had an enormous smile, and her teeth contrasted harshly with her dark red lipstick. “Great,” Darcy muttered under her breath.

Ms. Reed ordered the teams to meet so they could begin to plan their projects. As she sat down by Tarah, Darcy was instantly sickened by a syrupy-sweet odor. She must have doused herself with cheap perfume this morning, Darcy thought.

“Hey, girl,” Tarah said. “Well, don’t you look down in the mouth. What’s got you lookin’ that way?”

It was hard for Darcy to meet new people, especially someone like Tarah, a person Aunt Charlotte would call “low class. ” These were people who were loud and rude. They drank too much, used drugs, got into fights and ruined the neighborhood. They yelled ugly insults at people, even at their friends. Darcy did not actually know that Tarah did anything like this personally, but she seemed like the type who did.

“I just didn’t think you’d be interested in tidal pools,” Darcy explained.