“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Austin.” She smiled all the way back to the rubber bands on her braces, which made one side of her face squish down more than the other. But her eyes were still twinkly-crinkly, and her braces were a cool-blue color, like pacific blue.

Still doesn’t mean I smiled back.

2. Pacific Blue, Outrageous Orange

I followed the teacher to the cafeteria. I was glad she was in front of me because I had no idea where I was going. I think all the schools should get together and decide to build themselves the same way. Then you’d always know where the cafeteria was.

“Mission control to Austin. Mission control to Austin.” Bertie was still behind me. She made a noise like static on a walkie-talkie. “You need a tray. And a milk.”

I picked up a tray. I picked up a milk.

“Now slide down toward the main course,” Bertie said. She used her tray to push mine along the little track.

Bertie was acting like she thought I’d never, ever been in a lunch line before, or that this school’s lunch line was somehow way different from every other lunch line. Or maybe she was just the kind of kid who really liked being a helper.

“Spaghetti or sandwich?” the lunch server asked me.

“Now you say if you want spaghetti or a sandwich,” Bertie whispered into my arm. I think she was trying to whisper it into my ear, but I’m that much bigger than she is. You could fit about a hundred Berties into a classroom and still have plenty of space when someone brought a big new kid to the door.

“That’s the spaghetti.” Bertie pointed to the spaghetti. “And that’s Chef Gail.” She pointed to a woman in a chef’s hat, stirring a big pot.

“Hi, Chef Gail!” Bertie called.

“Hi there, Bertie!” the woman called back.

“Um, spaghetti, please,” I said.

“You new, sweetie?” the server asked me. She scooped a big pile of spaghetti onto my plate and ladled on the sauce. A lot of schools are stingy with the spaghetti, or the sauce is all gloppy and cold. But this looked pretty good.

“Yes, Ms. Jackie,” Bertie said. “This is Austin.”

“Welcome, Austin,” Ms. Jackie said, and she handed my plate across the counter. “Don’t forget your bread and fruit.”

“He won’t forget,” Bertie said.

I didn’t care so much about Bertie answering all the first-day questions for me. It made it easier to keep track of things. I picked up some bread. I picked up some fruit.