First of all, in my own defense, Sarah Collier is one of the most beautiful girls not just in this school, or city, but possibly in the universe. Not that I expect that makes a huge amount of difference, but picture this. No wait, first you have to know that I do not have a lot of what you’d call “friends” in school. Or, to be honest, out of school either.

And girls do not, as a rule, throw themselves at me. They more like throw themselves away from me. Or throw up at the sight of me. Anyway, you get the idea. So imagine how I felt when Sarah Collier plopped her books down on the table next to me at the library and flashed me her gorgeous toothpaste-ad smile.

It’s true there were no other seats open, so it’s not like she necessarily chose to sit next to me, but that didn’t make me feel any less lucky. Like how you feel when a butterfly lands on you. Even though it’s an accident, you take it personally.

Luck or fate or accident or whatever—I’d dreamed about what I would do or say if Sarah Collier ever noticed I was alive. And now here she was, opening her books, digging in her purse for a pen. I offered her mine and she smiled at me again! That’s two Sarah Collier smiles. And the next thing I knew, we were talking. Just a little. About school. About midterms…

How it got from borrowing a pen to my planning to loot my sister’s room to supply Sarah with Beth’s answers to the geography midterm, I do not know. And that’s the truth.

How Sarah knew that I had a sister, or that said sister took geography with Mr. White last year, or furthermore that said sister was the type to keep and file old exams, I also do not know. Nor am I sure that she did know this. Maybe she said something about geography and I offered the rest.

Maybe I was mindlessly blabbing in an effort to make conversation. I don’t remember. If it comes to a judge and jury, I’ll plead temporary insanity. I’ll throw myself on the mercy of the court. I’ll…

But no one knows I was involved. That is, unless Sarah is selling me down the river. And really, why wouldn’t she? No doubt she’s telling Mr. Chen about me right now. Blaming me. Telling him I gave her the answers because I was trying to impress her. Claiming that I was trying to buy her affections. And of course, Chen and everyone else will believe her.