The bell rang, signaling the end of second period. "Where are you going to?" Liz asked me.

"AP US History."

"We'd better get going, it's all the way on the other side of the school," Steve told me.

"We'll see you at commons, Jess," Marilyn said.

"Ok. Bye!" I called to her, Liz, and Dave as Steve, Stephen, and I headed towards History.

"Who's the teacher?" I asked as we walked.

"Helmer," Stephen answered.

Steve and I groaned. We had had her last year for our ancient civilizations class. She was nice and all, but EXTREMELY boring. "Hey Jessica!" someone called as we were about to walk into the classroom.

I turned around and saw Jill and Stacey quickly walking up to me. "Hey! I'm so glad to see you guys!" I exclaimed.

Jill and Stacey were both one inch shorter than me; they were 5'4". Stacey has blue eyes and brown curly hair, and Jill has brown eyes and dark brown hair. I've known Stacey since kindergarten, and we'd met Jill in third grade. Out of your group of friends in Genoa, Jill and Stacey were the only ones who also had to go to Boulder Ridge High School like I did. No matter how many new friends I made, they could never replace Jill and Stacey. They knew things about me that none of my new friends did, and they'd always been there for me.

"Do you have History now?" Stacey asked.

"Yeah. How about you guys?"

"Us too! This is SO cool guys," Jill said.

I laughed. "Jill, you're such a dork."

"Hey. None of that," Jill said, pointing a finger in my face.

We laughed and turned around to walk into the classroom. Steve and Stephen were already in there talking to some of their friends. Jill, Stacey, and I grabbed seats in the back of the room. A second before the bell rang, a tall girl with long blond hair and blue eyes walked into the room. She looked around, then sat in the seat across from me. "Hey," she said.

"Hey Kristine."

It was Kristine. She was one of those five freshman girls who tried out and made Acapella and Madrigals at the end of her freshman year. She's a junior now, just like Sarah, Liz, Marilyn, and I. Kristine is a soprano, and can sing the highest out of anyone in our choir. She's very pretty, but none of us in Madrigals are particularly close to her. It's hard to explain. She hangs out with us, and we always include her and everything; it's just that none of us really have any desire to get to know her better. She always seems so fake. During school, whenever I have classes with her, she always acts like the stereotypical blond ditz. However, after school and at any rehearsals or anything we're at, she always acts, well, pretty normal. And then again at cheerleading, she's her ditzy self again. I just don't know what to think of her, and neither do the rest of us. Still, it's not like we avoid her or don't talk to her.

"So how was your summer?" I asked her.

"Oh, it's been fun. You know Kyle Goergon, right?"

Jill and Stacey leaned over at Kyle's name. "Who DOESN'T know Kyle Goergon?" Jill asked.

Kyle Goergon is the most popular, most handsome guy in our school. He's a senior and the star varsity basketball player. "Yeah, of course I know him. He's friends with Derek. What about him?" I asked, curious.

"Well, we're going out."

"No way! You're going out with Kyle GOERGON?" Stacey exclaimed.

Kristine smiled. "Yes."

"Oh, Kristine, I'm so happy for you!" I told her sincerely.

"Thanks."

"So...what's he really like?" Jill asked.

"Jill!" I exclaimed.

Just then, the bell rang and Mrs. Helmer walked in. As she started talking, I sat back in my seat. Kristine and Kyle Goergon? I mean, yeah, she's a pretty blond cheerleader, but still.....so am I! Some people have all the luck.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~

I laughed. Kristine, Jill, Stacey, Steve, Stephen, their friend Charlie, and I had been talking for the last few minutes of class. Charlie and Stephen are both so funny; they crack me up every time.

Just then the bell rang. "Well, we'll see you ninth hour," Stacey and Jill said to me.

We had compared schedules, but History and Math were the only classes we had together. "I'll see you then," I told them.

Steve, Stephen, Kristine, and I walked out of the classroom together. "Well, I've gotta go to math," Stephen said.

"See you in English," I told him.

Steve, Kristine, and I kept walking. We stopped at my locker, then Kristine's, to put some books and stuff away. "Where are you going to?" I asked Steve.

"I have drafting. It's on the first floor, same as the cafeteria," he said.

The cafeteria was where commons were. The warning bell rang as we walked down the stairs. "You're going to be late," I told Steve.

He shrugged. "It's the first day, the teacher won't care."

We stopped in the hallway outside of the cafeteria. Kristine gave us a strange look, but then understanding dawned on her face, and she smiled at us before heading into the cafeteria.

"So...I'll see you in gym next hour," I said.

Steve smiled. "Yeah. I'll see you then."

He walked down the hall, and I smiled to myself as I walked into the cafeteria. *Whoa!* I thought, looking around. I had never seen a commons period so crowded before! There weren't even any chairs left. I looked around for Liz and everybody, and as I was standing there someone came up behind me.

I turned around and saw Alex. "Hey," he said.

"Alex!" I exclaimed, giving him the mads greeting.

Alex was a senior, with white-blond hair and blue eyes. He's a tenor in Acapella and Madrigals, and although I'd never tell him, I think his voice sounds like a girl's. We went out for about three weeks during musical last year, but then we decided to just be friends. After the spell of musical was over, we just didn't think of each other in a romantic way anymore. I don't know what it is, but during musical there's always so much inter-musical dating going on.

"Hey, I see everybody sitting over there," Alex said, pointing to a table across the cafeteria.

We started walking towards the table. "So what's up with you?" I asked him.

"Nothin' much."

"So, did you see everybody over the summer?" I asked innocently.

"Yeah, we all got together a few times."

"Oh, so, uh, did you see some people more than others?"

Alex flashed his cocky grin at me. "Yeah."

"So? Are you two dating yet?" I asked impatiently.

I was talking about Andrea. I was convinced that Alex and Andrea belonged together. Andrea is also a senior, and is in Acapella and Madrigals. She has copper-colored dyed hair and brown eyes, and she's a soprano. Andrea's really fun to be with, and she and Alex have been flirting since FOREVER. When Alex and I broke up neither of us were upset, because we knew it just wasn't right, and right away I started encouraging him and Andrea to hook up.

"It's not a committed thing, but yeah, we're kinda dating."

I grinned back at him, and we finally reached the table. Everyone there was in both Acapella and Madrigals. I looked around with a smile. There weren't any chairs left in the cafeteria, so some people were sharing. Marilyn was sitting on her boyfriend Greg's lap. Greg has brown curly hair and brown eyes, and he and Marilyn have been going out for...wow, it's been a year, I think! He's a bass. I saw that Sarah and Kristine were sharing a chair. Liz was sharing a chair with Kirsten, who's a senior. She has blond hair and brown eyes, and she is the funniest person ever! She cracks me up. She's an alto, like Sarah and I.

"Hey, you can share my chair with me," Andrea said to Alex.

Matt, Kevin, Adam, Mike, and John all had their own chairs. Kevin and Mike are both seniors and basses. Mike has black hair and brown eyes, and Kevin has dark blond hair and brown eyes. Adam is the only junior guy in Madrigals, and he has blond hair and brown eyes. He's a tenor.

And then there's John. He's a senior and a bass. He has brown hair and big blue eyes. He's the tallest guy in Madrigals at 5'11". I dated John last year too...well, kind of. Alex and I broke up in the middle of March, and John and I went out on a couple of dates at the end of April. Last year I really liked him, but I never told him how much I liked him because I didn't want things to become weird between us and ruin our friendship. So after a couple of casual dates, we decided to just stay friends. Only Alex, Andrea, Liz, and Marilyn knew how upset I really was when John and I decided to go back to just being friends. To everyone else, I pretended it was just like when Alex and I broke up - that it was the right thing for both of us.

Still, John and I were back to our old "friends only" relationship again by May. And now? Well, I haven't seen him since Madrigal camp, but before than we were a little bit more than friends. Not friends with benefits or anything like that, but we were a little bit friendlier with each other than I am with the other guys in Madrigals.

Everyone got up and we all gave each other the mads greeting. I came up to John last. "Hey babe," I said.

"Hey Jessie," he replied with a devilish grin.

I gave him a mock-glare. "Do NOT call me Jessie. No one gets to call me Jessie. I HATE the nickname Jessie."

Everyone laughed and sat down. "You can share with me," John said, putting his arm around my shoulders as we sat down on the same chair.

One thing you should know about me is that I have no personal space whatsoever. Hugging, arms around my shoulders, none of it bothers me in the least. Kissing, hand-holding, arms around the waist - that's where I draw the line. To me, that's the boyfriend-girlfriend kind of thing.

"You're taking up too much room," I told him. "I'm half off the chair."

"Well, that sucks for you," he replied.

I stuck out my lower lip in a pout. "I'll go sit somewhere else. You're too mean."

John tightened his arm around my shoulders. "You win," he said, scooting over a smidge.

"So Jess, what have you been up to this summer?" Kirsten asked me.

"Vacationing. How about you guys?" I asked everyone.

Kirsten, Mike, Andrea, and Kevin all started talking at once. "I met this guy - "

"I went to conductor's camp - "

"I saw Alex a lot - "

"I had to go to Montana - "

"Whoa, okay, let's take this one at a time," John said loudly, interrupting. "Kirsten, you go first."

I smiled to myself. John was always assuming the leadership role, and, well, he was good at it. He's good at projecting his voice, and he just has one of those voices. If he wanted to, he could be a radio announcer or something; he's just got the voice for it.

"Okay. I met this guy at work, and we're dating," Kirsten said.

I grinned. "Ooooh, Kirsten. Is he hot? What's he like?"

"Why do girls always ask if the guy is hot?" Adam asked.

I grinned. "You don't really believe all that 'it only matters what's on the inside' crap do you?" I teased.

Adam smiled ruefully. "Damn, I'm screwed."

We laughed. "Oh, we love you, Adam," Liz said.

"Okay, let's get back to me. Yeah, he's pretty hot," Kirsten said.

She looked at Adam. "Oh, and he's got a great personality," she added.

We all laughed. "Hey, Jessica has a new guy too," Kristine said brightly.

"What?" Sarah asked.

"Oh, you mean Steve," Liz asked dismissively.

"Steve?" Alex asked, a lopsided grin appearing on his face. "Jess, who's Steve?"

I looked around. Matt, Sarah, Andrea, Kirsten, Adam, and Kevin were looking at me, waiting for an answer; Liz, Marilyn, Alex, and Kristine were looking at me with knowing smiles; and Mike and Greg looked uncomfortable, for some reason unknown to me. I couldn't see John's face, but it seemed like Mike and Greg kept looking at him.

"What is it?" I asked Greg, who was sitting with Marilyn right next to me.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, quickly masking any facial expression.

I looked at him strangely, then glanced up at John, but he didn't say anything. "Come on, Jessica, tell us about this new guy," Kirsten wheedled.

I grinned for a moment before replying, "It's Steve Johansen. I've known him since freshman year, and - "

"Oh my gosh, Steve Johansen?" Sarah burst out.

"Yeah," I said with a small smile.

"Oh, we know him! Oh my gosh, I'm such a dork. I should have realized today in Spanish - "

"Okay, Sarah, calm down," Marilyn told her dryly.

"They were talking alone right before this period," Kristine said. "I walked down with them, but then I could see they wanted to have a private conversation, so I came in here."

"Oooh, Jessica," Kevin teased.

"Oh, shut up. It was nothing like that," I said.

"So what happened in chem?" Liz asked.

"How do you know something happened in chem?" Andrea asked Liz.

"Because they're lab partners and I know they were talking. What'd you talk about?" Liz repeated.

"Well...." I paused.

"Oh, come on, Jessica, spit it out!" Marilyn exclaimed with a smile.

"He asked me to go his swim meet this weekend."

"Oh my God! What'd you say?" Liz asked excitedly.

I laughed. "I said yes, of course!"

Liz, Sarah, and Marilyn squealed. "Oh my gosh, this is so great! Finally! Remember last year, when you had such a crush on him - "

Liz elbowed Kirsten, and Kirsten quickly stopped speaking. There was an awkward silence for a moment. "It was obviously before she went out with me," Alex said in his usual cocky tone. "How could he compare to me?"

The tension broke, and all of us except Greg, Mike, and John laughed. I saw Andrea elbow Alex playfully, and I smiled. I hoped they move on from casual dating soon; I just KNEW they belonged together.

"Where's the meet?" Marilyn asked.

"It's at East Appleton!" I exclaimed.

"Isn't that where your best friend goes?" Liz asked.

"Yeah, so I know a ton of people there. I'll probably make her go with me...I'll just tell her guys in speedos. She'll be there."

All of us girls laughed, but the guys just shook their heads. Matt, Marilyn, and Sarah started talking about their summer vacations, and suddenly Mike, John, and Greg got up. "Where are you guys going?" Marilyn asked.

"John?" I asked, when none of them answered Marilyn.

"We're just getting something to eat," he said, avoiding my gaze.

After they walked away, Marilyn and I turned to each other in confusion. "What was that all about?" I asked her quietly, as Matt, Sarah, Adam, and Andrea continued talking to the others about their summers.

Marilyn stared after the three of them. "I don't know."

Kevin snorted. "Isn't it obvious?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked sharply.

"They're going to talk about something they don't want the rest of us to hear."

"Yeah, I got that," I told him a bit snappishly. "But what is it?"

I looked around the table, but no one knew. "I guess I'll have to find out," Marilyn said.

"Will you tell me what it is once you find out?" I asked her.

"If it's not some big secret of theirs."

I frowned slightly. I guess that's as good as she could promise me, but what could they possibly be upset about? We'd barely even talked about anything.

I shook my head. Maybe I was looking into this too much. I have to stop my habit of overanalyzing everything. Maybe they were just hungry.

I saw Liz looking at Marilyn and I questioningly, and I shook my head at her, signaling that we'd talk about it later. As close as I was to the rest of the Madrigals, I don't tell all of them everything that's going on in my life. Some things - namely, my relationship with John - well, not many of them are privy to that kind of information about me.

To be honest, no one except my family and Lauren know everything about me. Jill and Stacey know what's happened to me and my family, but only Lauren knows things like what I was feeling at the time, and what my family went through. I love everyone in Mads, but they don't know any of it.

When I say "it", I mean my past. My family past, it's, well, complicated. My father left us soon after Jaina was born, then came back five years later. It was - well, it still is - complicated, but I don't talk about it. It's just easier to think of simpler things, like my life at school and my music.

And now even that was getting more complicated. When I woke up this morning, I was scared. But I knew that this would be my best year ever. What I didn't realize was that it would probably bring more complications as well.

But it's only the first day, and I'm thinking too far ahead, as usual. Right now I need to find out what's going on with John.

*Speak of the Devil,* I thought as John, Greg, and Mike came back to the table.

"Where's the food?" Alex asked, asking the question I was wondering about.

John held up a bag of M&M's. "It took the three of you to get one bag of M&M's?" Kirsten asked with a laugh.

"One of had to put the money in, one of us had to open the thing at the bottom, and one had to take out the bag," John said.

"I see how it is," Kirsten replied. "And you have the nerve to make dumb blonde jokes?"

"Well - " John began.

"Hey," I said, elbowing him. "You better be careful about what you say."

"Oooh, John, you're in trou-ble," Kevin said, drawing out the last word.

"I'm not going to say anything," he said.

I looked up at him. "Good boy," I said, patting his cheek.

John looked like he was about to do something, but just then the bell rang and I jumped up out of his reach. The fourteen of us walked towards the door in a big group, and John squeezed past Matt and started tickling me. I shrieked, jumping, and I knocked into Andrea and set off a domino effect, as she fell into Alex, he fell into Kirsten, and so on. "What the hell - " some guy yelled.

We all burst out laughing. "John, look what you started!" I said, smacking him lightly on the arm.

"It was you!" he replied.

Looking up at him smiling down at me, I thought that maybe I had just imagined what had happened earlier in the period. I need to stop overanalyzing! Maybe he, Greg, and Mike really WERE just hungry.

Kirsten, Andrea, and Alex came up to us. "We're going to gym. Where are you guys going?"

"Gym," we answered in unison.

We turned to each other with a grin. "Cool."

With that, the five of us started off towards gym.