Jenna's friends had always liked to poke a little fun at her horsey side, and this first day of school was no different from any other day. Jenna wasn't surprised at all when she was greeted with a cheery:

"Nice new jeans, Jenna, did they come with the dirt on them already, and permanently scented with horse?" from Zoë. She and Ellie were waiting for Jenna at their tree, an old giant oak in front of the school.

Jenna laughingly replied, "Of course not, you two know full well that I have to take care of and feed Flicker and my mom's horses before I leave for school each morning. " Jenna had stopped caring long ago about how she looked. It was a good day for her if she managed to make it through feeding Flicker without getting too much hay down her shirt or in her hair. If she showed up with no detectable hay at all, it was considered a miracle, and Jenna's friends would treat her to a Starbucks during their lunch.

"I know. I just like to give you a hard time!" Zoë replied with a snort as she reached up and retrieved a piece of hay from Jenna's long golden brown wavy hair. This was a pet peeve of Zoë's, to remove all the hay from Jenna's hair. The girls were so used to it by now, it was almost second nature. So far in her high school years, Jenna had only gotten 4 Starbucks, and it was Ayame's turn to treat next, if that day ever came.

Jenna sat down on to the leaf-dusted ground underneath their tree, which they had affectionately named Colin, for no particular reason. The girls always ate lunch under this tree, and Jenna, Zoë, and Ellie, the only ones there early for school each day, met there before school. Colin was their guardian, and had witnessed so much of their lives. He was there for Zoë's first kiss, and for when Zoë dumped most of her boyfriends. He witnessed Ellie telling everyone about her new sister, and all the strange things her newborn sibling had done. He was the first to hear about all of Ali's crushes. He was the keeper of all of Nora's misplaced tubes of chapstick. He was there when Ayame learned to dance in the light of the stars. He welcomed adventurous Jenna into his branches when she got curious one day, and broke her fall when she let go. He was where the six girls met each other, and he would be where they all left each other, just more than two years from that pleasant September morning.

Zoë sat beside Jenna, and said, "So, Jenna, will you get a boyfriend this year, ya think?" Zoë always pressured Jenna to act upon her crushes, but none of them had been strong enough yet.

"Nah, I doubt it. The same idiots from last year will still be idiots this year, and anyone worthwhile is already drooling over you. Nice try, though." Jenna was reluctant to have to explain her love life to her parents, so it was best left alone and un-acted upon.

"Aww, come on, it's great! You know you want to find out what it's like …" Zoë was interrupted by the five minute warning bell. "Well, I guess we better start our junior year, or it'll start without us."

By that time, Ali had joined them. Ayame was always a last minute type of girl, and was always barely on time to class. Jenna, Zoë, Ali, and Ellie weren't expecting her until they were already sitting in homeroom waiting for class to begin.

The five girls stepped into the doors of their school and took a deep breath: at this moment, they were finishing one chapter in their lives, and opening a fresh page to begin another.

"Jenna Holloway, please report to the counseling office immediately." At the sound of the principal voicing Jenna's name on the P.A. system, all six girls stiffened in their chairs. Jenna was a good student, and had never ditched a class or gotten detention in her school life. To be called down to the office was surely a bad omen, and on the first day of school? It was surely a sign of terribly rotten luck. Slowly, as if in a dream, Jenna rose from her seat, grabbed her backpack, and left for the office. She was worried about what might await her when she arrived, but didn't need to be. She entered the office to find her counselor, the principal and vice principal, and an unfamiliar boy sitting in the office, in chairs that were meant to be comfortable, but due to the sheer fact that they were located in a counseling office made them harder than rocks. The principal spoke upon Jenna's entrance.

"Please, Jenna, have a seat." Principal Dixon offered, while gesturing to an open chair next to the unfamiliar boy. "Jenna, meet Andric Bennet, he just moved to Colorado. Because of your excellent record, we chose you to show him around and help him learn our school."

Jenna turned to the boy and surveyed him. He looked to be tall, and had dark hair that swept casually across his forehead. He had glasses; not the dorky kind that made him look like a geek, but the kind that made him look incredibly intelligent. Behind his rimless frames was a pair of bright green eyes, the color that is usually only achievable through colored contacts. His eyes reminded Jenna of the Amazonian rainforest, although she had only ever seen pictures of it. His nose and mouth were plain, but she did notice that he had very soft-looking lips. Jenna immediately wondered if he was a habitual chapstick user. She offered him her hand. "Hi, I'm Jenna, but you probably already knew that."

He replied, "Well, yes, it was implied by Principal Dixon here, but I would rather hear it from you. I'm Andric. I moved here from California. It's definitely a lot different here in Colorado." He had an amazing voice, one of those that Jenna wanted to hear for a long time, even if what he was saying was complete nonsense.

"Yeah, I would imagine it would be." Turning to Principal Dixon, she said, "Now if you'll excuse us, we should get to first period…I wouldn't want to be late on the first day of school, and I need to show Andric where we're going."

"Yes, yes, of course Jenna, go. Run along and have fun, but don't have too much fun!" Principal Dixon replied.

Jenna exchanged looks with Andric, but was distracted by the contrast between his bright eyes and California sun tanned skin. As Zoë would say, he was a total babe. Too bad for Zoë, she was taken. Jenna had finally found someone to have a crush on that might actually be worth it. The two took their leave and made their way to Chemistry, both of their first period classes.

Jenna led Andric into the Chemistry classroom, and took her usual seat to the right of Zoë. As Andric moved to occupy the vacant seat on the other side of Jenna, she exchanged looks with Zoë. The two had known each other long enough to be able to have a silent conversation: this one was about Andric, and just how good-looking he was. Zoë mentally asked if she was dreaming and whether or not he really was that good looking, and Jenna confirmed that he was real, and reminded Zoë that he was off-limits to her. By that time, however, the teacher had began to lecture in her monotonous teacher voice about things that every teacher says on the first day of school, so Jenna and Zoë started a conversation through a note, completely tuning their teacher, Mrs. Walton, out. Their note went something like this:

So, Jenna, who's the new guy?

Oh, just a total hottie who just moved here from California…

I see the hottie part obviously…but from California? Aren't all Californians blonde surfers?

Apparently not … at least Andric isn't.

Andric? Gosh, even his name is hot. No fair…all the hot ones are out of reach for me.

Why do you say that? You know you're the most sought after girl in the junior class…

Are you kidding me? Besides, I can already tell he's different: he didn't look at me like most of them do. He looked at me like I'm a person, not someone to satisfy his 'needs', shall we say.

ZOË! Sometime you're so full of yourself. Just kidding, of course.

Hey, he's a guy, isn't he? They're all the same … all they think about is sex.

I don't know… he seems different to me. More like a –

Jenna was forced to stop mid sentence and cover the paper, because Andric chose that moment to look over Jenna's shoulder at what she was writing, and since she was just almost about to admit that she might just possibly develop feelings for the guy, she most definitely did not want him to see it. Zoë noticed this too, and suddenly pretended to be completely engrossed in whatever Mrs. Walton was saying, which both Jenna and Andric knew was so untrue that they both had to suppress smiles at Zoë's lame acting skills.

After Andric determined that Jenna wouldn't show him the paper, he went back to drawing in his sketchbook. Jenna risked a glance over at his sketchbook, and saw that he was quite the artist indeed, especially with drawing people. He was sketching what appeared to be the side view of a girl. She and Zoë, determining that Andric was once more absorbed in whatever he was doing (drawing, in this case), got back to their note.

More like a what? Jenna…are you blushing?

What, me, blush? Of course not! He's just more like a human being than a guy…even though I've only known him for a short time, he actually sounds intelligent when he talks, unlike most of the subhuman zombies who wander the halls of this school.

Well, you do have a point. So, are you going to go for him? You should definitely try before someone else snatches him up right from under your nose…

I don't know yet, I haven't determined what I'm going to do. Ask me next week.

Fine, fine. You know what I would do…so act in my best interests, or you know you'll never hear the end of it from me.

I know, I know. I'll talk it over with Flicker.

Jenna, you're such a dork sometimes.

I know : - )

By the time the period was over, the girls were sufficiently bored of listening to Mrs. Walton, who, needless to say, was not the most interesting person to listen to lecture for an hour. When the bell rang, the three of them practically bolted out of the classroom. Their next class was English, where they were joined by Ali and Ellie.

Ali and Ellie exchanged the same look that Zoë had with Jenna in Chemistry concerning Andric. He was without a doubt the hottest junior to grace the halls of the school, turning heads everywhere he went. Female heads turned everywhere Andric went, but he appeared to be used to it, because he never broke conversation with Jenna. He just acknowledged it with his eyes, and only Jenna seemed to notice that his full attention wasn't on her. Their day progressed in this manner, until lunch. The girls all met at Colin, and introduced Andric.

"Wait, let me get this straight, you guys named your tree?" Andric asked Jenna at lunch.

"Yeah. It's a significant figure in our high school lives, so we decided to name him. He's really very friendly, even if his leaves can droop and make him look like he has emo hair sometimes." Jenna said this with a laugh lacing the edges of her voice.

The statement achieved it's desired effect: Andric laughed, one of those deep throat laughs that only makes a person more attractive. Through the magical power of the female species, Jenna knew that this was acknowledged by all of her friends.

"Are all people in Colorado as weird as you guys are? I'm almost beginning to regret leaving California, if this is how weird I'll turn out to be after prolonged exposure to all of you." Andric was kidding, of course, but he said it with a note of seriousness in his voice that almost convinced the group that he meant it. "Including you, Colin," he added, turning to the faithful tree, causing all of them to burst out laughing.

Lunch progressed with much getting-to-know-the-new-guy conversation, and as they stood to leave, Andric said to Jenna, "Where are we off to next? I still find your school incredibly confusing." Andric finished his statement with a look of mock confusion on his face, a look that made Jenna have to try really hard not to laugh. She failed.

"My locker, and then to Spanish. It's in the west wing. Think you can handle that?" Jenna asked Andric as she was gathering her lunch stuff. "It's not too far from here, but as you pointed out, class starts in about 3 minutes. We should go." Turning to the group, she added, "Bye everyone, I'll see you guys in English!"

"Bye Jenna!" was the group reply. Then, turning to the tree, they said, "Farewell my dearest Colin, we shall meet again in a short matter of time." It was their standard parting words to the tree that meant so much to each of them.

Andric gave Jenna a questioning look as they headed inside towards the west hallway. "Man, if I thought you guys were weird before, I know you're completely insane now. Saying goodbye to a tree? Who does that?"

Jenna chuckled. "Well, obviously, we do, since we just did. You really didn't know what you got yourself into when you were paired with me…I think I've got five of the weirdest friends in the entire state."

"I won't disagree with that." By that time, Jenna and Andric had arrived at their Spanish class, and took seats near the back. They were the only two of their group in the class, because, with the exception of Ayame and Nora, everyone else took French. Ayame and Nora were a bit strange in that they were taking German, since Nora wanted to bring herself closer to her German roots, and Ayame hoped to study abroad in college.

The Spanish teacher's lecture was just as boring as all of the previous teachers' lectures were, so Jenna decided to start a note with Andric about their conversation during lunch.

So, Andric, what do you know about me already?

I'm not telling.

Aww, come on. You have really nice handwriting, by the way. For a guy.

What do you mean by that?

I mean that I can actually read your handwriting, unlike that of most guys I meet.

Oh. Well, thanks, I guess.

So, are you going to tell me what you already know about me? It's not like we don't have time, class just started.

Still not telling.

Why not?

Because that would take the fun out of it for me. You wouldn't be bugging me about it if I told you.

Jenna looked over at him after she read that, only to discover that he had a silly yet charming grin on his face. She had to resist rolling her eyes at how much of a guy he was, but she also could not ignore the feeling his smile gave her. She mentally cursed guys and their ability to make girls hate them and think they're amazing all at the same time.

I guess you have a point. So, tell me about California. What part did you live in?

Southern California, near San Diego. Because I was so close to the Mexican border, I learned to understand minor Spanish from a very young age, which is why I took Spanish once I was required to take a language in high school. They really have a great Spanish program down there, which I suppose shouldn't come as a surprise.

No, it really doesn't. Now I'm going to be stereotypical and ask you if you surf.

Actually, I don't. I've never even tried it, so I can't say whether or not it's fun. I know I'm lame for never learning, I've just never really cared for surfing.

How did you get so tan then, of you don't surf?

Well, I played soccer for my old high school, and trust me, it gets hot enough during the season that we never wear shirts for practices.

Oh, Jenna thought. That would explain his apparent muscular build, the shape barely visible from the outline of his shirt. It was one of those shirts that guys wear that's not loose, but not tight either. It was just tight enough that it made Jenna wonder how he would look with it off, which was pretty good, she guessed.

So are you going to join the soccer team here?

Nah, I don't think so. I think my soccer years are over. I was getting pretty sick of it by the time I moved here.

Oh. So what brought you to Colorado?

My dad got transferred. He works for the United States Geological Survey, and he was promoted, so he had to move to Colorado to fulfill his new position. My family followed him, because there was no way we were going to stay in California. It's really not all that interesting if you live there.

Oh. That sounds exciting.

Yeah, I guess it is. What about you? Do you do any sports?

Depends on what you consider a sport. If you consider horseback riding a sport, then yes, I'm a very devoted athlete.

Really? You ride? That's cool. I always wanted to learn, but horses scare me.

There's really no reason to be afraid of them, but that's just my opinion. I'm completely in love with my horse, so I can't help but be a little bit biased.

Yeah, I can see where you're coming from. Anyway, the bell's about to ring.

No sooner had Jenna read those words than the bell sounded, signaling them to leave for their next class: English. It was the second to last hour of the day, and the only class (besides lunch) that all six girls and Andric were in together. It was just as uneventful as the previous classes of the day, but they all had to turn in a writing sample by the end of the period. The sample was to be about something that they were passionate about. Naturally, Jenna wrote about horseback riding. By that time, the group knew each other well enough (with the exception of Andric) to know what everyone would write about: Nora wrote about playing the flute, Ellie wrote about reading, Ali wrote about singing, Ayame wrote about playing the piano, and Zoë wrote about skiing, which was her favorite sport. Jenna thought Andric would have written about soccer, since he appeared to be a devoted soccer player, so she was surprised when she peeked and saw that he wrote about drawing. Sure, Jenna had seen the drawing he made in Chemistry that day while she and Zoë were passing notes, but she didn't think he was that serious about it. Of course, his last period class was drawing, so she shouldn't have been too surprised.

The class passed rather quickly, and Jenna left with Andric to show him where his drawing class was before she headed out to Colin for her last period class, which was study hall (anywhere on campus) with Zoë. The two already agreed to meet out at Colin, although no words were spoken between them on the subject. It was an unofficial code between the six friends.

Jenna sat down and dug her Spanish homework out of her overly huge backpack. Spanish was the only class lame enough to assign homework on the first day of school, so Jenna was planning on finishing it during her study period. She really wanted to ride when she got home, so she was working really hard, until Zoë got there, late as usual. Zoë sat down and didn't hesitate to jump on Jenna about Andric.

"So, Jenna, are ya gonna go for him?" Zoë asked enthusiastically.

"Zoë, I already told you, it's too early to tell. Besides, after what he said about you at lunch, I'd have to work a lot harder at it than I'd like to." Jenna was used to losing guys to Zoë, but this guy was one she was reluctant to let go of.

"Well, I suppose it could be too early to tell, but judging from the way he talks to you…I don't know. I think he might regard you with some amount of interest…" Zoë left her sentence hanging in the air.

"And how would you know? You haven't exactly talked to him much today, except for lunch." Jenna's voice was dripping with mock sarcasm, for both girls knew full well that she was only joking.

"God knows I've had enough guys look at me with that look in their eye…and he's had a couple moments looking at you like that." Zoë ended with a note of finality, ending the conversation. A gentle breeze played with Colin's branches, forcing several leaves to drop, one of which landed squarely on Jenna's golden waves of hair, as if to prove Zoë's point.

"Fine, fine. Now would you let me finish my Spanish homework? I have a lot of things to talk over with Flicker once I get home. I need time to be able to talk to him and sort things out before I tell you anything about me going or not going for Andric."

"Ok, I'll try not to distract you too much…have you discovered whether or not he's single yet?" Zoë was also trying to work on homework, pre-calculus for her.

"He is. He mentioned something about an ex-girlfriend, but when I asked him if he had left a girlfriend behind in California, he shook his head in the negative." Jenna had asked this right after Spanish, while they were still on the subject of his life on the southern west coast.

The conversation died after that, with both girls locked in the silence of their homework. Jenna managed to finish her Spanish well before the period was over, and sat there re-reading her latest Meg Cabot favorite, Avalon High. It was the book that made Jenna practically worship Meg Cabot as a writer, instead of just regarding her as an excellent one.

Jenna, striving to be the good new student guide that was expected of her, left Colin a little bit before the bell rang to go meet Andric outside of his art class.

"How was it?" Jenna asked as he came out of the room.

"Eh, it was an art class. Nothing I haven't been to before. He did compliment the drawing I did in chemistry today, though." Andric wasn't about to tell Jenna that the drawing was of her, simply because she was sitting next to him and within easy view for drawing, or so he told himself.

"What was the drawing of?" Jenna asked, curiosity apparent in her voice.

"Oh, nothing really. Just the guitar on the back of the guy in front of me's shirt."

"Oh."

The two headed outside to the tree to meet up with everyone else before they all left for home. The girls went through their traditional gift-giving custom, which sufficiently bored Andric. To bring him back into the conversation, Jenna asked lamely, "So, now that we've bored you to death, how was your day?"

"Eh, it was ok. I'm still getting used to this whole Colorado idea. I like most of the teachers, and you guys are some of the most amusing people I've met in a long time."

"Did you see that wart on Mrs. Ingram's nose? What was up with that?" Zoë was the master of pointing out nose deformities, because she had a minor fetish with noses. It was one of her quirks.

"Gosh, I know. It was so gross. From now on, we're sitting on the left side of the room … that way we won't have to look at it if she's facing us." Ayame added.

The conversation progressed in this manner, until the girls parted ways and left campus to go home, with a final, " Farewell my dearest Colin, we shall meet again in a short matter of time," to their beloved tree friend.