Prior notes: If you’ve watched the movie Juno, you’d know she has the raddest phone that looks like a hamburger! Shaun Morgan is the lead singer for the hard rock band Seether. Judas Priest is a heavy metal band. ‘Hey, shut up! (…) EVERYBODY JUST SHUT UP!’ is from Season 2 of Family Guy (the first episode, if anyone’s interested to know). ‘Frais’ is ‘cool’ in French.

Chapter Four

Attack of the Two Inch Long Egghead

“Girl, he. Is. Hot. In capital letters, okay? And I’m not talking the cute, geeky kind of hot either. It’s… chain-me-to-the-bed hot. Kind of like what I’d like to do if I ever get Gaspard Ulliel alone for five minutes. Just five minutes…”

“Being the only rational person here, I find that a little disturbing.” I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling. “And I know what he looks like, Cal. I just… choose not to gush about it like a teenage fan girl.”

“You are a teenage girl,” Callie said frankly.

“Without the word ‘fan’,” I shot back, then sighed. Callie and I were doing our requisite evening phone conversation, and today’s topic was none other than the person whose first name starts with a W and ends with a D. Unfortunately, not many guy first names have that condition, so I think you know who we’re dealing with. “All I’m saying is that he’s a nice guy. Bailey liked him too, and you know how she is with boys.”

Callie laughed. I imagined her twisting the phone cord around her finger, examining her manicure at the same time. Since it was the day before second semester started, it was probably hot pink with French tips. Callie likes her nails like she is: loud. Of course, she could go louder with swirls or stripes, but apparently, the school board doesn’t like her nails being a broadcasting system. I think it’s because all the girls started asking Callie where she gets her nails done and the teachers couldn’t get a word of the lesson through. That means Callie does it the unconventional way… through her toenails. Oh, yeah.

“Yeah, tell me about it. I thought she’d like Tink for the cute little Boston terrier he is, but I still remember her face when I told her Tink was male. It was a riot!”

“What I can say? Bailey’s not going to be chasing boys any time soon, and I’m over the moon about that.” I switched the phone to the other ear. “You know, I still can’t get over the fact that you named your dog Tinkerbell. And a male one at that! Talk about insulting his doggy cojones, Callie hoo!”

“He barks like a girl,” Cal pointed out. “And if he were human, he’d probably throw like a girl too. And he looks so adorable in his little fairy wings, don’t you think?”

I stifled a cough. “That’s like asking if Matt looks adorable in cross dress.”

There was a moment of silence. “But he does.”

I stifled a groan this time, flopped onto my belly and started counting the number of etched leaves on my bedspread. “Callie, that was a rhetorical question. Why would Matt look adorable in a little red dress, high heels and make-up so thick it could make you invisible? I mean, even Valerie Waters wouldn’t be able to pull that off, and that’s saying a very big something.”

“She pulls it off every day,” Callie said, emitting something that resembled a snigger. Cheerleaders don’t snigger, however: they laugh lightly and airily. Also, they tend to overcompensate on the adjectives part. “And whatever. So you’re saying Ward remembered that Rubik’s Cube thing, and you don’t know why?”

I nodded before remembering that she couldn’t see that. “Yeah. Oh, and I kind of have no idea what he meant by it... I solved it for him to apparently beat an eight year old prodigy who can complete advanced sudoku puzzles in like, one point five seconds, so why the hell would he remember something like that instead of something like, say, his parents?”

“Relax, Leigh,” Callie said in what she probably thought was a reassuring tone. I exhaled noisily and buried my face in my pillow. “I know you have a mania for answers, but as your best friend, I’m licensed to say that you don’t have to know them all. Mysteries are sexy! Like him… oh, boy, think of what the cheerleaders would say.”

“You are a cheerleader,” I semi-echoed, pulling myself out of my self-made facial fortress. Who knew bedspreads could be so therapeutic? “But forgetting that, they probably won’t give him a rest. I kind of feel sorry for him. Can you imagine not remembering anything at all and being told that you’re someone but you have no idea how to act according to that?”

“Um, at a kegger…” Callie started thoughtfully.

“Naw, rhetorical question again, don’t complete that thought!” I interrupted hastily, turning back around to do a half belly flop on my bed. “Seriously, though. Matt’s been kind of down lately and it might be connected to that.”

“Or his grades,” Callie supplied helpfully. “He hasn’t told any of us anything about that. Not that I’m jumping to conclusions, like you keep telling me not to, but it makes sense. You don’t have to connect everything to Ward, you know, even if he’s mega, super-duper, fabulously hot-”

“CALLIE!” I shook my head in despair. “Looks aren’t the only thing that matters! He basically told me that he needs a different kind of help. Maybe it’s just meaningless speculation, but he’s lonely. I could see it in his face.”

Something in the background rang. “I’m onto that. Listen, I think this guy Todd’s calling me now to set up a date for next week. I met him at La Crème and he is so cute, I’m telling you! And he canoes – I swear his biceps are so solid, I’d bet Tink against them. I’ll talk to you tomorrow? First day of school, here we come!.”

“Todd? What is he, green?” I laughed. “If he kisses you, maybe he’ll transform into your Prince Charming! Then you could have all the Coach bags you want. How’s that for a fairy tale, oh fair damsel?”

“He’s not a toad!” Callie shrieked, laughing too. “It’s just a name, bozo. And you had a Barbie lunch box in preschool too. Don’t even try to deny it. I’ll catch you tomorrow then!”

She clicked off before I could retort back, and I was left with a receiver in my hand and a head full of questions.

I sighed, took my hand down and stared at the black metal contraption. It looked back at me through the little holes in the mouthpiece. Or at least I thought that. God, if I was seeing human parts on a non-human being now, Dr. Phil would certify me clinically insane with a nice, big, red ‘EXAMINED’. Maybe with a little pink pill and a straitjacket thrown in, for appearance’s sake.

“Why can’t you be a hamburger and let me laugh your expense, at least?” I said to it. “And why the hell am I talking to you?”

The door suddenly burst open. I let out a small shriek and almost fell off my bed, only to really do so when Bailey leapt onto it and tackled me in as big a hug a five-year-old could give. Rolling around on the floor, I managed to catch a glimpse of Mom entering and pulling Bailey off before something of a furry variety was shoved into my face.

“Whazz?” I mumbled through a mouthful of brown cotton. That wasn’t even the gist of what I wanted to say.

“Oh, Bail just wants to fix her beary, right?” Mom cooed, picking Bailey up (which isn’t as easy as it looks – five-year-olds grow fast) and manoeuvring her away from me. I managed to pick myself up by bracing my arms on the ground and hoisting my body up. Ooh, call me in to be a body double for stunts, no problem! “Teddy just needs a little Band-aid there, sweetie. Leigh needs her time to herself; you can’t just go running into her room without knocking. The Sandman will get you if you don’t!”

“I thought the Sandman was…” I started, then trailed off when Mom shot me a pleading look. “Yeah, Bailey, I’ll give you a Band-aid to put on Teddy’s knee and he’ll be all fine. But you have to say you are coming in first, or the Sandman will do bad things in your sleep.”

“But I don’t wanna get bad things!” Bailey’s lower lip started to tremble. Oops. “Teddy hurted his knee! I don’t wanna him to get hurted. It’s not nice!”

“No, it’s not nice at all,” I hurried to say. Mom had disappeared, presumably to get some kid Band-aids. “What I think you should do, Bailey, is sit down and talk to Teddy so he’ll feel better about it. Talking helps a lot in different situations, you know. Like you don’t have to punch the boys who make fun of you at school – you can just tell them you’ll tell the teacher.”

“But they’ll think I can’t stick down for myself,” she wailed.

“Stick up, Bailey, stick up,” I corrected, balancing Teddy on my knee and patting the ground beside me. “Come on, Teddy wants his momma to talk to him! Isn’t that right, Ted?”

“He doesn’t like being called Ted!” Bailey reached over and stroked the stuffed bear’s head. What I haven’t disclosed is that Teddy is the size of a real dog – Dad had gotten it for Bailey on one of his little trips overseas. Once Bailey saw it, Francesca the Princess Doll became the subject and Teddy became the king. Well, I guess boys got one thing right: size does matter.

“Okay, Teddy,” I said soothingly. Mom came in and handed me a Band-aid with colorful dinosaurs printed all over the wrapper. Bailey insisted on applying it herself, so I relinquished it while Mom sat down next to me.

I looked at her in shock. She shrugged. “Hey, I’m run ragged by your sister here. It’s okay for a mother to sit on the ground sometimes, you know. I’m so glad I have you around, Leigh – you keep the house a house. God knows David doesn’t care about that!” She placed a hand on my shoulder and I smiled.

“Always the peacemaker, Mom,” I replied. “By the way, your client called when you were in the shower. Mr. Rowland?”

Mom sighed heavily and got up. “That’s my cue to be off. Can you make sure Bailey gets to bed by nine? She has school tomorrow, and so do you, young lady. Don’t be going to sleep at two in the morning again!”

“I pinky swear, Mom,” I said, grinning and showing her my little finger, wiggling it a little for effect. She ruffled my hair, I ducked, and she went out of the room. Mom’s a divorce lawyer – you’d think my mother would help solve couples’ problems, not split them apart. The problem is, my family’s a little eccentric. Dad’s a real estate manager, Andrew wants to be a doctor when he finishes med school, David wants to be God knows what and I want to be a counselor, or at least someone who deals in social work, since according to my guidance counselor, I have ‘rad social skills’.

Fine, that was what Dom said, and his tone of voice was just a little sarcastic, but hey! If it’s your dream, you chase it, no matter what other people tell you. Besides, Dad wanted to be a social worker before he’d gone broke. So it’s not the best incentive, but if helping people takes that, I’d do it.

My thoughts returned to Ward. He’d seemed nice enough the day at the hospital, but I hadn’t seen him since, which meant I still hadn’t asked him about the Rubik’s Cube. I was still puzzled as to how he could have remembered it. I’d gone onto Google, researching amnesia, but it hadn’t turned up anything. Several websites mentioned amnesiacs maintaining basic motor skills but none of their memories, while some mentioned personality changes. How long the amnesia would last depended on the person, as well as the severity of it. I didn’t know how bad Ward’s concussion had been – bad enough to cause long-term amnesia? Or did he have a good chance of recovering within the year?

“Now you’re all healed, Teddy,” Bailey said beside me. I looked over and was shocked to discover that she’d plastered the bear all over with Band-aids, such that he looked like a mummified version of a Teletubby. Mom had left the box beside her – a fatal mistake indeed.

“BAILEY! What did you do? He’s going to suffocate if you do that!” I took the stuffed bear out of her hands, ignoring her protests, and started peeling the Band-aids off. “You only put them on where he’s wounded, see? On his knee!” I patted the stegosaurus Band-aid on its left knee. “That way, he’ll be nice and well for your next tea party with Francesca and the other princesses.”

“Oh,” Bailey said, tilting her head to one side. I handed her the bear, which she started scrutinizing like she was a nurse and it was her patient. “But Teddy said he don’t wanna go to the party tomorrow.”

“Maybe he wants some beary cookies,” I suggested. Lifting myself from the floor, I scooped Bailey up too. Through the open door, I could hear the front door opening. “Do you hear Daddy? He just came home! Why don’t you go ask him how to get Teddy to go to the party?”

“DADDY!” Bailey squealed, and she was off, brown curls bouncing on her shoulders. After a while, I heard Dad’s baritone and her high little voice telling him how Teddy was a bad little bear who didn’t want to listen to his ‘mistress’. How a king could have someone bigger than him in position, however, I was clueless.

I sighed, brushed my sleep shirt free of brown fur and went over to my desk, pulling out my binder. Now was probably the time to go over my notes for Phase Two. It made me feel a little like a scientist, honestly, coming up with hypothesises and possible scenarios. Maybe I could ask Bailey what she would do in my situation. Little children tend to give answers when you least expect it, as I’d learned in the past.

“How’s my girl?” Dad suddenly appeared at my door, Bailey by his side.

“Hey, Dad!” I went over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I’m good. I’m just planning to exhort some money from a freshman and beat up an unsuspecting sophomore tomorrow at school. It’s all just wonderful.”

“I’m not sure your mother will like that,” Dad laughed. He’d loosened his tie and his suit jacket was currently in Bailey’s hands. She was trying to fit Teddy into it without much success, seeing how the jacket wasn’t tailored for a bear’s body. “By the way what’s this I hear from Bailey about a boy with very pretty eyes? Bail, tell Daddy more about him, darling.”

“They look like when Peter mixes all his colors on his paper!” Bailey said, abandoning Teddy and the suit jacket. (I presumed that Peter was a boy at her preschool, judging by the way her eyebrows drew together when she said his name.) Dad picked the jacket up, handing Teddy back to my sister. “He’s nice too. He gave me his orange juice to drink.”

“He did, did he?” Dad gave me a shrewd look. “It’d be nice to know about your boyfriends before Bailey tells me about them, Leigh. You know I’d want to ask him some questions about how he’s been treating my daughter.”

“Dad! He’s not my boyfriend!” I protested. “He’s just a guy from school and we met at the hospital cafeteria. No biggie. I’ll always tell you if I get a boyfriend so he can pass your leeetle inspection. You know that.”

Dad smiled, the edges of his eyes crinkling. Bailey had disappeared, presumably to her room. “That’s my girl. I don’t want you getting involved with them anymore, like that Richard from last year. He was no good for you, I told you that.”

“I was never serious with Richard, Dad,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Could you help me get Bailey to bed? She’s been wanting a bedtime story for ages and I’m way too tired to think of one for her.”

Dad shook his head in mock despair. “Is that just a reason to get rid of your old man?” I laughed and pushed him out towards Bailey’s room. Some sort of rock music pounded next door from David’s room. “Okay, just as long as you’re not hiding anything from us, Leigh. No secrets in the family.”

I smiled. “You got it, Dad.”

He nodded and, after giving me a goodnight hug, went off in search of my little sister. I turned and plodded back to my room, my mouth scrunched up from the guilt (and Shaun Morgan’s singing) pounding through me.

No secrets in the family.

If only he knew.

The first day of second semester dawned bright and early. Having woken up a half hour earlier than usual, I was more than a little groggy. The gang had a sort of pact for first days – we would go to school earlier to get a feel of the new semester, and possibly bully some underclassmen. Nah, maybe not the last part, but we did it more to discuss how our schedules could work out and what was in store for us for the next half year. We’d done it as freshmen and sophomores – this was our second time as juniors, and the last time.

I tried not to think about senior year and college as I gave a bouncing Bailey a goodbye wave (David never gets to school on time if he can help it), grabbed my coat from the coat rack and bounded out the front door. Dad was out in the driveway, backing his car out into the main street, so I gave him a wave as well.

As I did so, Matt’s car came into view. I waited till it’d stopped in front of me before opening the back door, sliding in next to Liz. Immediately, I was assailed by about five different odors – perfume, cologne, another brand of cologne, coffee and what smelled suspiciously like kiwi air freshener. The combination made my head whirl a little, even if I was more than used to it.

“You’re an absolute goddess,” I told Callie, who’d extended a lidded cup of Liz’s mother’s famous coffee past Liz to me. “In fact, all of you are goddesses. Who’s ready for second semester, you all!!”

“Does that mean we’re female?” Dom asked, looking at Matt at his left and sounding a little put off. Liz reached in front and tweaked his shoulder, eliciting an ‘oww! What the hell was that for?’ from him.

“Yeah, that means you’re female,” Callie said, a hint of laughter in her voice. “Not like you ever weren’t.”

“I resent that,” Dom said, turning around and shaking his head. “Watch out, Callie, in my next campaign, I’ll name you my running adversary. All of SHS will be in on you!” Cue mad politician laugh.

“Too much caffeine,” Matt explained, turning a corner. The houses flashed by, followed by the occasional car or two. I looked down at my feet, clad in my brown Converses. For once, they weren’t covered with general detritus such as abandoned coffee cup lids – Matt had done some pre-first day cleaning. I hoped he’d done the same thing to his mind. “Don’t mind him, Callie. He’ll be all right once we get out and I give him a whack on the head. By the way, good morning to you too, my little butterfly.”

I nearly snorted coffee out of my nose. “Butterfly?”

“Maybe a moth,” Dom interceded. “They’re uglier.”

“Shut up!” Since I was sitting directly behind, I reached between the gap between us and the car doors and tugged on his ear. He yelped and leaned forwards, out of my reach. Matt started laughing and almost lost control of the car, just as a black Toyota Camry slid into the lane next to us.

I only recognized its model because Liz’s dad drove the same car, only in a silver shade. And also because Ward Ryan used to drive the exact same one. The car windows were up, but through my side, I could see the driver’s profile very clearly through the clear glass… and it was him all right.

Fortunately, Dom didn’t notice him and neither did anyone else. On the pretext of looking out the window at the passing view, I observed him for a while. He was in a white T-shirt, from the looks of it, and even though it was still pretty early, sunglasses sheathed his eyes. I wished I could see what was behind them, or maybe whether they were still the same color they were the last time I’d seen them. Why I wondered that, I didn’t know, but being the person I was, I got caught up in my reveries before realizing that we were nearing the school.

I drained my coffee, felt the caffeine start its work, and looked at Liz. “Time to get Tom on the road.”

“Tell me about it!” Liz ran a comb through her short black hair while Callie checked her makeup in her compact mirror. Matt had a Judas Priest CD on at medium volume, but only because Callie had nearly thrown her hair brush at him for cranking it all the way up. “I just wish he’d leave me alone. I mean, he’s smart and I admit it. He just has to try and get on my case every single freaking day.”

“He likes you, Liz,” Callie said in a sing-song tone of voice. “The world’s just black and white like this sometimes. Don’t you guys agree?”

We all nodded fervently. Matt easily found a spot in the parking lots, considering we were early. Risking a peek out my side of the window, I noted Ward’s car easing into a lot just a few spaces from us. “Hate to say it, Liz, but he’s not that hard on the eye either. At least he’s not acne-ridden or anything.”

Liz frowned – Callie had already opened the door and gotten out, as had the others. “But he’s so irritating. It’s like a fly you can’t get rid of, even when you use… I don’t know, the best insect repellent there is.”

I shrugged and got out too. The Camry was idling in its space, but standing up, I couldn’t see what Ward was doing in there. It made sense that he was here early, though, since it was his first day back after The Accident. Unconsciously, my mind flashed back to his hopeful smile, his parting words, his wish that we would speak in school again. I kind of wished he wasn’t so cooperative, in a way, since I relished the toughness in a challenge. Well, maybe it went easier and quicker, it’d be over and I wouldn’t have to keep hiding my little secret from everyone, just as long as Ward wouldn’t freak out once he realized my ultimate agenda.

I frowned to myself. If someone were to come up to me and go ‘hey, I know you have amnesia and I want to help you remember the stuff you forgot’, would I run away screaming blue murder? Or would I punch the person and, like the horse in Family Guy, go ‘Hey, shut up! No, you shut up! No, you shut up! You shut up, you're the one talking. Well, there's no one else here! LOOK, EVERYBODY JUST SHUT UP!’

It was all about imagining yourself in a certain scenario. Of course, no one took the liberty to mention how complicated the scenario could turn out to be.

“Maybe it’s because he’s not an insect, Liz, just a guy who wants to get closer to you,” Callie teased. Her long blonde hair was in a long braid down her back, and she was dressed in hip-hugging jeans and a thick white sweater big enough to slide off one shoulder. As usual, I marvelled at the difference between our appearances; I looked like a girl who’d just rolled out of bed, which essentially was really what I was, only because I’d actually tamed my hair and put on a little lip gloss, it didn’t seem so obvious. However, beside Callie, I always felt like a dump. Not that I cared much – Callie was a great person and I wasn’t one to get envious over physical beauty.

Speaking of which… I glanced over at the Camry. It was still idling. The others were already heading off, Liz shooting me a ‘what’re you waiting for?’ look, so I shook the feeling that I was being watched and turned away towards the main school building.

It’d continue today.

Only after homeroom, when we’d gotten our schedules, I realized that they’d screwed up and put me down for Psychology when I hadn’t signed up for it. My homeroom teacher told me to go to the office and fix it up. Schedules tended to get messed up on first days – it wasn’t my first time.

After confirming that all five of us still had the same lunch period, I broke off from them and headed down to the administrative office to get a new copy of my schedule. I was a little late, which meant I was put at the end of the queue.

While waiting, I busied myself with thinking about how I could get to talk to Ward without arousing suspicions. Maybe he’d be in AP Biology with me again? Would he re-join the athletes teams he’d been in? Maybe if he did, I’d be able to congratulate him on winning hockey games, provided he could actually play again. I certainly wasn’t a trained psychologist and I didn’t know what he’d been recommended to do. As an observer, however, I knew he was still the same inside – itching to prove himself. Only now, he had to prove that he wasn’t the insipid idiot everyone probably thought he’d become.

Pursing my lips, I heaved a sigh. Fortunately, the harried-looking lady called my name at that moment (maybe she’d heard me). There was no one else but me left. I did a little celebration inside my head – maybe I could miss first period if that was the case. The clock above the lady’s hair (sprayed within an inch of its life) proclaimed that twenty-five minutes had passed since first period started. Yessss! Late pass, I am your master!

And as if to add vinegar to my victory cheer, the door suddenly opened and the principal poked his (bald) head out.

“Did I hear Leigh Carter, Shirley?” he asked.

Oh, shit, had I done something wrong? Maybe he was an alien who could read minds – since his name was Mr. Dickens (like the author) and he was a first-class dick when he wanted to be, we liked calling him The Dick. For me, I liked adding the words Two Inch Long in the middle of those two words. Shittttt. Oh, holy shit-

“Ah, Miss Carter!” The Dick visibly brightened up. “Come on in. And don’t look like that, you haven’t done anything wrong.”

Oh.

“You can collect your schedule on the way out,” ‘Shirley’ provided helpfully when I looked at her. Weighing the pros and cons, I decided that it’d at least help me skip first period, whatever The Dick wanted with me. (Wait… that sounded wrong…) Because, on the contrary about what you hear about nerds, skipping lessons do hold a certain appeal to them, especially when it might be AP Bio and the teacher hates you. Eurgh.

I hesitantly took a step towards The Dick. He looked a little impatient, so I quickened my steps and passed him into his office. It hadn’t changed since I’d last visited it on student council matters – well, maybe except for Ward Ryan sitting on one of the chairs in front of the large desk.

Everyone now: Holy mother of cow’s shit!

“Now,” The Dick began, closing the door firmly behind him and taking a seat. The chair groaned merrily in protest. Ward’s eyebrows rose, and I tried not to laugh. “I don’t know if you two are acquainted with each other-”

“We are,” we both said at the same time, then looked at each other in surprise. The corner of his mouth curled up, but I couldn’t help noticing the slight dark rings around his eyes, like he’d been up for most of the night before worrying about today. It made me realize just how much of a human being he was too, even if he seemed a little too perfect to be one at times. My heart gave an excited twitch – totally involuntarily, I swear.

“Well!” The Dick looked extraordinarily happy. A sudden thought struck me: had he called me in to be Ward’s guide around the school? “That’s perfect! Miss Carter, I called you in here to ask if you could show Mr. Ryan around. Now that both of you already know each other, you could show him the trophy cabinets too, huh?”

Ward smiled weakly. I just sat there, not able to believe my ears. Wait, he was serious. The Dick was actually giving me the perfect opportunity to help Ward out, only through a different (if easier and less suspicious) route. Maybe I had to up the Two Inches to something a little more… lengthy, if that was the case.

No, this was way too good to be true. I’d probably wake up in a bit and realize that I was in front of Shirley, hallucinating while waiting to get my new schedule. Then again, could I really imagine the way the sunlight bounced off that nicely rounded, hairless head that looked like an eggshell?

DAMN IT!

The Dick started talking again. “It’s my hope that you’ll fit in with us nicely again, Ward. If there is anything we can do to help, just approach us. We’ll be very willing to help anytime.”

“Thank you,” Ward said quietly. I looked at him again, just in time to catch him glancing at me again. I gave him a quick smile and ducked my head, feeling my cheeks warm up for about the six hundred and sixty-sixth time. God, this had to stop, seriously!

“I’ll leave you guys to be then,” The Dick said jovially, standing up. We followed suit. “Have a good first day of school. Remember, pride to the Stonehill Lions!”

I gave a mock salute. “Yes, Mr. Dickens.”

We left as hurriedly as we could. Not wanting to get caught up in Ward’s eyes again, I fixed my gaze on the floor, but still got distracted – only by his washed out Adidas sneakers. David had a similar pair at home, only his were so mucked up, you could hardly make out the design. While Ward’s weren’t pristine, they had the look of someone who washed them regularly. I silently approved of that.

“Leigh?” His amused voice cut in. “You might want to get your schedule before leaving.”

Oh, crap, I’d gone and done it again. “Oh, yeah.” I snatched the piece of paper Shirley held out to me. “Thanks. Um, do you want to compare schedules? Since I’m, well, your tour guide for today, and it’s sort of, er, logical to do that. I guess. I honestly don’t know why The Dick—oh shoot, forgot I said that!” I groaned to myself. What the hell was wrong with my mouth and its running marathons today??

His eyes sparkled with amusement. “I’ll keep that in mind.” Ignoring my gaping mouth, he took my schedule and examined it side by side to his. “Huh, we have almost everything together, only you take French and I take Spanish. Frais!”

My eyes opened wide again. “You know how to speak French?”

He stopped and frowned deeply. “Huh, I don’t know where that came from. It’s weird; I remember things I didn’t even know I knew, but I can’t remember anything else. Makes me a little depressed.” But he smiled, causing my heart to relax a little.

“It’s okay, I’ll help you,” I said cheerily, plucking my schedule from his hand. “Second period starts in a while. I’ll show you to your locker, they left it unoccupied for you.”

“Sounds good,” he said, still smiling. “By the way, was that seriously our principal? I dunno if people can even take him seriously - he looks kind of like Mr. Potato Head, don’t you think?”

A surprised snort escaped me. “We kind of call him The Dick, with his name and all. I just like adding Two Inch Long in front of…” I trailed off, wondering why I’d even told him that. However, I felt oddly pleased when he erupted into laughter, bending over and placing his palm on the wall to steady himself.

“That’s brilliant! Talk about ouch,” he finally concurred, straightening and still grinning from ear to ear. “Not that I’d really like to prove it myself…”

“Eww, hell no!” I said vehemently, causing him to laugh again. “Anyway, he’s nice enough, but he can be overbearing at times. He’s just a big supporter of athletes so the performing arts groups and the other clubs and societies tend to feel neglected. I think it’s personally because he likes the cheerleaders.”

Ward shook his head. “Weird as it may sound, I’m not surprised by that.” We’d reached the juniors’ locker hallway. “Wow. This doesn’t look familiar at all.”

“Well, lockers here are like in any high school,” I explained. Finding his locker easily, we stepped in front of it. “Sometimes they open when you want them to, sometimes they don’t. You kind of have to pound on them a couple times before they do. It depends on whether you get lucky or not – my friend Dom’s one works perfectly fine, but mine needs a little breaking into, if you get what I mean.”

“Sounds just like people,” he said absently, spinning the lock. I frowned, realizing just how true that statement was. He clearly had a brain in that head of his, which made me wonder just how much work I had on my plate.

“Okay, so we have AP Bio second period, which is a right pain in the ass.” I watched him examine the interior of his locker. He’d gotten a good one, apparently, since he’d opened it with ease. “Unfortunately, I still have Darlington for it and so do you, and he doesn’t like me much. He teaches well, though, so you’re in good hands.”

He nodded, withdrawing from his locker with a couple of pieces of paper in his hand. “That’s good. Hmm, looks like I have some mail. Val?” His brows furrowed. “Who uses pink ink to write?”

“Valerie Waters,” I said emphatically. “The bitch of the school. What’d she say?”

He scanned the perfumed piece of paper (I could smell it from fifty feet away). From the look on his face, it wasn’t anything worth mentioning. “That if I need help, I can go to her and she’d be happy to give me anything I want. It looks like she… kissed the paper, if that’s lipstick.” He looked a little revolted, and I cheered inside.

“Lesson number one,” I told him. “Stay away from her if you don’t want your reputation to go ka-boom. If you look closer, she’d probably have an encyclopaedia of STDs embedded in her uterus. Also, she’s extremely easy to identify – the one who looks like a brunette version of Paris Hilton is her, together with the adoring posse.”

Ward’s eyebrows rose again. “You sure don’t like her, do you?” He looked back down at the piece of paper. “If it helps, I’ll rather stick by you than get seduced to the ‘Dark Side’, like you seem to put it.” He grinned at me.

I gave him a smile of approval. “Good choice.” As I said that, the second period bell rang. Classroom doors started opening and people started streaming out, chattering amongst themselves. “Dang, we should get going. Darlington doesn’t like people who’re late.”

“Leigh!” Matt’s voice suddenly rang out. I turned around to find him heading towards us, his blue eyes resting on Ward, who raised a hand in greeting. “How’s your schedule now?”

“All good,” I said, motioning towards Ward. “The Dick told me to show Ward around.”

“How’re you doing, man?” Matt patted Ward on the back. “Don’t worry, Leigh’s a right blast. You’ll be comfortable with the school in no time.” He then leaned in close to me and whispered in my ear, “Don’t get too close to him, Sleigh, you know how it’d be.”

I couldn’t help shivering at his close proximity, even when he straightened. “I know, and don’t call me Sleigh!”

Matt let out a bark of laughter, letting his hand rest briefly on my shoulder. “It’s cute, admit it.”

Ward, who’d been looking back and forth at us, had a sort of funny expression on his face. I let my gaze drift back up to Matt’s blue eyes, which had softened. “You know how I am with cute little nicknames, Matthew. Or should I say… Matty?”

“Don’t call me that,” Matt said immediately, before laughing. “Joking, darling. I’ll see you at lunch. Have a good one, Ward.” He then took his hand off my shoulder and sauntered off. Several people were already eyeing Ward curiously, and a couple of swimmers had come up to him as Matt and I were bantering.

I let out a breath I hadn’t known I was holding. This had to stop too. When would I ever not break out into a sweat whenever Matt touched me? Or maybe I had some illness in which I’d embark on the first stage of fainting whenever a cute guy so much as looked at me. I knew I couldn’t help it with Matt, but what about Ward? I only felt a kinship with him, didn’t I? He was just someone I wanted to help, nothing more.

“Leigh,” Ward said. I blinked out of my thoughts. “We’re gonna be late.” He gave me a curious look, as if to ask what I’d been thinking about.

“Right, right,” I said idiotically. “Um, follow me. It’s not too far from here.”

He nodded, and I was left to lead the way and think about my current dilemmas. Great, I just had to create my own, if the one I had now wasn’t enough. What would Callie say? Heck, what would the entire gang say?

It was when we’d come to the door of the AP Bio classroom that I realized something else.

I’d forgotten to ask Ward about the Rubik’s Cube.

DAMN IT!

A/N – So I managed to make my deadline right on time! It’s a little shorter than the last one, but the next chapter should be longer and will continue from this one. I’ve been grappling with school and personal problems so I’m really sorry if I don’t update as quickly as I’d like to. Thank you all so much for your reviews – I’ve been so encouraged by them!

Rainbow: Yes, I agree! I wish I had a younger sister as cute as she is too!

Genevieve: AHH! Yes, I have regained moi sense of humour, or at least I hope so. I’m glad you think that! Of course I’ll reply every one of your reviews, you lovable idiot. :p That’s a good bargain! I hope it works, and you should get to sleep earlier too – Mid Years are coming! Good luck, and if you’re reading this, GO STUDY. Muahaha.

WigglyJess: Oh dear, are you feeling better now? I hope the medication worked so you could go for your concerts! Korn, I’m so envious! Haha, Bailey’s definitely cute. ;)

Spike: OMG, I have no idea why I said he was German. Thanks for pointing that out!!

stringless-kite: Thanks, darling!

I should be updating within the next two weeks if nothing else happens. (Cue foreboding feeling…) Do review and share your thoughts! Good or bad, right or left, haha (:

-Louisa