Todd woke up to his alarm clock screaming in his ear. He groaned and slapped the snooze bar, cranky and upset. He knew what day it was: Tuesday. But not just any old Tuesday; today was his first day of middle school. When he had graduated from Wayside, he was so happy to be free from that craziness. However, he now missed Wayside dearly. He missed talking to Myron and walking up thirty flights of stairs, and he even missed when Maurecia punched him in the arm. But Maurecia was going to a different middle school.

Suddenly, Todd's thoughts were interrupted by the annoying buzzing of his alarm clock again. "Gotta get up," he thought miserably. He got out of bed and went downstairs to fix himself a bowl of cereal.

The bus stopped at a giant light blue school surrounded by blue trees covered in blue vines. BLUE VINES JUNIOR HIGH, read the top of the building. Todd groaned deep in his throat. "What's wrong?" asked Mark, his friend from his neighborhood. Mark hadn't gone to Wayside, but was now going to Blue Vines Junior High. He had spiky brown hair and two big blue eyes framed by thick black glasses. The two boys stood up, stretched, and walked off the bus. "I hope there are some kids from Wayside here," he said. And indeed, he did recognize some kids he remembered from Wayside. Dana and Joy were off by a tree, gossiping about who-knows-what. Rondi, Stephen, Jenny, and Joe were playing cards by a water fountain. "Todd!" called a voice. "Todd, buddy!"

"Hey, Myron," said Todd without any expression. "Todd, did you see who's here?" Todd turned and glared at Myron. "What are you talking about?" he questioned angrily. "I don't want to play games!" Myron was taken by suprise. He looked slightly hurt. The orange haired 11-year-old immediately apologized. "I'm so sorry, Myron. I'm just grumpy," he said. "It's okay," Myron replied. Suddenly, the bell jangled. "Gotta run!"called Myron, dashing off towards the front door.

"Wait!" shouted Todd. "Who were you talking about?" But Myron was long gone. Todd trudged off to class, upset.

Todd set his books down on a random desk. He sat down and looked around the classroom. The teacher was nowhere in sight. He saw Dana, Mark, Stephen, and Myron. There were plenty of kids he didn't know. All the seats were taken except for the one to the right of him. Suddenly, a tall, slim, purple-haired figure walked into the room. Todd's jaw practically dropped to the floor. He was speechless. The girl saw Todd and screamed,

"TODD! OH MY GOSH, TODD! I MISSED YOU!" She frantically took the only empty seat next to him and set her pile of books down. "Maurecia, I..." Todd trailed off. "I know, Todd," Maurecia replied. "I switched schools over summer," She playfully punched him in the arm, grinning a wide grin.

Todd rubbed his arm and said nothing.

The bell rang and a red-faced, tall, balding man walked into the room. "Alright!" he shouted. "I'm Mr. Sanders, and I'll be your science teacher this year. I hope you all like who you're sitting with, because they'll be your elbow partners for the rest of this year!" At this, Maurecia shrieked with joy and delight. The teacher glared at her, then continued. "Please exchange phone numbers with your elbow partner," Maurecia scrawled down her number and gave it to Todd; he did the same. All the while the teacher was talking, Maurecia was holding on to Todd for dear life. What was strange was that Mr. Sanders didn't seem to notice at all. And the even stranger thing was that Todd different mind Maurecia giving him such a tight hug. In fact, he kind of liked it. Before he knew it, science was over and Todd was going to his next class, P.E. All his classes were with Maurecia (who, by the way, still wore the same things she wore at Wayside), even advisory. "What's up with me today? Do I like her?" Todd thought, confused by his own feelings. Back at Wayside, he never really liked her (in more than a friend way). But now, he wasn't too sure.