Disclaimer: I do not own Wayside

Maurecia hurried down the stairs. Without paying any attention to her surroundings she rammed straight into Todd.

"Sorry, Todd" She said getting up. Without another word the girl zoomed right past him and continued to hurry down the staircase.

Todd picked himself off the ground and turned to see his friends Myron and Dana, who happened to be coming up the stairs.

"What's up with Maurecia?" He asked. Usually she couldn't get anywhere near him without punching his shoulder. It was her sign of affection, affection he and his arm could live without. As far as he was concerned they were just friends. But this was a bit out of character for her.

"I don't know" Dana said. Her eye twitched a bit. Todd raised an eye brow. Dana smiled showing off her teeth. This was odd behavior even for Dana.

"Of course you know, Dana" Myron said. He pushed her shoulder playfully. "Why we were just talking about it on the way up the stai-oof" Dana stomped on Myron's foot to get him to shut up.

"Seriously what's up?" Todd asked. Wayside was by far the weirdest school he had ever been to. Transferring over a year ago when he was twelve, he had no idea his new school was built sideways thirty stories high. Nor did he have any idea about the chaos and wackiness that when on there.

After a while he got used to it, but this, this was weird even for Wayside.

"Nothing" Myron quickly stated. "Umm, Look at the time" Myron looked down at a wrist that did not have a watch on it. "We're gonna be late for the, the thing!"

"Oh, yeah" Dana giggled. "The thing, We better…go…Now!" She and Myron ran up the stairs away from Todd as fast as possible. Todd followed them.

"Guys, really" Todd mumbled. "You're my best friends; can someone please tell me what's going on here?"

Dana sighed. "Well, if you must know" She seemed to perk herself up a bit. "Three months before you came to Wayside, We had another classmate by the name of Bradley. And well, he was tough, way tougher than Maurecia."

"And Bradley was a bit of a bully" Myron said. Then he started laughing. "But he was short!" he started laughing uncontrollably. He fell on the floor and started rolling in his laughter.

"Myron! You had a huge growth spurt, for a whole month you were taller than everyone" Dana mentioned.

"Oh, yeah" Myron said lost in whatever train of thought he had.

"So what happened to umm Bradley" Todd asked.

"His family was originally from Australia" Dana told him. "They moved back to Australia just before you came to wayside. Now he's coming back to wayside for some reason"

"So basically you're all nervous of a bully?" Todd asked. He smiled revealing the gap in his teeth. "Why don't you just stand up to him, or rather tell Mrs. Jewels. Is that why Maurecia is zooming down the stairs? To get away from Bradley"

Dana shook her head. "No, her dad is down in the office to pick her up for her dental appointment. She has no idea that Bradley is coming back" A wave of fear crossed Dana's face while a wave of amusement filled Myron's.

"Wait till she does!" Myron exclaimed. "Is she going to be in for a surprise!" The bell rang indicating that their lunch/recess break was over. Todd, Dana, and Myron ran up to the thirtieth floor to take their seats in Mrs. Jewels class.

Todd took his seat. All the other students were talking about what school was going to be like now that Bradley was coming back. Some, like Eric (though he wasn't sure which of the three Erics) were excited to see their old friend again, while some like Stephen were kind of scared and nervous.