Chapter 1

Cassandra looked in her book bag to see if she had everything for her first day. She was being transferred from P.S. 117 to P.S. 118 which was a little weird from what she heard. This wasn't in anyway disconcerting to her because there was a chance she could actually fit in. She put on her black and gray striped jacket and put the hood over her reddish blond hair. There was only one problem with this new transfer. Cassandra wouldn't get to see her best friend Timothy anymore, course he probably thought she was weird anyway.

Flinging her bag onto her shoulders she tried to sneak out the door before her mother saw her. It wasn't that her mother was bad to her it was just that the lady was a little weird. Cassandra's mom was a little goofy, especially in the mornings even if she had her coffee. "Oh Cassie darling…don't take the bus, I'll drive you sweetie." A sweet voice yelled from the kitchen. "To late!" She thought and threw her back pack on the sofa. "Mom, I thought you said your friend drove the bus. I distinctly remember you saying…" She was interrupted by a woman with brown curly hair walking into the room.

"Sweetie, stop it with your photographic memory…I know what I said."

"Please…you cant even remember where you left the keys five minutes ago mom."

"Oh, your right; have a good first day of school sweetie."

With a triumphant laugh Cassandra took her bag and went out the door. Still slightly nervous Cassandra grabbed a piece of grass and put it in between her thumbs and blew on it. Instantly a whistling noise came from it and there were a few head turns as she walked to the bus. She had only gotten a few words out of her cousin when she asked about the school. All he had only told her about the homeroom teacher Mr. Simmons who was a nice guy.

She stood in silence as she got to the bus stop and threw the piece of grass on the ground. She adjusted her jeans before sitting on the ground and waited as a few kids walked up. "I don't understand why you stick up for her." A boy with a big head of hair said to a football headed boy. Cassandra just sat there in silence as the two boys talked. "Gerald…" The football headed boy responded and then turned to Cassandra. "Hey, you new to P.S. 118?" He asked and the other kid looked in her direction seeming a little curious himself. "Yeah." Cassandra said loud enough for them to hear.

He was about to ask her something else but the bus had appeared just then. Checking her pockets for the fifty cents Cassandra would need to enter the bus and sit down. "Cass, how's your mom?" The man asked. Her eyes met his and she smiled remembering him from a week ago. "Hey Arthur." She said and then went to go sit down in the back next to a girl who looked of Japanese decent. "Hello, my name is Phoebe." The girl greeted and held her had out to her as if to shake her hand. "Names Cass." She said and moved her sleeve over her hand before shaking the other girls hand.

It wasn't that Cassandra was against the girl or anything it was just that she didn't like germs. Another reason she was so nervous about her first day at this school. She wished that Iggy had filled her in on everything. Speaking of Iggy she found that he was sitting in front of her talking to an asthmatic boy about something. "Igloo!" She sharply whispered and tapped him on the shoulder rather hard. This definitely cached his attention and he looked at her slightly annoyed about the sudden death poke. "Ow! What was that for?" He asked sounding rather annoyed but she didn't care.

"I want to know my who's and what's Iggs!" Cassandra said and motioned for the asthmatic boy to move out of the seat. She wanted to sit with the only person she knew right now. Iggy's annoyed look perished and he looked around the bus. "Ok…sorry Brainy." He said and the boy named Brainy moved to the back after saying hi in a slightly deep voice. "Ok what do you want to know?" He asked.

"First off, the football headed boy and the other one with the tube of hair."

"Arnold is the one with the strange head, he's pretty much a the piece keeper. The other one is Gerald, he's the myth teller of the city."

Iggy was about to continue with the others but they made it to school. He motioned for to exit the bus and waited for him to get off. "Mr. Simmons will introduce everyone to you in class." He said and then looked around the school grounds. "Go fig, bunny boy doesn't want to hang with me." She said and walked up the steps of P.S. 118 and looked back to him. He seemed to want to say something but left it alone instead.

Helga sat behind Arnold flicking some spit wads into his hair while he ignored her. This was the usual routine and normally he just waited till she was done doing that. Mr. Simmons entered the class and sat on his desk looking at his class while Iggy walked in with a girl. This caused many of the students to whisper and ask questions amongst themselves. "Thanks Iggy. Class we have a new student. Cass, please make her feel welcome." He said.

Mr. Simmons told her to take the empty seat next to Helga. She was hesitant but finally decided to make a move toward the seat. If Iggy was right this blond girl had a bad temper. Then again so did Cassandra and there was a way to handle her. Cassandra had as bad and attitude as this girl did only she hoped there wouldn't be any fighting soon. She removed her hood making her strawberry blond hair fall to her back. "Hi, the names Thaddeus Curly Gammelthorp." A kid with a bowl hair cut said holding out his hand to shake. "Cassandra…" She said putting the sleeve over her hand to shake his.

Soon the bell rang for lunch time and they all got up rather quickly. Thankfully Iggy and his asthmatic friend waited for her as she took out a small journal before leaving. "So am I allowed to sit with the cool posse or do I have to find another table?" She asked with a sarcastic tone. Looking at her cousins friend she was unsure of a few things. First of all this kid didn't seem to be cool but then she just knew her cousin wasn't all that judgmental of things like that. He just rolled his eyes and they walked off to the lunchroom together.

Stinky just sat at the lunch table eating his lemon pudding listening to Sid ramble on. He was more or less annoyed with the fact that his friend still accused him of being a vampire. It wasn't him the vampire accusation was on now though but the new girl. Her skin was pale and she covered her hand before shaking Curly's hand which was strange. Stinky had to admit that it was strange. "I think we should find out." Harold said taking the last bite of his lasagna. "Boy howdy…I agree." Sid agreed with this statement and then stared at Stinky to see what his reaction would be.

This conversation that was going on made Helga laugh because it was hilarious. Sure she was a table away but it was easy to hear what the boys were talking about. Earning a glare from Phoebe she finally stopped laughing and rolled her eyes in annoyance. "She is a little strange Pheebs." Helga said taking a bite out of the pudding her friend gave her. "So is Curly but we learn to live with him." Phoebe responded making Helga sigh.

Her head on the table she couldn't help but feel annoyed at the people. This kid named Eugene was getting on her nerves and she was about to yell at him in five minutes. She had never known anyone so talkative and accident prone in her life. He had dropped his tray like five times but the food stayed on it until his final trip at the table. His corn flipped onto her face and she didn't want anymore of Iggy's table at this point. "Is she ok?" Another voice asked. This person had just sat down and she looked in the corner of her eyes to see who it was. "Cass, this is Park." Iggy said when her head was up.

She said hi and then instantly looked over at Iggy to ask him something. "Hey, is this guy always falling?" She asked. Park looked from her to Iggy and wondered what was going on. It was obvious they were talking about Eugene. Iggy wasn't answering but he had obviously dealt with this girl before and he seemed annoyed. This was rare for his cool friend and didn't know what to make of his mood. "You need to calm down." He said.

Park motioned for Eugene, Brainy, and him to go over to Arnolds table as this went on. He didn't want to be a part of this conversation later and it was obvious the girl was fed up with something. "Hey guys, what's going on?" Gerald asked looking curiously over to Iggy. "Iggy is trying to calm his cousin down." Brainy said and then took a puff of his inhaler before sitting next to Arnold. "I moved everyone over here while this was going on, I'm not listening to this all lunch period." Park said and Eugene nodded. "I wonder how he knows her." Gerald said. "Cousins." Brainy replied.