"In a blue Victorian?" I asked.

"Yes." He didn't seem at all surprised at my guess.

"I think you might live a few houses down from me. I'm at 25 Main Street."

"I'm at 29 Main. So we are close."

Noah scraped his chair closer, staring at us. "You're kidding. You moved in next to her?"

"Yeah, looks like it."

Katie's mouth was dropped open. "That's so random!"

Crystal sighed at me. "You are so lucky."

Ren raised an eyebrow, smiling at her, and I was jealous of one of my friends again.

Her mouth quirked in a cynical smile. "Well, you aren't ugly, you know. I'd love to have you next door."

She leaned towards him, all soft curves and yearning and I held my breath. Not very many guys could resist Crystal when she flirted like that. Even Noah had been thrown by her when he first moved here. I couldn't blame him.

"Thanks," he laughed and added, "but then you'd have my little sisters next door, too. They're kind of loud."

She sat back a little, her pose melting from siren to thoughtful. "You have sisters? How old?"

"Twins. They're six."

"How cute!" Crystal said. "I have a little brother in the second grade."

"Cool."

No one else seemed to notice how he'd defused Crystal's usual flirt attack without flirting back or offending her by shutting her down. Maybe he was just socially skilled.

"What does your necklace say?" Katie asked.

He picked it up from his throat, twisting around his slim fingers. "It means 'tomorrow'."

Noah was the one who asked, "Why?"

Ren dropped the medallion and shrugged. "Because I didn't want to wear the one that said 'stupid'." Then he laughed, ducking his head and I could tell he was embarrassed. "It's just...I don't know. A way to think about my future, I guess."

"That's semi-profound," Katie said, her hazel eyes misty and admiring.

Ryan stared at the medallion and then asked, "Do they really have ninjas in Japan?"

I cringed for him. Noah laughed out right, but Ren kept a straight face as he answered, "It's not an official career or anything."

Ryan nodded. "That's what I've heard. Too bad. Ninjas are hardcore."

"What about Power Rangers?" Noah said, slyly glancing over at Ryan, who had gone back down to his rabbit hole and was poking at his calculator.

Ren shook his head with a small smile and took out his schedule. "Who else has World History next period?"

We discovered that he had one more class with Noah. No one else had any classes with him, to our disappointment.

I could tell Ren was already a part of our group, if he wanted to be. After lunch we all said good-bye and the girls left together. Away from the guys we talked about Ren.

Crystal sighed. "I wonder what he kisses like."

"Wow, Crystal," I said.

She shrugged. "I'm only wondering."

I sized up my friends, comparing myself. Crystal was pretty and inviting, Katie was sweet and innocent, Noriko already shared something in common with him. I had no idea why I would be attractive to him. In fact, I was already sick of thinking about him.

I was so sick of thinking about him that I missed the homework assignment Mr. Leitner wrote out on the board until the bell rang, and I had to hastily write it on my notebook on my way out the door.

As I walked down the hallway to my next class, I thought about the symbol he wore around his neck. Maybe it didn't mean that much to him-it could have been a phase he went through and then discarded, leaving only some fashion statement he wore around his neck. I was sure it was significant to him, though.

When school ended I started my walk home. I kept watching for Ren to see if he walked home as well, but he didn't come. I passed the blue Victorian and forced myself not to stare, disappointed.

CHAPTER THREE.

Ren

The screen door creaked as I walked in the door and dropped my backpack on the floor. My mom and the twins came in after me, Mandi racing upstairs to their room and Jenny following. In the kitchen, I opened the fridge. It still looked empty, not quite stocked up yet, but I found some deli meat and made a sandwich, shoving some chips in there for extra crunch. I made my way to the living room and sat down, putting my feet on the coffee table.

I thought about the moment when I walked in the class and had seen MacKenziethere. Her eyes were an electric blue, making it impossible for me to look away. Even twenty Yurei crowding in the room couldn't compete. She played with her hair, and I wondered if she did it on purpose to get my attention. At least until she turned around and spoke to me. Something about her hesitancy and the way she looked away told me she didn't play games. There was an honesty about her I instantly liked.

When Noah made fun of her at lunch it had made me angry, but I didn't know if my irritation was because of how I would feel about her someday or how I felt about her now. I had this instinct to want to protect her. Noah would have bigger issues in his future than his own arrogance, however. Whatever "justice" I wanted to give him now was nothing compared to what lay in store for him.

I finished my sandwich and checked my phone for any new texts. I answered a few from my friends back home, but I couldn't concentrate. I wanted to know more about MacKenzie. My skateboard was propped by the front door. Maybe I'd go for a ride.

CHAPTER FOUR.

MacKenzie When I got home my mom was in the kitchen. The house was warm compared to the windy chill outside and the dishwasher hummed, filling the kitchen with the smell of lemony detergent.

"Hi honey," my mom said, looking up from scrubbing at the counter.

Her brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she wore a faded green t-shirt and jeans-her mom uniform. Tiny little corkscrew curls had escaped from the ponytail into her eyes and she pushed them away with her hand. "How was school?"

"Schoolish. And I know who moved into the Victorian."

"Me too. I suppose you've met the Tanaka's oldest son."

"You've met them already? How?"

"I went over to welcome them this morning. With banana bread." She nodded in the direction of the counter by the fridge where a loaf sat under wrap on a plate.

"Did you find out anything else? What are they like?"

"Very nice. They have three kids. The older son and two twin girls who are younger. They are so adorable."

James walked into the kitchen, his sandy blond hair flopping in his eyes and a disgruntled expression on his face. "They don't have any boys. Just those girls."

He went to the banana bread and pulled the wrapper off. He was wearing his long black soccer socks, carelessly rolled down to his ankles because he hadn't put on his shin guards yet.

I was sympathetic. "Sorry, Big Guy."

James lucked out on friends in the neighborhood-there just weren't any boys his age around so he was always left out.

"I wish I weren't nine. I want to be fourteen, like you and Derek."

"I'm sixteen," I corrected him. There was a world of difference between fourteen and sixteen, in my opinion. "Speaking of Derek, when does he get home?"

"He's got football practice today," my mom reminded me. "And we're leaving in half an hour for James' soccer practice."

I took a piece of banana bread and went to check my email. It was the usual junk mail and a few Facebook notices. I clicked on them and wrote on Katie's wall.

"We're leaving!" my mom said as she passed me and James followed, tapping his soccer ball across the floor and out the door.

When the door closed the house became quiet, and I settled back to enjoy the solitude. After my second piece of banana bread the doorbell rang. I went to answer it, curious. I didn't have any friends on this street. It must be someone for Derek.

I opened the door to find Ren, a skateboard hanging from his hand by the wheels. He stood there, casually filling my world, his dark eyes smiling down at me.

"Hi!" I said too loudly and threw the door open. I stood there in my mismatched socks, putting one foot behind my leg, hoping he wouldn't notice.

"Hey," he said, smiling.

"So you found me."

"Yeah, it wasn't too hard. We're only two houses away. I met your neighbor on the way here."

I could imagine how that went. Hank has wild eyes behind thick glasses and he's always smiling like a Cheshire cat in overalls and Birkenstocks--a deranged relic from several different decades.

I laughed. "That's Hank. He's kind of odd. You can come in if you want."

He stepped in, taking my semi-gracious invitation, checking out our foyer and the white staircase. Our family picture hung over a decorative table facing the doorway. My dad was taller than all of us, but Derek was catching up.

"You have a nice house," he said.

"Thanks. Actually, your house has always been one of my favorites. I used to peek inside when I went trick or treating."

He raised an eyebrow. "So you've been stalking my house?"

"Oh, yeah. Definitely," I answered, laughing at myself.

"You can see what it's like if you want. There are a lot of boxes everywhere, though."

"Are you sure your parents won't mind?"

"No." He gave a sly smile that I wanted to keep, paste it somewhere in the back of my mind to replay over and over. "They want me to make friends and be social. It's kind of hard. I left behind a lot of friends."

Of course he would have left friends behind-maybe even a girlfriend. I pushed the jealousy away and smiled.

"Let me get my jacket, I'll be right back." I found my hoodie on the sofa where I had thrown it. I shoved my feet in my boots and we walked out the front door.

Just then a minivan pulled up to our driveway. The door slid open and Derek stepped out. He waved to his friends as the minivan backed out of the driveway. One of the guys yelled out the window, "Bye, MacKenzie!"

I wasn't sure who it was but I waved anyway. Laughter spilled out of the windows and I saw a pair of feet fly up as they drove away. Ninth graders.

Derek loped up to us, his football helmet in his hand and his eyes going from me to Ren. Whatever hopes I had of keeping my infatuation with Ren to myself died at the sharpness in my brother's eyes. He knew exactly how I felt.

"Hey, Derek, " I said. "This is our new neighbor, Ren."

My voice was as neutral as I could make it. I noticed he and Ren were the same height.

"Hey," Derek said, his eyes on Ren's skate board. "You skate?"

There was a slight pause. I turned to look at Ren. His face was dark and contemplative. The silence bordered on awkward until he finally broke it.

"A little."

"I can ride down the street without falling off, but that's all," Derek confessed, apparently unaware of Ren's strange pause. "Besides, our sidewalks are crap, in case you hadn't noticed."

"Yeah, I noticed. It's a challenge."

Derek cheerfully jumped up the brick stairs to our front door. "I'll see you around sometime."