He raised an eyebrow. "I'm good, thanks."

"I won't shrivel up and die if you want to sit somewhere else." I gave myself a few points for showing my disinterest in him and my independence.

He sighed, leaning back. "Yes, you would."

"That is quite the ego you have there."

"Uh, no, it's a fact. And I couldn't be responsible for you shriveling up and dying in class. That would be unfortunate...and gross."

I gave him my best "whatever" face and turned around, trying not to laugh. I caught Noah watching us as he leaned over to whisper to Maddy. I assured myself they weren't talking about me-they probably had tons of other fascinating subjects to talk about.

Sr. Ruddy started the class and I felt Ren nudge my elbow. I glanced down to see a note in his hand. Twisting like I needed to crack my spine, I took the note as discreetly as possible. This would be so much easier if we could text. Not that texting was allowed in class, that was a ticket straight to losing my cell phone. Even if texting in class wasn't the equivalent of a federal crime, Ren didn't have my cell phone number - because he hadn't asked for it.

I didn't want to ask for his number because...because he should ask for mine. I didn't know why.

Are you going to the dance?

My heart jumped. Was he going to ask me? I replied, You shouldn't pass notes in class. No. I waited for Sr. Ruddy to turn around before tossing the note over my shoulder.

He tapped my arm again and the next note read, Would you like to go with me and Steve?

Honestly, the note was perfect up until the last two words. And Steve? What kind of date is that? It wasn't one, obviously. He only liked me as a friend. I swallowed my disappointment and replied, I would love to. Thanks for asking.

He sent me back a smiley face and I folded it up and tucked it in my jeans. I concentrated for a few moments on Sr. Ruddy's lesson as a diversion to my disappointment, but it was no use.

Maybe Ren only asked Steve because he knew Steve was too shy to ask anyone himself. This thought bumped Ren straight to the top of the nice guy chart and I suddenly felt a little bad for being disappointed. What was I pouting about anyway? Third wheel scenario aside - I would be giving Steve the role as the spare tire - I was going to Homecoming...with Ren. Suddenly I was excited about dress shopping until it dawned on me that dress shopping would only be fun if Katie were with me. As far as I knew, she didn't have a date. Inspired by Ren's generosity toward Steve, I pulled a piece of paper from my notebook and wrote a note to Ren.

Let's invite Katie and Noriko to come with us. I knew Crystal already had a date and I would hate for Katie and Noriko to feel left out, might as well make it a party. I neatly folded my note and reached to scratch my shoulder, dropping the note on Ren's desk. I hope that's were it landed.

The note that came back was a shock. Noah is going to ask Katie. We can ask Noriko at lunch.

I could hardly believe it. Noah was going to ask Katie? She'd been crushing on him for a year now and suddenly he was going to ask her to the dance? He was just going to break her heart, and I knew it, but no one would believe me.

So Katie would go to the dance with Noah and I had a date, but not really. When Spanish ended Noah and Maddy waited for Ren, ignoring me. They greeted Ren as if he were a prisoner being released from a painful incarceration-Noah fist bumping him and Maddy twining her arm around his. I kind of hated her for two seconds as I stepped away from the happy trio. Ren looked back and winked at me as he was dragged away, which made me feel better.

Right after Biology Katie texted me that Noah had asked her to the dance. I did a pretty good job of sounding excited, which isn't easy in a text. I used lots of exclamation points.

At lunch I met Katie and her eyes were sparkling, her cheeks flushed. "I knew he was going to ask me."

"How did you know that?" I asked. "He flirts with everyone." A little of the brightness left her eyes and I immediately regretted the dig at Noah. "I mean, he didn't seem more friendly than usual."

It wasn't a great recovery, but she smiled again.

"He's been hinting. I think he wanted to make sure I didn't like someone else. I'm so mysterious, you know," she said mockingly.

"Well, I'm glad you're going to the dance. More importantly, what are you going to wear?"

She grinned and scrunched her nose. "His favorite color on a girl is pink."

"How on earth do you know that?"

"I'm a collector of Noah facts. If they ever have a game show about Noah, I'm going to win."

Impressed, I paid for my lunch and then told her I was going to the dance with Ren, Steve and Noriko. That seemed to make her date with Noah all the more exciting, and she almost spilled her salad. "I can't wait!"

We found the lunch table and Katie sat next to Noah, who was eating a lunch from home-his mom always packed a lunch for him. I'd met her a few times and she was nothing like him, in my opinion. I wasn't even sure how he even came from the same gene pool. She had his olive complexion and beautiful green eyes but where he was thin and angled with sharp bones she was round and comfortable and always laughing or putting someone at ease. The fact that he adored her almost made him redeemable. His father was just as amiable, but with a mischievous sense of humor and twinkly eyes.

Katie smiled at Noah and he pulled a chair out for her, his eyes locking with hers. Did he really care about her? It seemed like he did.

Noriko wasn't reading a book, for once, and Ryan's calculator was sitting next to him, off. Crystal sat on the other side of Noah, sipping her diet soda and watching Katie and Noah.

"So we're going to the dance together," Steve said to me, as he pushed his glasses up on his nose.

"Yep! I can't wait. It sounds like so much fun," I said, and I meant it. Not only because of Ren, but I realized that this was probably Steve's first dance.

Noriko pulled her chair closer to mine, a strand of her silky black hair falling out of the twist at her neck. "I have to shop for a dress. I don't have a formal."

I shook my milk carton, thinking about shopping. "I need one, too. Hopefully it isn't too late to find something."

"Sorry about that," Ren said. "I just moved in two days ago."

Katie raised an eyebrow at Noah. "What took you so long?"

He shrugged. "I knew you'd say yes."

She smacked him on the arm and he winced. "Ow."

"We'll all be fah-bulous," Crystal said, her eyes turning dreamy.

"Almost all of us," Noah said, smirking at me and Steve.

Katie smacked him again. "That was mean."

I agreed but didn't say anything. Steve didn't defend himself either. Either we had no self-esteem or it wasn't worth defending ourselves.

I caught Ren peering back at me through his hair, concern in his eyes. It caught me off guard and I looked away. I realized he was trying to soften Noah's words without calling him out. So he cared about me, but he didn't want to hurt Noah's dumb feelings? At least he cared about the way I felt. But he didn't want to date me. Was he going to turn into another Kyle for me? Another guy who flirted with me but didn't really want me the way I wanted him?

The moment lunch ended our table cleared, books and papers disappearing in a matter of seconds.

Noah grabbed Ren's shirt sleeve and dragged him away from the table. Noah kept acting like I might contaminate his new friend.

I found my biology class and took my usual seat at the black lab table. It smelled sour, probably from a lab the class before us had done. Mr. Leitner was at his desk on his computer, frowning and clicking away. Grades, probably. He was always harping about how apathetic our "generation" was. Whatever.

Did Ren really like me or was he just lonely because he was new? I obsessed over it while Mr. Leitner droned on and scribbled on the board, his pen jabbing to emphasize the fascinatingness of cells. Suddenly the classroom lights flickered and went dark.

Mr. Leitner stopped and turned around, looking up at the lights. A sweet, wonderful blackout.

Everyone cheered in the semi-darkness until Mr. Leitner reminded us that the lights were probably only going to be off for a few minutes. We chatted about why the lights had gone off while Mr. Leitner sat on the edge of his desk, refereeing the speculation. As time went on we were more and more hopeful the lights wouldn't come back on.

Burke, as usual, was the most obnoxious. He's a thin kid with longish red hair who is always doing something abnormal. Last week right before we started our lab he pulled his goggles down over his eyes and yelled at the top of his lungs, "SCIENCE!!"

I couldn't decide if he was crazy or he just pretended to be. I don't think the teachers even knew. I heard a rumor that his IQ was 160 or something improbable like that. His guesses about the blackout ranged from thermonuclear meltdown to zombie takeover.

Mr. Leitner looked at his watch and told us it was time for the next class.

Burke jumped out of his chair and yelled, "I'm free!!"

He burst out of the door and we could hear him running down the hallway screaming "I'm FREE!"

Mr. Leitner didn't even try to stop him. He rubbed his beard and said, "I hope he's going to his next class."

I was in my next class for five minutes when the lights came back on. There was a collective groan of agony and disappointment followed by a distant shouting out in the halls. I could barely make out the words, "I'm FREEE!" and then footsteps sounded in the halls.

Miss Carmichael peeked out the window and gasped, so of course we all had to go look. We crowded around the small window in the door, the taller ones lucky enough to see out over everyone's heads. Suddenly Burke ran past us, his red hair flying and his mouth open in a gleeful howl. Two teachers and three policeman followed, pounding after him. We stared, open-mouthed and silent as Burke was tackled at the end of the hallway.

"Oooh," one of the boys whispered sympathetically. Burke flailed around for a few moments and then Miss Carmichael ended the show by insisting we all get back in our seats "for our own safety". As if Burke was going to explode and we'd get hit by flying Burke-debris. We shuffled back to our seats, awed and delighted.

I'm not sure what school policies he was breaking-do they have rules about running in the halls declaring your freedom from education? Not that I'd read the student handbook, (who has?) but I was pretty sure they didn't have anything specifically against it. Maybe next year they would have to make up a rule just for Burke.

When I got home from school I told my mom the Burke story and she loved it. I'd been telling her Burke stories ever since he popped up in the eighth grade.

"The police tackled him?" she asked in disbelief, but she was laughing, her eyes bright with interest.

"Oh, yeah. I saw it. He wasn't going to stop running around so I guess they had to do something before he hurt himself. Or maybe it was just super annoying."

"Mr. Leitner let him go?"

"Mr. Leitner is kind of...fat. He might have a heart attack trying to catch a 16-yr old kid with that much energy."

"Maybe Burke was high," she speculated, frowning. She was kicking into Mom-mode, I could tell.

"I don't think he needs drugs. He's got some weird natural chemical already in his brain that works a lot better."

She laughed and Mom-mode disappeared. "I love Burke. He brightens up my day. I wish I could be Burke."

"He's probably going to end up in jail."

"At least he'll be entertaining on the way," she said, pulling open the fridge to start dinner. James didn't have soccer practice today so she was making dinner before Dad came home.

Derek came home after football and then Dad. At the table Mom made me tell the Burke story. James listened wide-eyed as if it were the tale of some superhero. Derek claimed he'd already heard the story because everyone at school was talking about it. He was slightly envious that Burke was in my biology class. There was nothing he could do about that because he was a freshman-he probably would never have any classes with Burke, unless Burke failed some of his classes, which was highly likely. He didn't seem to care.

After dinner I finished my homework and opened my laptop and logged on to see if Ren was there. He wasn't, but Steve was. I said "hi" and he started talking to me about World of Warcraft.

Derek flopped down on the couch next to the computer desk. "Where's the neighbor kid?"

"At home, I guess." I checked again to see if Ren was online, but he didn't show up.

"You should see if he wants to come over.'

"Ummmm, you can if you want."

He sighed. "I'm too lazy. It's all that weight-lifting-check out my pipes." He flexed his biceps for me and I had to admit he was stronger since he started football. He was still tan from his lawnmowing job this summer, and he was no longer as skinny as he was last year. There was no doubt he was built for sports-he could run farther and faster than I could. Over the summer we would race at the beach and he always left me behind. It didn't matter that I was older.

"Those are some great pipes," I admitted.

He fell asleep a few minutes later and Katie texted me. Noah is so sweet! He bought me a necklace to wear to the dance.

That is so sweet.

It's a silver chain with a locket.

Sounds nice! Have you found any dresses?

Yes. Online. I'll send you the links.

I checked out all the dresses she picked and I loved them. I know pink isn't her favorite color but she is tall and thin and totally rocks everything she wears.

You have great taste. You can pick out mine.

LOL! No thanks. You can do it.

A few minutes later I stretched and shut down my laptop. Derek was still sleeping on the couch and I could hear Dad nagging James to get his shower.

I walked in the dining room and found my mom working on a scrapbook.

She looked up from the papercutter. "Do you want to help? It's the family vacation last year."

"Tempting...hey, I forgot to tell you I'm going to Homecoming with Ren and Noriko and Steve."

Her eyes lit up and she stopped cutting. "Really? Did Ren ask you?"

"No, I'm just going with the group." I tried not to sound too disappointed. "Can we go dress shopping Saturday?"

"Yes, definitely."

Looking down at the page of pictures I decided we were a pretty good-looking family. Derek was tall and always laughing about something, usually his own wit. James seemed to lurk in the background but maybe that was just because he was the youngest. I had a lot of good pictures...except for that one.

It was a picture of us by a campfire and my mouth was hanging open as I cooked a marshmallow. Realizing I could help my mom make better choices for her pages, which would be shown to every living, breathing creature who came to our home, I sat down and picked up some scissors.

"Ah! The scrapbooking bug has bit you at last!" she said, pleased.