It was almost too easy to get Alyssa Texiera to switch spots with me. It was quite another thing to get Reed to stop staring at me while she shamelessly flirted with him. I learned to mostly ignore that, though.

Grace came back to school a week after her dad had gone into the hospital. Though obviously tired, she looked almost normal, beautiful as usual, even bumming it in the Pink hoodie and leggings she'd packed for staying at the hospital with her parents and sister, Ellie.

"Bae!" Summer screamed, as if we hadn't visited her four times this week. She launched herself at Grace, embracing her and wrapping her legs around her waist. Jen and I looked on in amusement.

Grace took a deep breath. "Hi, guys," she said cheerily. Jen and I draped our arms around her shoulders, and Summer joined us to build a tight chain of four. We strode down the hall, people still staring because of Summer and Grace's dramatic reunion.

We walked Grace to her first class, then dispersed. When I finally got to my locker, Matt was there.

"Hey, Matt," I greeted him, putting in my locker combination.

"I need your help," he told me, rushedly. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, hi Alexa, so lovely to see you. How are you doing?" I prompted him. He scowled.

"Sorry. Hi,'' he clipped, all in one breath. "Really, though, I need you and your friends for something."

"What for?" I asked, intrigued.

"My cousin, he's a junior in college, and he's in town. He's always been pretty popular and he's got friends in the area, so he's having this party tomorrow night. And I kinda told him some things I shouldn't have."

I raised my eyebrows. "Where do we come in?"

Matt sighed, and started to turn red under his freckles. "Basically, I need some friends to come to this party. I think if I bring girls I can get him off my back."

I stifled a giggle. "So you want us to come and pretend to be popular with you?"

"Yeah," Matt said, blushing. "But there's one last thing."

I felt myself grimace. "What?"

In a voice so low I could barely understand, he mumbled, "Ineedyoutopretendtobemygirlfriendfortheparty."

I couldn't quite contain my laughter this time. "Oh, my God, you told him you have a girlfriend?! Matt!"

He buried his face in his hands. "I know, I know. It would be too awkward to ask anybody else. Would you quit laughing?"

I got halfway through apologizing before I bursted into laughter again.

"Will you do it, though?" Matt repeated, exasperatedly.

"Okay, yeah," I said, sobering up quickly. "Only 'cause I owe you."

Matt beamed and hugged me. "You're a lifesaver, Alexa."

"Suffocating," I choked out.

Matt let go quickly. "Sorry. Thank you."

"No problem," I replied, grabbing my books and heading to class.

--

"Tramp," Grace muttered as Marin Daley walked past to her seat.

My head snapped up at the same time as Marin's did. Crap. I was royally screwed now.

"What did you say?" Marin hissed, rearing that faux-blonde head.

"I think you heard what I said," Grace replied icily, her brown eyes trained on Marin fiercely.

"Say it again," Marin challenged. The whole room had gotten quiet.

"Crap," Summer whispered behind me.

Grace stood up to met Marin's gaze. "Tramp. Homewrecker. Whore. Slut. Thot." She arched her eyebrow at Marin in a challenge, daring her to do something. Marin seemed shaken until her eyes fell on me.

"Ah, is that what this is all about?" Marin cooed, making her voice cloyingly sweet. "You're using your friends to fight a battle I've already won? How pathetic."

Jen and I exchanged glances.

"She didn't tell me to do anything. And if you think you're winning by going after Alexa's sloppy seconds, well, if that's not pathetic, I don't know what is."

Marin seemed to turn into a completely different person before the eyes of our pre-calc class. Her face was red under cakey foundation and her lips were pressed thin. She was silent.

She looked around at the quiet, waiting spectators, and then she lunged at Grace.

Suddenly, I was shoved out of the way as the whole class clambered over to see my best friend take Marin down like it was nothing. Marin had had no idea what she was getting into when she attacked Grace, because she didn't take anything from anybody.

Even as Summer and I separated the blondes, and pulled Grace off of Marin, I felt a swelling of pride for my friend. Marin sat on the floor, covering her scratched and bruised face with her hands. One of her eyebrows was kind of smudged, and I almost felt bad for her. But Grace held her head high, just smirking at her opponent.

"Where is your teacher?!" a corridor aide yelled as he burst into our classroom. The crowd parted so that he could help Marin to her feet. He grabbed Grace by her bicep, too. "You two are coming with me." He led them out to the principal's office.

As it turned out, Grace kind of got away scott-free with the school officials. Marin had attacked her, after all.

"I just," she fake-sniffed, letting loose a few crocodile tears. ''It's just I've been so stressed out with my Dad and all, and Marin was treating my friend with disrespect lately." She looked at Marin with the fakest apologetic face I have ever seen. "I'm really sorry, though.''

Marin looked ready to throw a hissy fit. "But Mr. Quinn, she was saying--"

Mr. Quinn held up a hand. "I know what Ms. Young said. It's been taken care of. You may not have known when you attacked Ms. Young, but as she said, she's going through a lot."

Grace sniffed a little for emphasis. Marin's jaw dropped.

"You seriously believe her?!"

"You are so awful," I mouthed at Grace. She flashed me a quick smile before Mr. Quinn looked back at her.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Daley," Mr. Quinn apologized. "But you threw the first punch. You'll both be punished, but yours will be a lot more severe. Sorry, you're not going to be going to homecoming this year."

Marin's face paled. "What?" she whispered in a completely different voice.

Mr. Quinn looked disappointed. Marin's face? Absolute horror.

Remember that thing I said, about girls understanding each other to a fault? This was one of those moments.

"But my dress...and I already--" she sputtered in disbelief. "But it's my senior year." She said that in the smallest voice I'd ever heard her use.

"Mr. Quinn," I said slowly.

"Yes?" he said, kind of like he forgot I was there.

"I don't think Marin should lose homecoming. That's too important," I told him. "I think she should get a different punishment."

Grace and Marin gaped at me. Mr. Quinn frowned and looked down at the papers on his desk, then back at me.

"I mean... I suppose. Marin, this is your first real offense. I guess we can figure something out. Ms. Daley, I hope you'll thank Ms. Green for her kindness."

Marin looked at me like an alien.

"We'll discuss punishment tomorrow. For now, Grace and Alexa, go back to class. Marin, your mother is coming to collect you, so grab your books from your locker."

We left the office in silence. Grace was smug, I was gratified by my own niceness, and Marin was just confused. She was still looking at me like I had two heads.

"Why did you do that?" she asked, still in that awestruck, hushed voice.

"It's homecoming," I replied, shrugging. She stared at me a bit longer, like she was trying to figure something out. Then, she shook her head and left.

"Thanks, Alexa, for the help. Really appreciate it," I muttered to myself. Typical.