The next few weeks pass by in a flurry of homework, quizzes, lunches with Owen, and recesses with my friends.

It turns out, on that first day of school, my friends weren't at Lunch because they were in Art club. That's what they do at Lunch now. Become "aspiring artists" or whatever. I would join them, but my art skills are no good.

So instead, I stay with Owen at Lunch. He's fun. But it's not like we hang out together in class or at recess or after school. Because we don't. But it's still nice to know that I have a sort of friend in my class.

I've also learned that Mrs. Perashi is REALLY sarcastic. And I absolutely love it. Sarcasm is kind of my second language.

"Earth to Talia."

I startle and frown in embarrassment when I realize that I haven't been paying attention. But really, how are we supposed to pay attention to a lecture about percussion instruments I haven't even heard of before?

I'm in Music class with our Music teacher, Madame Fletch. She's an impressive figure, with her high heeled leather boots, and blood red tips of hair. She looks more like she should be riding a motorcycle, not teaching a class of seventh graders about the Schlagwerk Percussion instruments.      

She's also very intimidating.

"Sorry Madame Fletcher." I peep weakly.

She glares at me, then resumes her lesson.

I hear giggles behind me, which bothers me more than it should. My classmates usually stay out of their way to not bother or tease me, because I can be intimidating at times as well.

Like once, in fourth grade, a girl whose name I forget asked me to be her partner. Now before I say how I replied, just remember how much I STRESS to keep my grades up. And this was not a very smart girl. Sure, she was nice, but not smart. So I think my reaction was almost appropriate.

"No way!" I had cried out, louder than I knew. "I want to do this with someone SMART."

So that was the last time someone other than my friends asked me to be their partner. I didn't really mind. I'd rather be with my friends anyways.

There were a couple of other incidents, where I may have seemed mean as well, but I'd prefer not to share those ones.

Anyways, I stare straight at the teacher for the rest of the class, since I'm already worried about my marks with her. She's the only teacher new to the school that I have this year, so she doesn't know what a good student I am yet.

I breathe out in relief when I exit the classroom. That woman is NOT fit to be a teacher if she still can't see how hard I try in class.

I head to the cafeteria, order my food, and head to the same table in the back corner.

Owen and I talk, but I'm already looking forward to recess.

So when the bell rings, I grab my tray, dump the rest of my food in the garbage and sprint out of there as fast as possible. I might have hurt his feelings a little, but I'll deal with that later.

I go to our meeting place, the rocks near the playground. But they're not there. My heart beats a little harder, afraid that I'm about to have a repeat of Lunch on the first day of school. But then I see them at the sandpit, and I grin.   

I slide into place next to Nicole.

"What are you guys doing here?" I demand, a little annoyed.

Ava shrugs.

"Tiegan thought we should try something new."

For the first time since I arrived, I notice the girl sitting next to us. Her orange hair is pulled back into a low ponytail, and her freckles are prominent across the bridge of her nose. She has really bushy eyebrows, though. So, not the best looking.

"Hi." I smile stiffly at Tiegan.

She doesn't even try to return my smile. Instead, she frowns at me and crosses her arms across her chest.
I guess I can see why she doesn't like me much. She was a new girl in my class two years ago. And let's just say I was less than welcoming and we didn't really hit it off.

But Nicole and Ava weren't welcoming either! Lillian wasn't there yet, since we just met her last year. So I understand if she likes LILLIAN, but not the others. But the way she beams at them makes me think she's already forgiven them.

So why not me?

I shake my head. I'll think about Tiegan later. Not during recess. Later.
I turn my attention to what they're doing. It seems they're... digging a pit. Seriously? What's the fun in that? The sand that will be caked under my nails? No way. I'll just watch them instead.

But as it turns out, watching is just as bad as participating. The way Tiegan digs, with all that sand flying up behind her, gets sand in my eyes, up my nose and in my mouth. Really, I can't help thinking she's doing it on purpose.

So I do it right back.

Soon enough, we're in some sort of sand war. My friends have stopped digging to watch.

Even more sand gets in my face, but I relish the thought of the same thing happening to Tiegan.

And then, just as soon as it began, it ends. Nicole, Ava, Lillian and Tiegan return to their digging as I resume my watching.

I stand up, brushing the sand off my clothes. Mom will kill me if I walk into the house all dirty like this.

"I'm going to go to the washroom." I announce.

Nicole is the only one whose face flashes with understanding. She knows that I want for her to go with me to the washroom. She knows that I'll want to talk about her new BFF. She opens her mouth to say something, which I know will be: "Sure, I'll come with you." But she doesn't.

"Ok. See you at Gym class then?"

What? Is she kidding me? Nicole sends me a pleading face, which I translate into: Please don't be mad. I just want to hang out with Tiegan a little bit more. Isn't it good to make new friends? 

Ergh. She's right. It's not her fault Tiegan doesn't like me. But it's not my fault either, so I walk away, still pretending I'm going to the washroom, because I don't want Ava to make fun of the fact that I lied.

So I go to the washroom. My plan is to just walk in and then walk right out. But when I see Rheana sitting on the bathroom floor, (Got to admit, that grossed me out a bit), I pity her and decide to stay and talk. 

"Hi." I smile down at her.

If I were in her shoes, I would have scrambled to my feet, embarrassed to be caught in such a situation. But I suppose she's less self-conscious than me, because she remains sitting and smiles up at me pleasantly.

I should probably try harder to strike up a conversation with poor Rheana, but I can't think of anything to say to her, so I just get up and leave without saying goodbye.

When I go back to the sand pit, my friends, (Plus Tiegan) are gone. Probably to do some other bizarre activity. The bell is going to ring soon anyways, so I decide to just wait at the fence by the door.

For the first time this year, I notice how many different cliques there are. Sure, there are the normal ones, like the jocks, the geeks, the nobodies. But this year there's even more than that. There are those girls who spend all their spare time after school in Dance class. There are those boys who laugh at everything. There's that group of future criminals. Oh look, Reggie's there!

If I had to choose a group where me and my friends fit in, it would have to be the nerd clique. Lillian's more in the teacher's pet group than the nerd one, but we nerds accept her anyways.

Except, I think I'm not a stereotypical nerd. I have fashion sense. I don't wear glasses or braces. I have SOME social skills. That has to count for something, right?

Ava says that if she didn't hang around with us, she'd be in the popular group. When she says that, I don't think she's trying to be mean. She's just saying what she thinks is the truth.

It's not like I believe her anyways. Pffft. It's ME who would be in the popular group. Not her. Me. At least that's what I always retort.

Lillian says that she should be in the nice group. That's more plausible, but still, not really. Lillian's nice in a weird way. Like, when she's nice to one person, she always manages to be mean to another. Like, just the other day, she said to me: "Wow! That's a really nice shirt Talia!" Then whispered: "Better than Nicole's." Then she did that crazy cackle of hers, which always unnerves me.

But it is nice to have someone who practically worships you.

Then there's Nicole. She doesn't deny the fact that she belongs in the nerd group. In fact, she embraces it wholeheartedly. She thinks 'nerd' is just another word for 'genius'. So she's proud of it.

And Owen doesn't believe in cliques apparently. When I brought up the subject, he just dismissed it with a wave of his hand, saying some nonsense about how people choose their friend group. He is completely wrong.

I didn't choose Nicole. I met her in Grade one. She was a friend of a friend, and I eventually warmed up to her after much persuasion from the other friend. 

I didn't choose Lillian either. She was the new kid, and she already knew Ava from some after school class they had together. So she hung out with Ava. Me and Nicole said some pretty bad things about her behind her back. I think it's justifiable enough. We didn't like her. In fact, we hated her a bit. It felt like she was stealing our best friend from us!

But then one day, when Ava was on vacation, something just clicked between us. 

Ava's actually the only friend I DID choose. I met her in Grade two. Nicole was going to be absent from school for a whole MONTH, due to an injury or something.

Well, I was very panicked. It meant I had to find a new friend, and quickly too. That's when Ava swooped in and saved the day. We played together every recess until Nicole came back. But then things just got awkward.

Nicole and Ava fought a lot from the start. I admit I kind of liked all that attention I got, my friends fighting over me. Every book I've read where the main character's friends are fighting over her, she always complains and whines about it. I was always confused by it. What's there to dislike? It means your friends like you! That's the lesson I took from my situation in grade two.

I'm actually still probably the most liked in my friend group. First me, then Ava or Nicole, and last Lillian. 

I'm PRETTY sure I'm everyone's favourite friend. And Nicole is close behind me, since me and Ava think she's an AMAZING friend. Too bad Lillian doesn't like her as much. She admitted that to us one day last year, as we trudged through the snow together. Nicole was late that day. As usual.

Me and my friends are always open about that stuff. It's probably a bit hurtful to find out that you're the least favourite friend of one of your friends.

We're open about a lot of things. For example, our crushes. It's a common conversation topic between us. My crush is Jared. Funny and cute are my reasons. I like to say he's smart, but we all know it's not exactly true.

Nicole's crush is Brennon. Cute and geeky. The 'cute' part is a matter of opinion. But definitely geeky. He's nice too.

Ava's is actually Owen. Smart, funny and cute. We told her she couldn't add an extra adjective to her list, but she did anyway.

I still haven't told her I sit with him at Lunch. If I told Nicole I was sitting with Brennon at Lunch, she'd squeal for me and declare it an important moment in my life, sitting with a boy at Lunch. Then she'd hug me. But I have a feeling that if I tell Ava, then she'll be mad, even though I don't like him in that way.

Last year was the first year people started becoming "couples". When I say couples, I pretty much mean talking to each other in the halls and maybe going for burgers or something like that. Oh, and some hand holding too. But that's really all it is.

I'm kind of jealous if it's not obvious already.

Lillian still swears that she doesn't, and has never, had a crush. We roll her eyes at her whenever she says that. It's obvious she's lying. So we just try to guess who her "secret love" might be. We think it's Adrian, but we're not sure yet.

We've tried to trick her into telling us, but it never works. For example, we tried this once:

"Which boy do you hate the least?"

"I hate all of them equally."

That comment sent us into peals of laughter. And when she stuck her tongue out at us, it just made the whole thing even more funny.

Still, it's frustrating for us to spill out all of OUR secrets, and then receive nothing in return from her.

I check my watch, realizing I've been lost in thought for a while. I do that sometimes. Let one thought lead to another. And another. And another.

"Hi again, Tali."

Tali? Nicole barely ever uses that nickname, since I always tell her it sounds like a boy name. Although she insists it's very feminine. I'm still kind of mad at her, so I turn around and ignore her.

"Oh, c'mon. It was just a one time thing!"

I finally turn around.  

"I don't care!" I cry back at her. "You ditched me for her!"

"Ditch is a strong word."

Nicole looks at me like I'm some immature little kid that doesn't understand, which angers me to no end.

I can feel that this is going to be the beginning of a fight. Except I don't want a fight. I'm already cut off enough from my friends. I don't need to make it any harder by making one of them mad at me.

So I take three deep breaths and regain my calm.

"Fine."

Nicole looks surprised that I gave in so quickly. I'm a bit surprised at myself too. I usually don't back down from a fight.

"Really?" She asks.

"Yeah. It's okay." I smile sheepishly. "I've made a new friend, so why can't you?"

My comment doesn't have the exact effect I wanted.

"You've already made a new friend?"

Nicole gapes at me. Then she grabs me by the shoulders and shakes me hard.

"Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?"

"Hey!" I swat playfully at her. "I'm friendly! I can make friends!"

"Uh huh."

Nicole sounds unconvinced. So I feel the urge to throw it in her face who exactly I'm friends with.

"It's Owen!"

Nicole's is even more shocked when I say that.

"Wow. A boy? Really?" She lowers her voice, not that anyone is really paying much attention to us. "Did you tell Ava?"

"Not yet." I sigh. "Think you can do it for me?"

"Yeah right. No way. Sorry, but that girl terrifies me a bit."

We laugh, and just like that, things are back to normal. I'm relieved.

"So, do you really hate Tiegan all that much?"

Nicole looks sad when she says that, and I immediately feel bad. Curse you, stupid brain!

"I wouldn't say hate. More like neutral. I don't like her, but I don't dislike her either."

"Did you know that she likes horses?"

Likes? More like adores. Ever since I've known her, Tiegan has been OBSESSED with horses. She pretends to be one at recess. She draws them on her school notebooks. She reads "books" (Her highest level of reading is a comic book) about horses. I think it's all a bit too much. But I don't want to hurt Nicole's feelings about Tiegan, her new friend. So I say the complete opposite of what I'm actually thinking.

"Really? I didn't know."