Mandy sighed as she slipped into her seat in homeroom. She quickly organized her books under her seat and hung her bag from the back of it, then put her head down on her desk and sighed again. Why did school have to start so damn early?

Her reverie was interrupted as Neal Rowan poked her from the next seat.

“Mandy!” he hissed, grinning. Mandy turned her head to the side to peer at him from out of her crossed arms.

“What?” she said sleepily. Why was Neal Rowan talking to her? He was the most popular guy in the grade, and generally thought to be the cutest as well. So why was he talking to her?

“Did you finish the homework?” Ah, that was why.

“Yeah, but you can’t copy it.”

“Aw, come on!” Neal stuck out his lips in a pout, and his wide blue eyes looked so comically pleading that Mandy just had to laugh.

“No, Neal!” she said through her giggles. “It was just a worksheet, you can get it done before class starts.”

Neal sighed. “You’re so very cruel, Mandy.”