Forty minutes later, Mandy emerged from her math class, her head swimming with formulas, to the surprising and slightly scary sight of Beck’s manically smiling face.

“Mandy! Oh my gosh! He’s my LAB PARTNER and we talked and it was NORMAL and I’m so excited and oops here he comes-” Beck shut up and pulled her face into a somewhat normal expression as Cy wandered out of the classroom and up to the pair.

“Uh, hey guys!” chuckled Mandy, surprised and very pleased with how the situation had turned out.

“Hi Mandy,” replied Cy. “Ok now help me- where is Art III?” He held out his schedule and pointed to the period three slot.

“All the way up those stairs and to the left,” directed Mandy, “and watch out for the teacher, she spits when she talks.” Cy laughed appreciatively and sauntered off.

“Come on, I’ve got to get to Spanish, and if you’re late for English one more time Mrs. Angelo is going to slaughter you,” said Beck, pulling Mandy down the hall.

“So, everything’s cool?”

“Yeah,” Beck smiled. “It’s cool.”