Excerpts

Ellie couldn’t help but wonder when the other kids got so big as she made her way to her locker. She kept an eye out for Angela but didn’t see her. She searched for her locker, number G09. She reached it and pulled out the slip of paper with the combination written on it.

“Hey, Ellie can’t remember her locker combination! What an idiot!”

This was easier to tune out. Nothing turned that frown upside-down like a new purple locker rug. Ellie proceeded to decorate the locker with mobiles of various planets, glow-in-the-dark stars, and posters of her favorite band, the incomparably dark and moody My Sister Cellophane. She saved the purple rug, the pièce de résistance, for last. As she carefully smoothed the rug across the bottom of the locker, she saw a quick flash of light in the locker’s back corner, like a candle being lit. She turned around to see what the locker was reflecting, but there was nothing. She stared at the back of the locker for a moment.

The bell rang, and Ellie realized she was about to be late for her very first class on her very first day at Cecilia Payne High. That is no way to make a first impression. She ran for it and got through the door to the math room just in time. Sweaty, panting, and disheveled, but on time.

She made her way to the first available seat, trying to act like she hadn’t just run across the entire length of the school.

“Wow, this high school is a lot bigger than our middle school,” she reflected as she opened her laptop, ready to go.

A whisper came from behind her: “Your backpack smells like an old lady.”

Nope, Ellie would not be provoked again. She glanced over at the other students hoping to see Angela, but there was no sign of her. Maybe next class. Why didn’t they compare schedules last week?

“I love your skirt. Purple used to be my favorite color, too. Like, in third grade.”

The teacher, Mrs. Canter, turned from the blackboard, glowering in Ellie’s general direction. “I will not have any talking in my class.”

Ellie turned beet red as some of her classmates snickered, but she kept her composure.

“Nice patches. Covering the stains from the previous owner?”

Focus, Ellie.

“Quiet!” warned the teacher.

“You know that the guys in My Sister Cellophane are gay, right?”

Dang it.

Ellie swung around and shouted, “And what’s wrong with….” But trailed off as she came face-to-face with a girl she did not know…a terrifyingly tall, muscular, and beautiful girl. A girl who was so intimidating it stopped Ellie’s words from coming out of her mouth. A girl who was sure to become a new and improved sort of bully.