Amee opened her eyes, suddenly wide awake. She looked at the clock it was seven thirty. She glanced over to the curtains, they were closed but light was streaming in through the crack in the middle. Morning she glance down and Mischief was still curled up in a ball at the end of her bed. She went to lay back down, but found she wasn’t the least bit tired; It was like her body had just suddenly turned on, and was ready to go. Seven thirty? She sighed and pulled herself out of the blankets, and stood and stretched. Mischief suddenly bolted upright and meowed loudly. She looked up at Amee with her blue saucer eyes and yawned.

  “Don’t worry I’m just as confused as you Mischief.”

She still felt stiff from the night’s sleep, at least stiffer than normal. She had spent the entire weekend isolated she hadn’t called a single person, or logged on to the internet. In fact she spent the entire weekend either eating or sleeping. Today she would have to face the world. The school had reopened.

Amee wandered into her bathroom and climbed into the shower.

  “God, why am I so stiff?”

  A meow was the only reply she received. She turned the water on and tried to massage out the stiffness but it wasn’t going away easily.

  “Ouch, I feel like a transport truck hit me.”

  She let the water cascade against her, eventually her muscles seemed to relax and the pain slipped away. She stepped out of the shower much more refreshed. Mischief waited for her as usual, still looking a bit put out at being woken up early.

  “I get up early you get mad at me, I get up late, mom gets mad at me, why can’t everyone just be happy.”

  Amee rubbed under Mischief’s chin. Amee pulled on her jeans, and she buttoned them. Then they slipped down her hips.

  “What the hell is going on?”

  She pulled off her pants and looked at the size to make sure there were no mistakes, these were her jeans no mistake about it. Amee sat on her bed and scratched the back of her head. She surely couldn’t have lost that much weight in three days. She’d been eating almost constantly all weekend when she wasn’t sleeping.

  “This is just plain messed up.”

  She pulled her bath robe on and knocked on her sister’s door.

“What do you want mom?”

  Amee heard Amber’s muffled reply through the door.

“It’s not mom it’s Amee, I need a favour.”

  Amee tried to keep her voice down, but still loud enough for her sister to hear.

“What’s the matter now Amee?” Amber swung the door open.

“May I borrow some of your clothes?”

  Amee looked at the floor, Amber’s clothes while the right size for her, were a bit on the revealing side for her tastes.

“You can’t fit into my clothes.”

  Amber laughed.

“I’m pretty sure I can, now at least, look can I get a pair of jeans and a t-shirt?”

  Amee gave Amber a pleading look.

“Sure whatever, just don’t ruin them.”

  Amber turned around and started digging through her drawers.

“Something that will cover me up!”

  Amee called after Amber. Amber nodded as she pulled out the requested pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

“This should be amusing.”

  Amber offered the clothes to Amee.

  “And what are you doing up so early anyway usually You’d be getting tugged out of bed half an hour from now.”

“Don’t ask me. Thanks Amber.”

  Amee took the clothes and closed her bedroom door behind her. She took a deep breath and pulled up the jeans. She’d be right they fit almost perfectly, a bit loose in the back but she could deal with that at least they weren’t falling down. She pulled on the t-shirt, at least Amber had picked one that wasn’t too revealing. She started down to the kitchen. It was a whirlwind of activity, she wasn’t used to seeing everyone at breakfast she was usually asleep, her brother was hollering for his school bag. Helen was slaving over the stove. Her father was reading a newspaper and her mother was talking business on her cell phone. Amber was pouring a glass of orange juice. Amee paused at the doorway, Amber glanced up and was slack-jawed and managed to overfill her glass. Amee shrugged to her and walked towards the kitchen table and sat down. Amber cursed a few times and wiped up the spilled orange juice then sat down beside Amee and leaned close.

“How did you fit into my clothes, last time I checked you were five sizes bigger than me.”

  Amber scrutinized Amee.

“All I know is that I tried to put my jeans on and they wouldn’t stay up. Figured I was about your size so...”

  Amee trailed off and reached for two pieces of toast from a plate in the middle of the table.

“You don’t lose five dress sizes in four days, Amee, not unless you’re really sick. Have you been eating?”

  Amber looked concerned.

“I feel fine though; actually I’ve been starving and stuffing my face all weekend. I don’t think I ever remember being this hungry before.”

  Amee took one of the plates Helen put down on the table and started to eat it hungrily.

“Did you remember to chew that?”

  Amber looked at Amee in disgust, then down to the empty plate.

“Helen, could I get another plate, please?”

  Amee called out. The room stopped. Everyone turned towards Amee, except Amber of course.

  “What? I’m hungry.”

  Amee shrunk a bit in her chair, feeling about two inches tall. Everyone went back to what they had been doing.

  “Get up on time and all of a sudden the world’s about to end or something.”

  She muttered to herself. Helen rubbed Amee’s shoulder and placed another plate food down for her. Amee devoured that too. Amee looked towards Helen about to ask for more food, but her mother gave her a warning glance. Amee sagged in her chair. The household cleared rapidly as quarter after eight rolled around, leaving Amee alone with Helen in the kitchen. Helen put a lunch bag next to her and patted her on the shoulder.

  “This should keep you going until lunch.”

“Thanks Helen.”

  Amee smiled and looked up to the older woman. Then she heard someone clear their throat politely behind them. She looked up and the immediately looked away blushing, it was Agent Johnson.

“Are you ready to leave for school?”

  Agent Johnson motioned towards the door.

“Yes.”

  Amee picked up her school bag and the lunch bag without looking up at the young man.

“Good, I was worried you’d get there late, your mother warned me that would mean my job. Is she always so melodramatic?”

  Agent Johnson opened the car door for her and closed it behind her.

“Yes.”

  Amee rolled her eyes.

“I wonder how that will go over in global summits.”

  Agent Johnson started the car and pulled out of the driveway.

“Oh that’s only in private; in public she’s generous, sweet, yet stern. I don’t think she would have been re-elected if people knew who she really was. Mind you I can’t think of a politician that has ever lived, who was themselves when they were out in public. Mostly I think people, really don’t like other people, they just like who other people pretend to be.”

  Amee watched the manicured trees and lawns pass.

“That is a sort of pessimistic attitude, don’t you think?”

  Agent Johnson glanced at her.

“Actually, I believe it’s more of a realistic view of the world. Face it, it’s a stinking garbage heap, add in global warming and you have a steaming stinking garbage heap. When it comes down to it, it just plain smells bad.”

  Amee frowned.

“No wonder you have trouble waking up in the morning, I’m surprised you even put in the effort to go to school.”

  Agent Johnson laughed.

“Well that is because, if I don’t, then the world is a steaming stinking garbage heap, where I am not allowed to do what I like, and I have a mother nagging me. Oh and lectures from the Colonel, can’t forget how inspiring those are.”

  Amee’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

“They’re just looking out for you.”

  Agent Johnson tried to keep his voice light to cheer Amee up. Amee didn’t bite and sulked instead. Agent Johnson shrugged and parked the car and escorted her to the school’s front door.

  “I’ll pick you up here at five, you have cheerleading tonight, right?”

  Amee nodded and started towards the front door.

  “Now remember Amee if you see anything strange, or you feel you are in danger call me I will be on, or near the school premises.”

  Amee waved and went in the school’s wooden door. Amee glanced around the hallway as she walked through the metal detector. It was crowded, she wasn’t used to it being this busy, most people were already heading to class when she usually got here. She walked towards her locker. She got a lot of strange looks from people as she passed them. She could make out whispers about her being dead. She pushed them out of her head. Tomorrow it would be something else, someone else. She opened her locker and dropped over several of her books, she was just finishing up when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She spun around a bit surprised. She was met by April’s frowning face.

“Thanks for calling your bff and telling her you were alive and all.”

  April looked angry, which was an odd emotion for her. Amee gulped as she felt discomfort growing in the pit of her stomach, it had been a pretty cruel thing to do.

“I’m sorry April, I was in a bad place after all that happened and I wasn’t feeling well all weekend I spent it all sleeping. I’m really, really sorry.”

  Amee felt horrible.

“Well, that was mean, never fake dying again, it’s not cool!”

  April hugged her tightly.

“I promise next time I plan on dying, or fake dying I’ll call you first.”

  Amee gave a slight smile.

“We should get to math you can fill me in on all the details at lunch, I want to hear what secret agent Amee did while she was supposed to be dead.”

  April laughed and hitched her school bag higher on her shoulder.

  “You had four days off you did your math homework this time, right?”

  Amee nodded to April and they made their way into math. Amee found herself not dreading it so much as she used to, it was a monster she knew how to slay now.

Mr. Thomas watched all the students file in, he gave Amee a withering glance. Once the bell rang he stood up.

  “Well you all had a long weekend, I hope you managed to get the assignments done.”

  He gave Amee another glance. Then walked to the chalkboard and read the first question off, it was a word problem.

  “What are the variables in this question?”

  He looked around the room, and his eyes fell on Amee who hadn’t raised her hand to answer.

  “Ms. Morris, why don’t you tell us what the variables where?”

“We want to know how fast the train was going to make it to New York by three thirty pm, if it left Chicago at seven am the same day. So, the variable is the speed. Since we know the distance traveled and how long it took.”

  Amee gave Mr. Thomas a defiant look. She caught herself before she said something insulting and avoided a free trip to the principal’s office.

“And how fast was the train going?”

  Mr. Thomas looked at Amee again.

“Using the numbers you provided, 82.352941176470588235294117647059 miles per hour, however the actual distance is closer to seven hundred and eleven miles, and most trains wouldn’t be going that fast. That is the average speed, assuming no stops, or other decelerations.”

  Amee hadn’t even had to look down to her assignment she knew the number to even more decimal place, but she had run out of breath. She smiled, it felt good to conquer math.

“Yes, well perhaps we should round it off to the first two decimal points.”

  Mr. Thomas watched her closely then went on to the next question. Amee raised her hand to answer it but he went to a different student it seems she had scared him away. The class wore on and once it was time to work on some problems Mr. Thomas approached Amee’s desk.

  “Amee come with me.”

  Amee stood and followed him to the classroom door, and he led her outside.

“Amee, we discussed you getting your friends to help you with your homework, just writing the answers is not appropriate you need to show your work. Even if it isn’t your work.”

  Mr. Thomas looked disappointed.

  “I’m going to have to contact your mother of course.”

“That isn’t fair, I did that work on my own this weekend!”

  Amee raised her voice slightly.

“There is no need to be disrespectful, Ms. Morris, I’ve been fairly tolerant of your antics up to this point, but you’ve been warned repeatedly about copying other people’s work.”

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  Mr. Thomas shook her paper in front of her face.

  “This is unacceptable.”

“I’m not lying, I did that myself, make up a question ask me it, I’ll answer it, I even studied until the end of the year in the text book. I can tell you what a square root of anything. Want the sin value of something? Just ask me I’ll tell you. I did my own work!”

  Amee’s voice grew desperate she really didn’t want to face her parents again.

“Alright Amee, I’ll give you one more chance, I have spare next period, we’ll see if you can spend it with me and we can see just how much you know.”

  Mr. Thomas seemed to relent; Amee wasn’t sure what convinced him.

“Thank you, Mr. Thomas I promise you won’t regret it.”

  Amee said excitedly, she wasn’t sure why but she really wanted to prove she had this math thing down.

“Okay go back to your problems, I’ll go talk to Ms. Hope.”

  He walked away and Amee dutifully went back to her seat. She finished her problems within ten minutes of sitting down and reached into her bag and pulled out her latest addiction, Frankenstein. Mr. Thomas looked up at her sternly but didn’t say anything. When class drew to a close he handed out the evening’s homework assignment.

"Amee, Ms. Hope said it was alright if you stayed here for the next period.”

  Mr. Thomas said quietly as he dropped the assignment on her desk. Amee sat her desk while the other students filed out. April looked at Amee, she motioned towards the door with her head and Amee shrugged. April left the class room looking confused. The class room emptied and then Mr. Thomas closed the door.

“Alright, Amee, let’s put you through your paces.”

  Mr. Thomas stood at the board and wrote out a problem.

  It was quite simple and Amee answered it easily. He moved on to harder and harder problems, all of which Amee answered easily. At the end of the hour and a half Mr. Thomas looked somewhat exhausted and Amee felt fine, it had barely been any work at all the answers had come to her so easily. She hadn’t recognized the last five or six from her school book, but they still seemed like common sense answers. Mr. Thomas looked at her in disbelief.

  “Amee, how is this possible?”

  Mr. Thomas looked at the answer Amee wrote on the board, she’d left out the calculations there were a lot of them, but she put a few in.

  “This problem took a PHD with a super computer over two years to solve. You did it in fifteen minutes.”

  Amee blinked in disbelief it hadn’t seemed that hard.

  “Quit teasing me Mr. Thomas, it wasn’t that hard, just common sense. And wow there were alot of calculations, sorry I didn’t write them all down, I didn’t think we had time.”

  Amee went towards her desk to collect her books.

  “Amee, the best mathematical minds in the world couldn’t solve that problem without a computer. I am being very serious here. The math involved is beyond most PHD’s. I couldn’t solve it, I just had the answer in a journal. Have you been just not bothering all this time?”

  Mr. Thomas seemed caught between disbelief and anger. He was still comparing her theory and solution to the one in his journal.

  “No, that’s not it, I was just trying to do my math homework this weekend and something just clicked.”

  Amee tried being honest, someone somewhere said it was the best policy.

  “Just clicked?”

  Mr. Thomas shook his head.

  “If I hadn’t seen this with my own eyes I would never have believed it. It’s just amazing.”

  “Okay, can I go for lunch now?”

  Amee started packing her school bag.

  “Yes, yes of course, I’m still going to have to call your mother, she needs to know about this, you’ll need more challenges than this school can provide.”

  Mr. Thomas collapsed on his desk staring at the board in awe.

  “Could we just keep this a secret and not tell my mother?”

  Amee used her best innocent voice.

  Mr. Thomas closed up the journal and looked at Amee.

  “Well I see now why you’re having so much trouble with school, we aren’t challenging you enough, it explains the tardiness, the distraction in class, I think if I found math as easy as you do, I could very well behave the same way you do. We have to get you enrolled in proper classes, something that will challenge you.”

  “I don’t need special classes, I promise I won’t be late, and I will never miss another homework assignment, I just don’t want my parents to have to deal with this, there have been some threats, mom’s going crazy with the election, maybe after Christmas?”

  Amee looked hopeful.

  “Alright, but I will hold you to that promise.”

  Mr. Thomas stared at the board distracted for the moment. Amee used the distraction to make good her escape. She hurried to the cafeteria. She ended up at the end of a long line up, as she had suspected she would. She sighed and leaned against the doorway to the cafeteria.

  She finally had a tray full of food that would feed three or four of her normally, but she was sure she could get through it all. She nodded to April who was waving to her from across the cafeteria and started towards her. She stepped deftly over an outstretched foot without realizing it then she stepped to the side again without realizing why until she saw Jane’s shoulder past her face. She was close enough that Amee’s tray would have been sent flying. Jane glared at Amee, Amee glared back.

  “You’re so clumsy get out of my way.”

  Jane sounded angry.

  “Well if you weren’t trying to get in my way, I wouldn’t be in yours would I.”

  Amee’s voice was more of a growl then actual speech. Jane always had that effect on her. Usually the cafeteria would be in a chorus of laughter, instead there was dead silence as the two stared each other down. Amee grumbled to herself and started towards April again but was brought to another sudden stop as Gabriel stepped in front of her. He smiled, she glared.

  “Do you always block traffic?”

  She scowled at Gabriel.

  “Stupid idiot.”

  She muttered. His smile fell as he backed away, his arms offered in surrendering gesture. Amee continued her way to April and sat down with a heavy sigh, saying in a low voice.

  “He was probably going to ask me out wasn’t he?”

  Amee buried her face in her elbow.

  “Maybe he likes girls who treat him like crap?”

  April offered in her usual cheerful voice.

  “What happened, that’s not usually you?”

  “I don’t know, I’ve been cranky all weekend if I wasn’t sleeping. I feel like I was hit by a transport truck. And then they shot me full of sedative.”

  Amee’s voice was muffled as she talked into her elbow.

  “Well Jane certainly didn’t look too happy, what did you say to her?”

  April poked at Amee’s head.

  “And it’s easier to hear you if you, well you know look at me when you talk.”

  “I just told her that I wouldn’t be in her way, if she hadn’t tried to get in my way.”

  Amee picked up a French fry and started to eat it, then another, and soon she was eating like a madwoman. April watched on, her eyes wide.

  “Uh, ya. So... usually she would have succeeded in getting in your way.”

  April managed to mumble out.

  “Hungry much?”

  “Starving, feel like I haven’t eaten for a month.”

  Amee managed to say between mouthfuls.

  “Well you might want to slow down, you might get sick.”

  April’s voice was laced with worry.

  “I’m fine.”

  Amee didn’t look up from her plate.

  “So what did Thomas want with you, he seemed pretty upset with you today, what’d you do read his lesson plan?”

  April poked at her own food.

  “No, something just clicked on the weekend, math seems so clear to me I don’t know how I even had a problem before. All it is, is a set of  rules, like grammar. So simple. So elegant.”

  Amee got a dreamy look in her eyes.

  “Okay who are you and what have you done with my bff?”

  April gave Amee an accusing look.

  “Just a replacement robot. Amee is too busy with other things to bother with something as mundane as school.”

   Amee chuckled, how close to the truth she was.

  “That is pretty messed up, so you just had a light bulb go off and suddenly you understood math?”

  April finished off the last of her food.

  “Not just understood it, I can see it in my head. Like I used to see literature. Equations just float through the air around me. Mr. Thomas put this problem up on the board for me, I solved it in fifteen minutes, apparently some PHD spent months working on it before they came up with a solution, I’ve never seen it before in my life.”

  Amee kept her voice low.

  “You’re like a savant or something?”

  April in turn kept her voice low.

  “No, a savant is autistic usually. But that isn’t all, I remember things so clearly now, smells, sights, words. And I haven’t lost my balance, tripped or had any accidents since the cheerleading try out. Nothing. I can’t describe it, it’s like my body reacts before I know it’s supposed too.”

  Amee scratched at the itch at the back of her neck.

  “Science too, did you know they lied to us in public school science? Molecules aren’t circles, hell they don’t even know where any particular part of it is beyond that it should be in a certain spot. I don’t even know how I know that, I even know the equation to predict where an electron is. Why do I know that? It’s like the world just opened up to me like I am in touch with everything. I really can’t complain besides the whole sleeping thing, but this isn’t normal.”

  “So you know things without knowing them? Have you confirmed what you know?”

  April leaned in closer, still keeping her voice low.

  “Yes, I’ve looked it up.”

  Amee leaned close as well.

  “I was right every single time.”

  “Have you told anyone about this, maybe you should talk to your mom.”

  April had a further hint of worry in her voice.

  “Maybe something happened when you came into contact with that girl.”

  “Something did happen, I felt something in my mouth and throat when she kissed me, I thought I was just feeling sick because of everything that happened, but too much weird stuff is going on.”

  She scratched her neck again and she felt skin flake off in a giant chuck. She gasped.

  “What’s the matter?”

  April’s eyes were full of concern. Amee stood up and ran towards the washroom without a word. April stared after her. Amee looked down at the flaked skin her in her hand and started to cry she fiddled with the back of her neck, more skin flaked off until she felt a smooth warm material. She tried to look at it in the mirror, pulling her hair aside. Light reflected off it, it looked and felt like metal.

  “What’s happening to me?”

  She cried out. April rushed into the bathroom.

  “Amee, what’s wrong?”

  April touched Amee’s shoulder Amee shoved her away forcefully.

  “Stay away from me!”

  Amee backed away from April, pulling her hair over the metal.

“Fine, be that way.”

  April stormed out of the bathroom. Amee slid down the wall, curled up and cried. Amee felt dizzy, the world was closing in around her. She crawled towards a toilet threw up into it. She was shaking violently, her skin felt wrong. Everything felt wrong. She threw up again and fell back against the wall of the toilet stall continued sobbing violently. She heard the bathroom door open again and rushed footsteps.

“Oh dear, she looks like she’s dying.”

  Amee looked at the woman blinking away the sweat and tears, it was the school nurse, Mrs. Norris.

“I told her not to eat so fast.”

  April turned away gagging.

"This isn’t eating too fast, it’s something worse. Amee can you hear me.”

  Mrs. Norris gently slapped Amee’s cheeks.

  “Amee?”

  Amee felt weak and rolled her head up to look at Mrs. Norris.

“I’m fine.”

  Amee felt like jelly, nothing it would move like it should.

“I can see that.”

  Mrs. Norris felt around on the floor.

“What are you looking for?”

  April’s voice was still muffled, she was barely able to look in the stall.

“What drug she overdosed on, what is she taking, we’ll need to tell the paramedics.”

  Mrs. Norris slapped Amee’s cheek again.

  “Amee stay with us.”

“Amee doesn’t do drugs, she hates them.”

  April sounded indignant.

“This is no time to lie to me, I’ve read her file, what were you two taking?”

  Mrs. Norris held Amee with one arm and fiddled with her pocket with the other.

  “No cell, call 911, April, now.”

  She slapped Amee’s cheek again.

  “Stay with us.”

“We weren’t taking anything!”

  April was furious, she buried her hand in her school bag and pulled out her cell phone and went about turning it on. Amee was barely conscious but she knew the metal on the back of her neck would not go over well.

“No!”

  Amee was getting desperate.

  “I just got dizzy suddenly and threw up. I’m feeling better now.”

  Amee still felt like jelly, but at least she could focus on Mrs. Norris now. April paused in her dialling her finger hovering over the talk button on her cell phone, she looked at Mrs. Norris. Mrs. Norris shook her head and waved April away. April closed her cell phone.

“Are you done throwing up for now Amee?”

  Mrs. Norris offered some toilet paper to Amee. Amee took it and wiped off her chin.

“I’m doing better now, sorry we bothered you for nothing.”

  Amee sat up stiffly, the world began to spin and she felt her stomach start to turn again. She leaned back and everything calmed down.

  “I’m still a bit dizzy.”

“You can go get ready for class April, thanks for telling me about Amee.”

  Mrs. Norris motioned towards the door of the washroom. April was about to protest but then left without a word.

“Now what is the real story?”

  Mrs. Norris gave Amee a concerned look.

“I’m telling the truth, I got dizzy suddenly and felt sick.”

  Amee sighed heavily.

“We should get you to my office and call your parents. This is more than just a dizzy spell you’re burning up.”

  Mrs. Norris stood up and offered her hand to Amee. Amee took the hand and pulled herself up. Amee leaned heavily on Mrs. Norris she felt less nauseous, but she was still dizzy. The pair made their way to the office slowly. Mrs. Norris gently helped Amee sit in a chair.

“I’m alright, really Mrs. Norris, just a bit dizzy, I think I ate too much, too fast.”

  Amee let out a soft, nervous, giggle, she then reflexively winced at the pain it evoked throughout her entire body.

“That is it, I’m calling your parents.”

  Mrs. Norris looked up a file on the computer and started dialled a number on the phone. Mrs. Norris’s concerned eyes looked over Amee as she spoke into the receiver.

  “Hello, this is Mrs. Norris from Amee’s high school, she’s quite sick, I was hop-”

  Amee glanced up as Mrs. Norris seemed to be stunned into silence by something on the other end of the phone line.

  “Yes bu-”

  She started again but was cut off again.

  “I am not wasting the Senator’s time, her daughter is sick.”

  Mrs. Norris’s eyes narrowed.

  “She is very...well no not that sick, but she should go home, and see a doctor as soon as possible, perhaps if I could speak to Senator Morris.”

  Mrs. Norris paused to listen.

  “No she is not faking it, she is quite sick I assure you.”

  Mrs. Norris looked a bit shocked as the line apparently went dead. She looked back to Amee after hanging up the phone, Amee saw compassion in her face now.

  “Well apparently if you aren’t sick enough to go the hospital you are supposed to go back to class, she wouldn’t let me speak to your mother, she said she was giving a speech.”

  Mrs. Norris’s face creased in a frown.

“I’m fine really, I just need some water.”

  Amee stood up and wobbled slightly but did her best to keep her balance; if this kept up cheerleading practice was out.

  “May I go now?”

  Amee smiled weakly, putting on a brave face.

“Yes but if you get any worse you leave class immediately and come to my office.”

  Mrs. Norris wrote out a hall pass.

  “Just give this to your afternoon teachers.”

  She smiled at Amee, offering the paper. Amee could see it in her eyes, she was utterly disgusted by Amee’s parents for making Amee suffer. Amee took the piece of paper and nodded, she hefted her bag, pain shot through her body again, but she hid it and shuffled out of the nurse’s office.

As the afternoon wore on Amee started to feel better. She still felt weak, and thoroughly drained of energy. She was also starving, but the thought of food also made her nauseous after her bathroom episode earlier. She sat with her back against a wall in the hallway during her afternoon spare, distracted by a well-worn book of poetry. Her mind danced with images conjured by Wordsworth this afternoon, he always calmed her down.

“Studying hard?”

  Amee heard a voice drift into her imaginary dance across the sky as a cloud. She narrowed her eyes and looked up to its source. Gabriel stepped back reflexively.

  “I surrender?”

  Gabriel held up his arms, and flashed one of his charming smiles. Amee melted, those blue eyes and his perfect smile, who could resist?

“Umm, sorry I thought you were someone else.”

  Amee barely spoke the words aloud, her face flushing into a bright crimson; she felt her hands begin to shake.

“Wow, glad I’m not him. If looks could kill I’d be dust.”

  Gabriel lowered his hands and slid them into his jean pockets. Amee couldn’t help but look towards them, than almost immediately back to her book, her face becoming even more warm.

  “Guess I should scoot before he shows up.”

  Gabriel turned to leave.

Amee closed her eyes, You can do it Amee, you can do it.

  “No...well I’m sorry, it’s well I was in the middle of a poem, and you surprised me, I...don’t have a boyfriend.”

  Amee grabbed the edge of her book with her hands to stop them from shaking.

“Okay, wow that is the first time you haven’t treated me like a disease. You feeling okay?”

  Gabriel smiled again, Amee melted again. She could watch that smile forever.

  “Amee?”

  Amee blushed again, realizing she’d been staring, her eyes going back to her book, but not seeing the words on the page.

  “And there it is again, okay, okay I can take a hint, you don’t like me, I’ll stop bugging you.”

  Gabriel’s tone sounded defensive.

“No!”

  Amee blurted out, her hand going to her lips, she couldn’t believe that came out, her voice echoed through the halls.

“Umm, I...okay I’ll go, sorry.”

  Gabriel started to back away, Amee was quite sure he thought she was insane by now.

“No, I meant...I don’t know what I meant...but you don’t have to go.”

  Amee stammered.

“You’re a strange girl, Amee.”

  Gabriel inched closer, still looking unsure.

“I...haven’t been feeling well.”

  Amee slipped a piece of paper into her collection of poetry to mark her place and closed the book.

“You do look a little pale.”

  Gabriel slide down the wall and sat beside her, she could smell his cologne, he was intoxicating.

“Mrs. Norris wanted to send me home, but my mom basically told me to suck it up.”

  Amee shrugged slipping her book into her school bag.

“Well she certainly sounds like a commander and chief. Must be pretty harsh living up to those kind of expectations.”

  Amee hung on his every word, his very existence was a miracle to her.

“I’ll live, I’m feeling better anyway, good enough to go to cheerleading practice tonight anyway, that’ll make her happy, and Amber.”

  Amee fixed her hair, her hands shaking ever so slightly, she felt like her fairy godmother had just granted her greatest wish, she didn’t know how she was still talking to Gabriel.

“Amber’s your sister, right?”

  Gabriel glanced down at her.

“Ya.”

  Amee picked an interesting tile on the floor to stare at.

“So you sick because of that thing that happened last week? I noticed you were looking a little thin, to be honest I was worried about you.”

  Gabriel pulled a tennis ball out and started bouncing it off the lockers across from the pair.

“Yo...you were worried about me?”

  Amee was caught off guard.

  “I didn’t know you knew I existed.”

“Sure, of course I heard you were the best place to score E, but I think that’s an unreliable source, besides they show your picture on so many commercials it’s hard to not know who you are.”

  Gabriel laughed softly. Amee felt hurt, her hands stopped their nervous fidget as she clenched them into fists.

“I have never done or sold drugs, ever.”

  Amee’s voice was clear and angry, as she glared up at Gabriel, he may be the best looking guy in school, but he certainly wasn’t going to get away with that.

“Whoa, slow down, I didn’t think you did, but it’s been the rumour since before you got here. Amber’s sister’s the best place to score.”

  Gabriel put his hands up in a defensive posture, the tennis ball bouncing on the ground between the pair.

“So what’s this, someone dare you to come ask me if I deal drugs? Well no thanks, and piss off, you’re such an ass.”

  Amee fumbled with her bag, her vision a haze of red, she stood up, the movement was too quick and she felt the hallway spin. Gabriel stood and, reached out with his hand, trying to help her. Amee smacked him with her backpack. She felt strength well up in her arms. Gabriel hit the lockers with a soft thud; there was enough force to cause a dent in the metal surface.

  “Don’t touch me!”

  She glared and stormed off, leaving a wounded and confused Gabriel in her wake. Amee walked at a hurried pace through the hallway away from Gabriel. The noise had been enough to disturb the nearby classrooms, teachers were already rushing over to Gabriel who was sliding against the locker trying to stand up from a blow that would have knocked out most people.

Amee slipped around a corner and into a bathroom. She leaned against one of the sinks her entire body shaking. She felt herself white-knuckling the sink edge, she forced herself to calm down. Her eyes filled with tears as she remembered the sound of Gabriel’s head hitting the locker. She hadn’t meant to hurt him. Her eyes drifted up to the mirror, something alien stared back at her. She stumbled back from the sink falling against one of the toilet stalls and landing on the ground. She looked back at the mirror and only saw herself. She held her knees to her chest, buried her face into them and whimpered.

A few moments later the bathroom door swung open, and Amee felt a hand on her shoulder. She tensed.

  “Amee?”

  It was Amber’s voice.

  “Are you alright? I heard you hit Gabriel, did he try something?”

  Amber’s voice was quiet, and sympathetic, Amee wasn’t accustomed to the tone from her sister.

“I...got mad and then he tried to touch me, I didn’t mean to...”

  Amee said, she felt herself getting defensive.

“For not meaning too you sure hit him hard, they called an ambulance.”

  Amber wrapped her arms around Amee’s shoulders, holding her close. Amee started to cry, her body shaking violently from the sobs.

  “Shh, shh, I’m guessing he probably deserved it. Kept muttering, ‘I was only trying to help’, didn’t sound very convincing.”

“I didn’t mean to, I just wanted him to go away, I didn’t mean to...”

  Amee kept repeating it like it would make her actions go away.

“It’s okay, someone told one of the teachers you hit him, but the teacher told them to shush, a girl like you couldn’t have hit him that hard. So you just keep quiet, and we’ll avoid a lecture from mom about how we need to better then everyone else. Shh, shh.”

  Amber continued to comfort Amee for a long while.