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“Coach has already told me,” he added.

“Everyone knows that, Richie. You’re the best player in the country right now,” a friend of Richard’s said.

Cheryl wished she could stare at Barb how she stared at Richard when they were in class, but if Cheryl got caught, there would be real consequences. Barb was allowed to stare at her boyfriend, though, which made Cheryl a little extra jealous. Later, that same day, she overheard Richard talking about how he’d gone all the way with Barb the previous weekend and that they’d be doing it again soon when his parents went out of town for something with his sister. He was bragging, and Cheryl hated it. She thought about telling Barb to get him in trouble. Maybe Barb would come to her, and Cheryl would be a shoulder to cry on. No, Cheryl didn’t want to be that. She also didn’t want to cause them to break up. Barb would find out about his bragging regardless because he hadn’t been shy about it at all, but it wouldn’t be from Cheryl.

A few days after overhearing that bragging, she’d been walking to school. She had always walked to school because she only lived down the street. Since she was in the fourth grade and her mom had stopped watching her walk the rest of the way there from the house, she’d walked on her own, carrying her small bag or just her books and her lunchpail, depending on the year. Her town was small, so every kid in it went to school in one large building. She’d gone to that same building from kindergarten onward. The little kids had one part of the building, the middle schoolers had the middle part, and the high schoolers had the biggest part since they had to go from classroom to classroom. The gym was shared, and so was the cafeteria, but inside it, the little kids were told to sit in one part at lunch, and the middle and high school kids sat in another.

Cheryl still wasn’t sure what she would do when she no longer had this place to go to. It had been her second home since she was five years old, but soon, it would all be over. She’d been thinking of just that when she’d stopped a few steps away from the main staircase leading into the school. She took a deep breath and felt dizzy.

“Cheryl, are you all right?”

Cheryl wasn’t sure whose voice that was, but she almosttoppled into them. Someone’s arms kept her from falling by holding her up, and she was helped to one of two wooden benches next to the stairs, where she was more placed down than she sat down herself. She saw little light spots in her eyes, and the rest was dark for a moment.

“I’ve got her,” another voice said.

Cheryl’s eyes were clear then. She looked up and saw her. Never having given Diana Lacey much thought, she was surprised to find herself staring at her. Diana had deep blue eyes that were like small oceans. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a blue ribbon that only brought them out more, and her skirt was more last season than this, but it still looked great on her.

“Hi,” Cheryl said, smiling for some reason.

“You’ve got her?”

“Yes,” Diana replied.

Cheryl didn’t want to look away from her, but she saw Buster Percy sitting next to her on the bench, pushing his dark-rimmed glasses up his nose.

“Thank you, Buster,” she said. “I’m not sure what happened. I just got a little dizzy for some reason.”

“It’s fall. You know that cold’s going around. Maybe it’s that,” he suggested and stood. “Feel better. I have to get to class.”

“Thank you.”

He took off, and Diana Lacey took his seat.

“You got dizzy?”

“Yeah. Just for a second. I’m all right now.”

“I got dizzy, too. A few minutes ago.”

“You did? Maybe something reallyisgoing around.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Diana replied as she smiled. “Well, we don’t want to be late. Can I maybe walk you to class?”

“You skinned your knee…” Cheryl noticed and put her hand on the spot just above a little scrape. Then, she pulled it back quickly when she felt a little shock. “Sorry,” she added. “Where did you get that? It looks fresh.”

“A few minutes ago, when I got dizzy.” Diana paused. “There was no one there to catch me.”

Cheryl stood up slowly and held out her hand.

“Here. Just in case.”

Diana smiled up at her, stood, and took her hand.

“Thank you,” she replied.

Diana Lacey had been a transfer student the previous year. Coming into this school as a junior couldnothave been easy. Everyone had known each other since at least school started, if not since birth. Diana had been shy, too, so she sat in the back corners of classrooms and alone at the lunch table. Cheryl was now mad at herself because she’d never made an effort to pull her into the fold or, at least, get to know her. As they walked into the school, with joined hands dangling between them and their full skirts, she wondered why she hadn’t.

Diana was beautiful. And yes, Cheryl had to be careful because no one in this town could know who she really was, but she wasn’t sure how she hadn’t noticed this girl before. Not like this, anyway. Now that she’d noticed her, though, all Cheryl wanted to do was stare atherinstead of Barb. She wished she and Diana had more classes together so that she could send short glances her way, never too long so as not to draw suspicion but just long enough for Cheryl to picture the same things she used to picture with Barb.