“Okay, woman…I’m telling you, there’s nothing wrong with me!” Sephora glared at her school’s counselor, a short, stout woman with boxy glasses, “I’m fine…I’m perfectly normal!”

            The lady sighed, knowingly. “Denial, denial…” she muttered under her breath, “The first step is admitting that you have a problem, darling.”

            “I don’t have a problem!” Sephora cried indignantly. Although, she knew, she wasn’t normal. Not quite, anyway. There had always been something about her…something that scared away all the other kids at school, something that even she didn’t understand. She knew, however, that she could never confide this in the counselor. It was a secret that she would never confide in anyone.

            Or so she thought.

            Monday mornings had always been Sephora’s least favorite part of the week. As she walked into her school, it seemed that everyone around her was excited—running up to greet their friends, rambling on about their great weekends, hugging and laughing and smiling…all while she sat at a table, quiet and alone.

            Sephora didn’t mind the loneliness as much now. After so many years, she’d grown accustomed to silence, and even began to like it. She was a daydreamer, lost easily in her own thoughts, and she enjoyed being whisked away into her own world…which, incidentally, was exactly where she was hiding when her English teacher called her name.

            “Miss Hale,” she glared down at Sephora with her sharp, beady eyes, “Would you care to join us in class today?”

            “Eh?” Sephora jumped, startled at the teacher’s voice, “Er…what was the question again?” she asked groggily, to the giggles of other students.

            “I asked,” the teacher raised her eyebrows, “What your opinions were about what Juliet did in the last chapter that we read,” she stated matter-of-factly, “Well?”

            “Ah…” Sephora frowned, trying to remember what had happened, “Uh…I think it was…good?”

            “Oh?” The teacher smiled, eyes glinting, “And why do you feel this way, Miss Hale?”

“Because…um…” Sephora struggled for an idea, “Oh! Because it helped her to achieve her goals!”

The teacher’s smile widened. “So, Miss Hale,” she asked, “You’re saying that Juliet’s goals were to commit suicide?”

The class erupted with laughter.

“Er…um…” Sephora blushed, embarrassed by her mistake.

“Next time, Miss Hale,” the teacher sighed, “Please read the assigned chapters.”

“I will…” Sephora muttered quietly, just as the bell rang. She picked up her bag and nearly ran out the door to her next class.

She darted down the halls to her Biology classroom, sliding into her seat, out of breath, with only a few seconds to spare.

Sighing in relief, she glanced around the classroom to find her only friend, Angel. The girl’s seat, she saw, was empty.

“Typical,” she smiled to herself. Angel was notorious for being consistently tardy to all of her classes. She called it “arriving in style”

Just as Sephora had predicted, Angel strutted into the classroom fifteen minutes late, just as the teacher was collecting the homework from the night before.

“How nice of you to grace us with your presence, Angel,” The teacher coughed dryly, “I don’t suppose that you have your homework today?”

“Actually, I do!” Angel’s sapphire eyes sparkled as she smiled. She handed a sheet of paper to the teacher, then strutted to the seat behind Sephora, where she plopped down onto the desk.

“Did you really do your homework?’ Sephora asked her in disbelief.

“Nah…” Angel giggled softly, “I gave him a nice little note about the hair in his ears.”

Sephora laughed out loud. “Angel, how do you come up with these things?”

“Eh, I gotta do something during all those hours of detention!”

Suddenly, there was a knock at the classroom door. Sephora whipped her head around.

“Who’s that?” she asked Angel, “No one’s missing today.”

A light bulb seemed to go off in Angel’s head, because she stood up.

“Oh, that’s right!” she cried as the teacher opened the door, “There was some kid out there when I came in. I think he’s a new student.”

With that, she sat back down.

            The new student was a boy. He was leanly built, about 5’4”, with dark, emerald colored eyes. His hair, unruly and slightly wavy, was the same mysterious shade. He was, Sephora thought, the most beautiful person she’d ever seen.

            “This is Keto Hanashiro,” The teacher announced boredly, “He is an exchange student from China…”

            “Um…Japan…” The boy corrected in a quiet voice, seemingly embarrassed.

            “Whatever,” the teacher replied, “Anyway, Keto…you can go sit next to Sephora.”

            “Erm…” Keto blushed, using the same almost-whisper he had when correcting the teacher, “Which one is she?”

            A preppy girl with bright blonde streaks and an annoyingly fake smile looked at him.

            “Sephora is that freak in the corner!” She announced, “The one with the purple hair. Be careful…I think she has a disease!”

            The class laughed, but Keto just walked quietly to his seat. Angel, however, jumped up from her chair, sending her books and papers flying.

            “Why, you little…!” She cried, turning to face the preppy girl, “I could just rip you to pieces, ya know that? Then we’ll see who’s laughing, eh?” She pounded a fist on her desk.

            “Angel, pleas sit down. Any more of these shenanigans, and I will have to have you expelled.”

            “Oh, you wouldn’t!” Angel replied indignantly, “We all know that my standardized test scores are the only things that are keeping this school open!”

            The teacher fumed. “Very well, Angel,” he sighed, “I will be seeing you after school today. Again.”

            “Sorry, I can’t make it!” Angel grinned, “I’ve got a detention in Phys. Ed. today!”

            The teacher shook his head and sat down at his desk, taking a long swig from his coffee cup.

            “Angel, what was that?” Sephora gasped, turning breathlessly to her friend.

            “No friend of mine is about to get made fun of by scum like her,” she growled, eyes glinting dangerously, “I wasn’t kidding about tearing her apart…”

            It was then that Sephora remembered the new boy, who sat beside her, eyes wide.

            “Er…sorry ‘bout that…”she mumbled to him, eyes on the floor.

            “It’s…not a problem,” the boy replied, “My name is Keto. I…erm…I like your hair.”

            Sephora laughed. She looked up, meeting his eyes. “Thanks…I like yours, too! I’m Sephora, by the way,” she smiled at him slightly, “and this is Angel.” She waved her hand to her side, where Angel grinned widely at Keto.

            “Um…Sephora?” Keto looked up at her with his jewel-like eyes, “May I ask you a question?”

            “Sure, what is it?” she replied, surprised that anyone other than Angel would talk to her for so long.

“It’s just…” he started, blushing shyly, “this teacher isn’t making any sense to me. I don’t understand any of this…”

“Here, let me show you…” Sephora leaned over, beginning to scribble notes onto his paper. Angel looked on, smiling.

“My little Sephora is growing up!” she whispered to herself.