The next morning, is as hot as the day before. Ugh! I want so badly to be back in Cebu, to be putting on shorts and flipflops, walking on the beach. I wish I had gotten a car, walking to school isn’t as fun as I thought, but at least I remember not to tuck my jeans in this time.

When I walk into World History class, he is sitting in the back like the day before, and as tempting as that is, I grab a seat in the front. The hard part about being a new girl, other than obvious is that all the boys feel like they have some right to hit on you. The new meat in town.

I felt a soft tap on my shoulder. As I look next to me, I see a boy sitting to the right, staring. “How is it going? I’m Enchong.” He says grinning, biting on the tip of his pencil. I had felt his stare earlier, but ignored him. As I turn slightly to answer, I can see Gerald sitting wedged tightly in his chair, glaring at us.

“Hey, I’m Kim.” I tell him. “Well, Kim. It’s nice to meet you, I heard a few people talking about the new girl.” He whispers. “Who do you have next?” I bite down on my lip, pulling out my schedule. “Algebra, hmm I have Santiago.” Just as he is about to answer, the teacher is pointing in our direction, telling us to be quiet. I turn back before he speaks again. It isn’t long before I hear a new voice speaking to me, coming from behind me. “Hi, so you’re Kim right?” I’m Erich.” She whispers. I lean back and look over my shoulder. She seems nice enough, maybe one friend won’t hurt.

“Yeah, hi. Erich is it?” I ask making sure to get her name right. “Yeah, if you have any questions, or anything fell free, okay? I’ve lived here forever so I know everything.” “Thanks.” I mumble, turning back around.

That comment throws me off for a second. Most girls like Erich, the ones who have lived in the same town their whole lives would never open up their circle of friends to an outsider. I’m surprised when class is over, Erich grabs my arm, and walks me out of class. “What are you doing after school?” She asks. I must have frowned or made a weird face before she spoke again. “What?” Erich asks. “Oh, nothing. Why?” “Thought maybe you’d want to hang out.” She says, as she pulls her lipgloss out of her bag and touches up her lips. I shrug. “Maybe, I’ll let you know.” She smiles. “Okay, meet me out in the parking lot later. I gotta run, see you later.” As she walks off, I’m hopeful that maybe I was wrong about girls like her, she seems cool enough.