“Everyone, I would like you all to welcome your new classmate, Amber Liu.”

Amber stood in the front of her new class, the smile slowly sliding off her face as kids continued to stare at her and a few whispered to each other behind their hands.

“I know she’s a bit unorthodox-“ Amber’s brows lowered and she glanced at the teacher in offended confusion, “but you are to treat her like you’d treat anyone else.”

Amber, now feeling like she had some sort of plague, walked as quietly to her seat as she could and tried to sit down without making noise. The people sitting on each side of her kept glancing her over as if they’d never seen a human being before. She fluffed the short strands of her hair, feeling self-conscious and decided maybe she’d wait until tomorrow to try to make friends or maybe attempt another class since this one was filled with slack-jawed weirdos.

To her upset, her next class wasn’t much of an improvement and she was met with similar treatment in the halls. In the cafeteria. In the parking lot as she was getting into her car to drive home. A few seemed curious about her, but no one spoke to her the entire day if they didn’t have to.

“Mom, these people are weird.”

“Oh, honey,” her mom tsked, trying to remember where she’d put the mugs.

“I’m serious. They keep staring at me but not talking. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything stranger in my life. It was like I was in the twilight zone or something.”

“I’m sure you’re exaggerating. They may just be intimidated. I told you nine piercings were too many.”

Amber rolled her eyes. “Would eight have been better?”

Her mother laughed. “No. Seven. And were your tattoos covered?”

Amber looked down at her currently exposed arm which was tattooed nearly to the elbow. She’d had to beg her parents for permission to start getting tattoos two years ago and had to maintain her already high grades and practically write an essay on why she wanted them. She was aiming for a full sleeve, but that was a long time off since she would need to find a new job to fund it.

“Yes, mom. They treated me like some kind of alien.”

“Aw, baby,” her mom said, kissing the top of her head. “Maybe things will be better tomorrow.”

“I hope so,” she replied hopelessly.

“Have you seen her?”

“Her?! That was a girl?!”

“Yeah. They’re from California apparently.”

“She’s probably…you know?”

“What?”

Krystal struggled to keep her morning bible passages in her head. She hated when she read them and forgot them immediately. Today was particularly hard with everyone talking about the new kid.

“She’s in a class with my brother. He said she has like a thousand piercings.”

Krystal couldn’t help but show her shock. The kid smirked in satisfaction at having gotten the attention of the most popular girl in Junior year.

“You shouldn’t gossip,” she said, blushing at being caught listening in.

“Aren’t you curious?”

“I’m sure my curiosity will be satisfied in its own way in its own time.” She pulled out her notebook and pens, arranging them neatly on her desk. “Until then, it’s just not right to spread things about people that may not be true.”

The other students stopped talking about the new girl, but Krystal’s mind whirled with the information she’d learned. So the new kid was in high school like she was, but a year above had multiple piercings and had worn them to school. And she lived on what used to be the Kim's property in the woods behind Krystal’s house. She wondered if that’s who she’d seen the other day. She recalled praying for the new kid to be around her age so they could be friends and wondered if this were her punishment for not being satisfied with what she already had.

“Are you working on the paper again this year?” Her friend Gavin asked, knocking on her desk.

“Yeah. I already spoke with the teacher in charge. She said that I could keep the religious