Monday morning came all too quickly for Kayleigh. She had hung out with Nick and BJ all weekend. She found Nick to be really easy to get along with and she knew that he would turn out to be a really good friend of hers. But today would be the real test. Today she would start at her new school. Kayleigh had never been the “new” student before and she was extremely nervous.

“Kayleigh! Her mom called from downstairs. “Are you almost ready?”

“Yeah mom! I’m coming.” She threw her long blond hair in a ponytail and ran down the stairs. She grabbed her bag and kissed her mom on the cheek. “Bye mom!”

“Aren’t you going to eat anything?”

Kayleigh shook her head. “No time. I told Nick I’d meet him now.”

“Have a nice day!” Carolyn called just before the front door slammed. Kayleigh walked down her driveway and saw Nick waiting at the end of his. “Hey Nick!”

He looked over and smiled. “Hey Kayles! You ready?”

Kayleigh’s face clouded over. “I’m scared, Nick.”

Nick gave her hand a squeeze. “Don’t be. Everyone’s going to love you.” She smiled, gratefully at him as the two started walking to school. The walk took about fifteen minutes and then they reached the front of the school.

Nick let go of Kayleigh’s hand. “Have fun and don’t be too nervous. I’ll meet you here at 2:45 okay?”

Kayleigh nodded. “Bye Nick.”

He waved and made his way to his homeroom. Kayleigh took a deep breath and walked towards the main office of her new school. The secretary in the office looked up as Kayleigh walked in. “Can I help you?”

Kayleigh walked up to the desk. “Yes. I’m Kayleigh Madison. It’s my first day here.”

The secretary searched through some papers and found Kayleigh’s schedule. “Here you go. Homeroom starts in a couple of minutes. Yours is room 151.”

Kayleigh thanked her and made her way to her homeroom. After a few wrong turns, she arrived just as the bell rang. She walked in and it seemed as if all eyes in the classroom fell upon her. Her teacher, Mrs. Jackson, smiled warmly. “You must be Kayleigh.” Kayleigh tentatively smiled. Mrs. Jackson introduced her to everyone. “Class this is Kayleigh Madison. She just moved here from Connecticut. I want you guys to all make her feel welcome.” She turned to Kayleigh. “Why don’t you take a seat over there next to Brooke.”

Kayleigh followed her gaze towards a brown-haired girl in the second row. She nervously walked over to her and sat down in the empty desk right next to her. While Mrs. Jackson started with the morning announcements, Brooke leaned over to her. “Hey. I’m Brooke.”

“Kayleigh.”

“When did you move here?”

“On Friday.”

Brooke looked sympathetic. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure you’ll do fine.” She grabbed Kayleigh’s schedule. “I have fourth period and lunch with you. You should sit with my friends and I so you can meet them too. Have you met any kids down here yet?”

Kayleigh laughed slightly. “Well, I met one of my neighbors when I broke his nose.” Brooke’s eyes widened. “How did you do that?”

Kayleigh shrugged. “He got in the way of my soccer ball.”

Brooke busted out laughing but quieted down when she saw the look that Mrs. Jackson was giving her. “What’s his name?”

“Nick Carter.” Kayleigh answered.

Brooke scrunched her nose up. “That little blond kid in the sixth grade?”

Kayleigh nodded. “Yeah. Why? What’s wrong with him?”

Brooke shrugged. “Nothing. I don’t even know him. A lot of people make fun of him though. I don’t know why. He seems like a nice enough kid to me. He always gets out of school early and stuff.”

“For what?” Kayleigh asked.

“I’m not really sure. He supposedly has all these auditions to go to.” She shrugged, indicating that she really didn’t know anything else. The bell rang, signaling that homeroom was over. Brooke and Kayleigh gathered their things and began to walk to their first classes.

“Meet us at the entrance to the caf at lunch, okay?” Brooke called as they started to go their separate ways. Kayleigh and nodded and walked into her class.

Kayleigh sat tapping her pen against her notebook, impatiently, in fourth period. There were five minutes left and she couldn’t take much more of her teacher’s monotone voice. Finally, the bell rang and it was time to go meet Brooke and her friends. As she started walking towards the cafeteria, she heard a familiar voice call her name. She turned around and saw Nick rushing to catch up with her. “Hey Nick! What’s up?”

“Nothing,” he answered. “Where are you going?”

She pointed to the cafeteria. “Lunch. What about you?”

“I have one more class and then lunch.” He made a face and Kayleigh laughed.

“How’s your day going so far?” Nick asked.

Kayleigh shrugged. “Okay, I guess. I met a pretty cool girl in my homeroom. I’m going to meet her for lunch actually.”

“What’s her name?” Nick questioned.

“Brooke…Brooke…uh..”

“Alexander?” Nick answered for her.

Kayleigh nodded. “Yeah. I think that’s it.”

“Wow, Kayles. Can you put in a good word for me?.”

Kayleigh grinned. “Thanks. Well I should get going. I’ll meet you after school?”

Nick started walking away. “Alright! See you then!”

Kayleigh turned around and walked the rest of the way to the cafeteria. As she got closer, she spotted Brooke and three other girls waiting for her. Brooke grinned, widely, as she saw Kayleigh walk up.

“Hey Kayleigh!” Kayleigh smiled shyly as Brooke did the introductions. “Guys, this is Kayleigh Madison. Kayleigh, this is Ashley Prescott, Anabelle Christensen, and Leah Dresdin.” The girls smiled warmly at Kayleigh and all four made their way into the cafeteria. They each got their food and sat down at a table. Brooke eyed Kayleigh’s tray, skeptically. There was a salad, an apple, and a bag of pretzels while Brooke, herself, had a slice of pizza, some tater tots, and a chocolate chip cookie.

“That’s all your eating?” Ashley asked.

Kayleigh quickly swallowed her bite of salad. “There’s not much I can eat.”

“Why’s that?” Leah asked.

“I’m diabetic,” she answered.

Ashley’s face softened. “Oh. I’m sorry.”

Kayleigh shook her head. “Don’t be. I’m used to it. Been like this my entire life. My mom usually packs my lunch so I don’t have to worry about it but we were running late this morning.”

“So, Kayleigh,” Anna began, “Brooke was telling me that you broke Nick Carter’s nose playing soccer.” Leah spit out her soda, laughing. “Are you kidding me?” The girls all started laughing.

“He got in my way,” Kayleigh explained once she regained her composure. “I feel really bad. I mean, I barely even knew him. He was pretty cool about it, though.”

“Do you play soccer?” Ashley asked.

Kayleigh nodded. “Yup! Ever since I was five. I’m kind of bummed, though. I moved so late in the season that I can’t play this year. Do any of you guys play?”

“I do,” Ashley answered. “Actually, my father’s the coach of our team. I could ask him if you could practice with us. You probably won’t be able to play in the games but it’s better than nothing.”

Kayleigh grinned. “That’d be great!” The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch and the five girls made their way towards their next classes. Leah and Kayleigh had the same class, so they went one way while Brooke, Ashley, and Anna went the other.

“She’s really cool, Brooke,” Ashley commented as they walked down the hall.

“Yeah,” Anna agreed. “I really like her.” Both Ashley and Brooke glanced at her, surprised. Anna was always very reluctant to let anyone new into their little ‘group.’

“What?” She asked. “I am capable of making new friends, you know. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go meet Jake before class. See ya later.” The other girls waved goodbye and walked the rest of the way to class. Brooke spotted Nick walking down the hall and told Ashley to save her a seat.

“Nick!” She called. Nick looked around, trying to see who was calling his name. He saw Brooke waving him over. He didn’t even know that Brooke knew he existed. He walked over, hoping he didn’t seem too nervous.

“What’s up?” he asked as he approached her.

She smiled warmly. “Nothing. I heard what happened to your nose. Sorry about that.”

Nick prayed to God that he didn’t seem to nervous. “It’s no big deal.”

Brooke handed a small piece of paper to him. “Can you give this to Kayleigh and have her call me tonight?”

Nick stuffed the piece of paper in his pocket. “Sure, Brooke. No problem.” She smiled at him and disappeared into her class.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Kayleigh spotted Nick waiting for her by the flag pole. She waved and ran over to him. “Hey!”

“Hey yourself,” Nick replied. “How was your day?”

“Great!” Kayleigh answered, enthusiastically. “Brooke and her friends are really cool.”

Nick pulled the piece of paper out of his pocket. “Here,” he said, handing it to her. “She wants you to call her tonight.”

“Thanks!” They began walking back to their neighborhood. Twenty minutes later, they reached their houses. Kayleigh turned to Nick and suddenly hugged him. “Thank you so much, Nick. I don’t think I would’ve gotten through today if it wasn’t for you.”

Nick smiled as he hugged her back. “Yes, you would have but your welcome anyway.”

Kayleigh stuck her hand out. “Friends?” Nick shook it:

“Best friends.”

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