PART III - HELEN

Alison stopped me on the way to my locker. "Girl! I haven't seen you in ages!"

"Hi Alison," I said and kissed both her cheeks. I wish I could somehow avoid this conversation.

"How was your holiday, girl?" She looked up and down my body as if admiring my outfit when in reality she wanted to find a pound too much on my hips or a toothpaste stain I had overlooked this morning.

I put on a smile and contracted my stomach muscles. "It was perfect. Jamie and I went to Spain, France, and Germany. Europe is so beautiful," I said knowing that she would probably never have the chance to go. I told myself that I didn't have to feel bad. Several times, a rumor I heard – whether it was about myself or someone else – had been started by Alison. I didn't need to be nice to her.

"Oh my gosh, that sounds so cool! I was in Michigan at my family's," she made a disgusted face.

"My boyfriend took me to Florida," Miranda tossed in. Miranda-with-the-older-boyfriend. That was her whole personality. The girl was like a dog: beautiful and clingy and fairly dumb.

"Oh my gosh, you need to tell me e-ve-ry-thing!" This was my chance to get away from Alison. As I reached my locker, a girl and a young man stood in front of it. The girl must be a new student, I hadn't seen her around before.

"See you," the girl said to a man standing in front of her. It isn't my style, staring at people. I was the one people looked at. But this girl – oh my, she was pretty. I got a bit jealous instantly.

"See you," the man answered. As she watched him go, she noticed me and smirked.

"Hi," I said.

"Have mercy!"

I stopped and stared at her. "What?"

"Isn't that what Jesse said when beautiful women talked to him?"

I was perplexed. She said I should have mercy. She called me beautiful. "Who?"

She rolled her eyes at me and suddenly looked annoyed. "Never mind. Do you need anything?"

"You're standing in front of my locker."

She turned and looked at the locker behind her. "No, that's my locker."

"No, it's mine. Look!" I showed her the letter from the administration office.

"That's not possible. I have the same number."

But this had been my locker for the past three years!

We weren't the only ones in the hallway anymore and I didn't want to fight. "Let's go to the administration," I suggested, and the girl followed me without protest down the hallway.

"Mrs. Hudson?" I asked while knocking on our principle's door. "Hi, how was your holiday? Are Bonnie and Flipper behaving themselves?" It couldn't hurt showing the new girl my position at this school.

Mrs. Hudson laughed and greeted me with a firm handshake. "Helen, such a pleasure to see you! The dogs are alright, but they're getting old and lazy. Have you met with the council yet?"

"Not yet. Our meeting is this afternoon. I'll stop by afterward."

"Why are you here then?"

"There's a little problem-" I stopped because I noticed that I didn't know the girl's name. She stepped forward. "Helen and I have the same locker number."

"Oh my, Sofia, I'm so sorry. This shouldn't be the way your new year starts."

This shouldn't be the way mine starts either, I thought. Mine should have started perfectly. It bugged me that she spoke to Sofia, not to me.

"I'll see what I can do. Wait here a moment," and then she rushed out of the room. In the principal's office wall were pictures of every student body president together with their principle. Because I was the acting president, my picture was on the wall right behind the desk. Sofia saw it, too.

"Helen Collins, student body president 2020. Nice picture."

"Thanks." I couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic.

Just seconds later, Mrs. Hudson was back. "I am so sorry, girls. We don't have another free locker. Do you mind sharing it for some days? Just until we figured something out."

I smiled even though I wanted to cry.

"No problem, Mrs. Hudson. Some days will be fine."

"I agree."

Mrs. Hudson sighed of relief. "Thank you, girls. Everything was done in a rush since Sofia's registration. I can't say it enough: I am terribly sorry."

"Don't be."

"It's no big deal."

Her smile grew gentle. "You're fantastic, girls. Come here." She hugged both of us and then said: "Now go, your first has lesson already started. Helen, take Sofia with you, you're in the same class. I need to welcome the new freshmen. I can feel it, girls, this is going to be a great year!" She smiled at us and strode out of the office.

This wasn't how I wantedthe perfect first day of my perfect last year to start. This was horrible.