TEDDY BEAVER
It was the end of the school day, and Edgewood Middle School was filled with kids walking or running, either alone or in groups. Some waited for the busses, others started on their treks home, and even more stayed behind with their large cases or sports bags, ready for after school practice. Teddy was one of the kids on the latter end, his swimming stuff over his shoulder. He'd been to the school only a few weeks, but his mother somehow shoehorned him back into the aquatics program even though showing off his body all weird and stretched out as it is, was the last thing on his mind.

It was such thoughts that kept Teddy from stepping into the locker rooms, instead toying with a dollar that he'd been uncrumpling for a few minutes now. Just in case he ran into a vending machine, he told himself, knowing full well he was waiting for other kids to get in before him. Tall and early? Geez, no wonder he was having trouble fitting in.

LUKE ALTOVITI
"I'll see you later, yeah?" a dark haired boy traded a hand shake with another darker haired boy, the latter looking quite disappointed. Luke gave him a playful shove and chided, "Ah, c'mon, you can't be like that, Mick!"

"I just still can't believe you quit basketball after two days," said the other boy with a shake of his head, Luke answering with a laugh and a shrug. His mom couldn't believe it either, and he had to relive another of her lectures on growing up and taking responsibility, but for an asian mother she was pretty mellowed out and he got off scott free. At least she never forced him on any of the Big Three- violin, piano, and calculus. Being the youngest had it's perks.

After the two parted ways, Luke headed out, wondering where his new girlfriend had gone. It was a miracle story, really, how he worked his courage, and how she said yes. Looking at his hands, Luke thought hard about this- it was his first girlfriend, and he was gonna do this right. First thing first, hand holding. Wait no- he looked up.

First thing first, he had to find her.

DAVE TRACY
He didn't know when it started, but he'd stopped hating school. No, wait, he totally still wasn't into school, but to Dave, it was better than heading back home. It wasn't that he joined a club or anything either, even though he should've. It might've helped with getting his mind off of... off of everything.

As the hallways started to clear, Dave found his footsteps tapping softly on the floors, echoing behind him, stopping only after he landed in front of the library door. The times were posted clearly and familiary on the side windows, and given that Dave'd been coming here for the past few weeks, he knew exactly what they were- open for another hour and a half after school hours.

Stepping inside, he offered a weak and slightly embarrassed nod at the librarian who hadn't even looked up, his ears flushing at the realization. Dave immediately avoided eye contact with the others in the library, most of which were familiar faces who'd been there every other time Dave'd been there, and the light haired tween planted himself into one of the empty seats in the corner.

Lilly Johnson
Lilly sat on the bleachers, her long legs folded up under her. She resisted the urge to duck back into the locker rooms and hide for another fifteen minutes. She was one of the few kids on deck yet, and the only one of them who actually loved the sport. She glared at the giggling huddle of popular girls, the ones wearing their team suits to practice (Seriously, though, who does that?! They'll get all stretched out!) and gobs of makeup still on their faces, perfectly manicured nails gleaming in the fluorescent light. And then her ears picked up on what they were talking about.
"Look at her, she's so big!"
"And she doesn't even wear makeup!"
"And she's flat-chested, too!"
"I think she's a... boy in disguise!"
"Oh, how terrible!"
"Well, she's never had a boyfriend yet. I'd have heard if she'd ever kissed anyone."
"No one wants her! The only boy in this school who's taller than her is that Beaver boy, and he'd never ask a girl out!"
"Even if he would, she'd not be able to understand him!"
"Why, because she's stupid, or because he stutters?"
"Both!"
By this point, Lilly had heard enough. She didn't care when they picked on her, but when they picked on other kids...
Inspecting her own jagged nails, crossing her legs in a more fashionable way, she called, "I might be big and clumsy and painfully out of style with my hair and wardrobe, but I still swim faster than any of you could."
The girls as one whirled to face her. "I didn't know you could talk." One of the girls... Rachel, she recalled, said.
"I'm just full of surprises, aren't I?"
One of the other girls, her face red, said, "Shut up!"
"Yeah, like, we're too cool to ever talk to you."
Lilly smiled. “But I can talk to you. And that means you can’t defend yourselves against me.”
The girls twittered among themselves, but didn’t reply. And at that moment, the coach came on deck. “Where on earth is everybody?” He shouted. His voice was pitched so that it would echo around in the locker rooms. Lilly sighed gratefully. She was one of the coach’s favorites, and he wouldn’t stand for anyone picking on her.

---

Aery Thomas
Aery leaned against the wall outside of the library, absently doodling on her mini whiteboard. As usual her tutoring student had simply vanished. They always did that when they figured out that they were supposed to be tutored by the youngest, smallest girl in the school, one who used written English as her exclusive form of communication. She’d give him five minutes to show up, and then she’d leave and head to the Knowledge Bowl meeting. Then after that band practice.
Or not. She saw a dark-haired boy heading towards her, and a grin broke out on her face. She quickly wrote, “Hi, Luke!” with a little heart as the point on the exclamation mark. A few of the other kids in the hall saw the message and outright laughed.
As soon as she thought that he’d seen it, she flipped the board over and wrote on the other side, “Are you coming to the Knowledge Bowl practice tonight? We’re all doing a Trivia Crack tournament. And then we’ll be filling out team forms for the upcoming Quiz Bowl tournaments.” She flipped the board up, as she did so swiping her hand across the “hi” message that was on the other side.

---

Miranda Jensen
Miranda sat behind the piano in the band room, eyes blurry with tears as she looked at her sheet music. How the hell was she supposed to play this at festival in three weeks? A few of the other kids in the room who were waiting for band practice snickered.
“Again.” Mr. Jordan said, standing behind her. “With emotion. You play like a stick, a dead dry stick.”
Miranda sighed. “Yes sir.” She spread her fingers over the keys, took a deep breath, and started the piece again.
“Mind your time!” he snapped, tapping his conducting baton on the top of the piano loudly, pounding out an impossible pace. “You’re dragging, pick it up!”
Miranda gritted her teeth, trying to speed up her fingers. She hit a sharp where there wasn’t supposed to be a sharp and it was all over. She stopped playing instantly, for Mr. Jordan had a no-mistakes policy. When a student made a mistake she had to restart from the beginning. Mr. Jordan quit beating time, in one smooth motion cracking his baton twice across Miranda’s fingers. She winced, but left her fingers on the keys like she was expected to. Don’t flinch, don’t complain, don’t yelp, because it’s all for your own good. “You’re sloppy. Your form is falling apart. Keep a serene face, not all screwed up like you are trying to pass gas.” A laugh from the other students and Miranda’s face turned crimson.
“Again.” Mr. Jordan tapped his baton on the top of the piano again, at an even faster tempo than before.
“Yes sir.” And she started again, barely getting fifteen measures before her fingers slipped and the baton cracked down on her fingers again.
“Enough.” He snapped. “Your progress this week has been unsatisfactory. Be certain that I will be telling your parents of this. You are dismissed.” Mr. Jordan turned to the other assembled students.
Miranda took the opportunity and gathered her music and backpack and fled. She had a mind to go to the library to relax, but she looked at her hands and at the red, swollen lines on them and cursed at how plainly visible they were. Still, she might as well go read for a few minutes before she had to face the pile of homework and prep school applications and piano sheet music that awaited her at home, and the screaming siblings and shouting parents that she was so accustomed to.
She ducked through the crowd outside the library, sighing in relief as she finally got inside its relative quiet. She picked a random book off of a random shelf and went to find a seat. There was one boy at a table in the far corner. He looked like he could use some company. So she stood across the table from him. “Do you mind if I sit here?” she asked softly.

TEDDY BEAVER

He'd finally worked up the courage to follow a couple of guys heading in, but was the first to head out when he found the silence in the locker room overwhelming. It wasn't that they were quiet, but they were ignoring him, and that silence was loud enough to force him out of there, towel over his hunched shoulders. Just as he'd made it near the pool, he found himself awkwardly stepping back out as he heard a hushed fight break out, and his name being tossed somewhere in between. Thankfully, the coach stepped in, and the tall boy awkwardly shuffled out, the humidity of the pool sticking immediately to his skin.

Teddy nodded to the coach as he passed him, mentioning that the others were on their way down before standing on his own at the corner of the pool. He tried to catch the other girl's eye, the one who defended him, sort of. She stopped them from continuing to talk shit on him, which was more than enough Teddy could ask from a stranger. Finally making eye contact (or so he hoped), the tall boy offered a grin that hopefully sent his thanks, just in time as the rest of the guys gathered, echoes of their laughter in the poolhouse a sign of their arrival.

---

LUKE ALTOVITI

The dark haired mix made his way around the school before finding himself in the library, and finding her there. He didn't even realize a grin had appeared on his face until his cheeks hurt, his hands rising to wave as Aery waved a greeting. Luke's steps quickened as he moved closer to her, tilting his head to brush aside stray hairs from his face before taking a seat beside her. Yes, she was the smallest and youngest in their grade, but she was also cute and wasn't that all that mattered?

His almond shaped eyes narrowed at the text she'd written down, mouthing the words before smiling and shrugging. Truth be told, he didn't know half a thing about Knowledge Bowl or what it was. Luke assumed it had something to do with being smart, and because he was a rebellious asian, chose not to acknowledge it. It was biting him back in the butt though, given his new girlfriend was all about that area, and Luke pulled hard from his memory of each poster he'd passed through the school with the words 'Knowledge Bowl' on it.

Zip. Nada. Of all the days his memory decided to fail him-

"Yeah sure," he answered with a chipper grin, deciding that participating in the group would get a YES from his mother. No doubt she'd be enthused to hear he was putting himself out on the academics without the help of her pushing. Lowering his voice as he remembered he was in a library, he continued with a cheeky, "I'm real good at Trivia Crack, you know- undefeated." Luke offered a sly wink before reaching out a hand, pulling it back last minute when he realized she needed it to write. Fuck. He didn't think this through.

"Why're you here in the library, anyways?" he decided to ask, distracting his mind from the fact that he'd already failed part one of having a girlfriend, "Knowledge Bowl's later, right?"

---

DAVE TRACY

The library got notably a little bit louder at the appearance of some older kid he didn't know, who thankfully realized to start whispering. Even then, though, the hum of whispering traveled down to Dave's end, to the point where he was already starting to untangle his headphones to try and drown it out. He paused in the middle of it, though, as he wondered, what did it matter? This wasn't just his space, it was a public library for anyone, and he was getting his panties in a twist over noth-

His attention was strayed by the appearance of a familiar stranger, a girl around his age. They had a few classes together... Miranda, maybe? Looking over her, Dave already liked her- and not just because she had a slightly cuter face than average. There was a humble sort of air about her, something that said she knew when to keep quiet, unlike a certain dark haired boy on the other side of the library.

"Yeah sure," he whispered back, wincing as his voice cracked, shuffling to move his bookbag from the seat and onto the table, letting out a, "Sorry," as he did so. The action made him drop his phone, and after he leaned over to pick it up, he couldn't help but notice her hands. Red and swollen, Dave had to stop himself from flinching as he, too, almost felt the pain on his own hands. His mouth opened to ask, but shut when he remembered they were strangers. No need to ask questions here.

Then again, he was pretty lonely.

"What're you reading?" he asked in a low whisper, feeling embarrassed that he was doing exactly what he'd thrown a mental tantrum about a few minutes earlier.

Aery Thomas
Aery rolled her eyes. "I was supposed to be tutoring. Fifth time in a row the kid has vanished." she wrote. "They tend to do that when they realize their tutor is me. I was giving him five more minutes to show up and then I was going to go to band practice if he wasn’t here. But… What Mr. Jordan doesn’t know won’t kill him." She flipped the board up with a wry smile, erasing the other side with the sleeve of her dark blue shirt. She always wore dark clothes so that she wouldn’t have terribly apparent ink stains all over everything.
As he read the message she scribbled on the other side. “Undefeated? So are most of the other kids.” She grinned at him as she wrote. “The meeting is at four-thirty in the Commons.” She flipped the board over so that he could see that message, erasing the first one. She was totally oblivious to him ever wanting to hold her hand.

---

Miranda Jensen
Miranda hadn’t even looked at her book. She did so now, reading the cover flaps, and quickly shut the cover, blushing crimson. “I just… Randomly grabbed one. Twilight, it’s called. Apparently it’s about apples?” she indicated the cover, the two white arms holding a red apple. It actually looked rather intriguing, but she wouldn’t admit that. Certainly wouldn’t admit that in front of a boy.

---

Lilly Johnson
Lilly felt a blush warm her cheeks as Teddy smiled at her, very nearly missing hearing the coach explaining what they were going to be doing. And then she froze as the coach announced, completely unexpectedly, “Today will be a fun day. We will be doing water polo for all of practice.”
Most of the kids started screaming in glee, grabbing for each other as teams. It took the coach’s whistle to get them to calm down. “Lilly and Rachel will be team captains.”
Rachel rolled her eyes. “You get first pick, Lilly.”
Lilly raised an eyebrow. “Alright…?” She would have picked one of Rachel’s best friends just to spite her, but the last time she’d done that half her team had turncoated. And it would be perfect to spite Rachel if she picked Teddy and their team won. “Teddy, Megan, and Richard.” She picked two of the fastest kids, the ones who were always on the “A” relays with her. Teddy was quite the unknown quantity, given that this was his first year swimming with them and they’d not yet had a meet.
Rachel made no comment, just smiled thinly and selected three people, all popular and utterly clueless about swimming.
“Anna, Jeni, and Seth.” Seth being on the A relay and Anna and Jeni being the fastest on the B relay.
Finally the teams were settled, most of the fast kids being on Lilly’s team and most of the popular ones on Rachel’s team. They went to opposite sides of the pool and huddled up, deciding who got what role. “Richard, you’re goalie. Seth and Jared, you stay and cover him. Megan, Anna, Jeni, Tyler, Jordan, and Taylor, you all go midpool and spread out. Three of you, so, Tyler, Jordan, Taylor, stay on their side of the pool once the game starts. And Teddy?” She grinned at him. “You and me are headed for the goal. As soon as one of us gets the ball, we’re headed--” She yelped, teetering, and swung her arms around and fell off the bulkhead into the water, backflopping and coming up spluttering. “Oof.” She muttered, flushing crimson. She’d taken a step backwards only to realize that there was no bulkhead behind her. “Okay. Well. Positions, everyone. Since I don’t want to get back out of the water. It’s cold out there.”

LUKE ALTOVITI

The dark haired boy laughed as he read the words-- how could someone be so put off by a charming and smart young thing like Aery? Sure, for a mute girl she had a pretty sharp tongue, and yes, waiting for her reply took a bit of idleness- but Luke liked that! It gave him time to think without sounding stupid, which he did a lot of, admittedly.

Waiting for her to write also gave Luke a lot of deliberating about the whole hand-holding thing. He could feel his palms sweat just thinking about it, wiping them off his pants as he leaned over closer to the dark haired girl. "Four-thirty?" he asked, leaning his elbows on the desk after some vigorous wiping, trying to look much more chill than he actually felt. "Then we got time to kill. Let's go for a walk, maybe?" He flashed his charming smile, adding a, "You don't have to go to Mr. Jordan just yet, right?"

---

DAVE TRACY

There was a moment of pause as Dave stared at the girl, then at the book. Either she was trying to act really cool about liking one of the most parodied and ridiculed young adult novel, or she genuinely just picked it out and has never heard of it. Both options were kind of laughable, and the blonde haired boy couldn't help but let loose an breathy laugh. Only a second after it left did he realize that the action may have been seen as a bit rude. Not that it mattered- it's not like they were going to talk after this one time in the library.

"It's about vampires," he chimed in, nodding to the book as he grabbed his book bag to lean on it, something familiar in the foreign situation. Tilting his head, he added, "The sparkling kind- you've heard about 'em, right...?"

---

TEDDY BEAVER

Teddy blinked at being called on, but nonetheless should've expected it, especially when the other side was a certain group of students that he wasn't really all that tight with. Still though, first pick. That was different and admittedly totally unexpected- nonetheless, the brunette joined the others in their teams.

After the groups were chosen, Teddy realized he was much too new to grasp the advantages and disadvantages of everyone around, but assumed that both sides were on the team so it must be evenly divided somehow, right? He also realized- after the group assembled- that the girl (Lilly, was it?) seemed to be well in control despite going against a group of girls that she'd bickered with only a few minutes ago.

He glanced up at the call of her name, his back aching at the huddle, grinning back nonetheless. The grin faltered at Lilly's rise and fall, followed by echoing titters that bounced off the enclosed hall. Teddy, along with others in the group, followed after to try and help her up, but- "Well. Positions, everyone."
A few of the group members laughed at the situation, Teddy himself unable to suppress a grin as he jumped in, Lilly's reaction just as priceless as the fall. He dipped his whole head in to get over the chill, pushing his hair back as he surfaced. Blinking away the water, he followed after the tall girl, noticing only after standing just a step behind her how tall she was- almost as tall as him. Which was strange, given that few guys were that tall, much more girls--

Ahh focus, he told himself, turning his attention to the opposing team, which had started to enter as well, something in their grim eyes and smug smiles telling him that he'd have preferred to do laps instead of this. It was just a water polo game, how bad could it be?

Aery Thomas
"I'd as soon never go to Mr. Jordan." She wrote. “A walk sounds lovely. Any idea where we’d go?” She grinned at him as she held the board up, already systematically packing away her tutoring books and her special math pencil with its extra cushy grip. She frowned, took the pencil out again, and the miniature notebook she used to talk when she was walking around. The whiteboard was a bit too large to comfortably hold, so she tucked it into her backpack. Then, smiling at Luke, she shouldered the backpack, wincing at how heavy it was. With all her tutoring books, of course it would be heavy. Still, it rather sucked to carry. She flipped the notepad open, wrote, “Before we go I’m going to drop my backpack in the Commons. It’s too heavy to carry around all over town.”

---

Miranda Jensen
“Oh, goodness.” She flushed even redder, nearly matching her hair in color, as the boy laughed. “I didn’t know. But I suppose I should be going, then.” Even though she’d only just got there, surely coping with her parents would be better than trying to talk to a boy who would laugh at her for an honest mistake.
She got up from the table, picking up her backpack again, wincing as her stiff, painful fingers closed around the strap of her backpack. Mr. Jordan had only ever hit her hands once before, and he’d been rather gentle. She’d have bruises there for a while, certainly. Hopefully it wouldn’t impede her playing too much, or she’d never hear the end of it from her parents, nor from her friends.
Friends? Said the nasty voice in her mind. What friends?
Shut up! She told her mind voice fiercely. Just shut up and let me deal with this one thing at a time. And the voice laughed.
Realizing she was still standing there like an idiot, Miranda shook her head, turned on her heel, and walked quickly and purposefully out of the library.

---

Lilly Johnson
Lilly looked seriously at Teddy. “Whatever you do, don’t let them surround you.” She said. “Or Coach Anderson will have to dive in and fish you out and pump the water out of your lungs.” She gave a rueful smile, just the corner of her mouth turning up. “Happened to me in sixth grade. I scored three goals and I was going in for a fourth and half the guys on that team surrounded me and pushed me under and held me there until I inhaled so much water I thought I was going to die. Yeah, they kind of play dirty.” She grinned. “Just don’t get drowned and um…” She blushed. “Guard your you-know-whats, Rachel and Aly both tend to knee their male competition there when they’re wrestling for the ball. I’ll rescue you if it looks like they’re going to hurt you seriously, but you’ve got to learn to take choke-holds and hyperextended limbs and things. All part of the game.” The whistle blew. “Swimmers at the ready!” the coach called.