First day at a new school. And to think: my one wish was to find a gay best friend, Kirstie thought, laughing at herself in her head. Now it would be more like: don't get killed and avoid Brittany.

"And here's your book." Brittany dropped it right in front of Kirstie, watching it clatter to the floor.

"Thanks," Kirstie replied, bending over and picking it up. "But next time, just hand it to me."

"Oh, feisty, are we?" Brittany tossed her wavy blonde hair over her shoulder and looked over at her friends.

"Whatever," Kirstie replied, turning to go and tripping over Brittany's outstretched foot. "Ow…" She pushed herself off the ground just in time to see the cheerleader's mocking smile.

That night, her mom had asked, "How's your new school?"

"Uh, good," Kirstie replied.

"Make any new friends?"

"Not… really," said Kirstie.

"What do you mean?" her mom asked.

"I made a few new enemies," Kirstie said, with a sarcastic smile.

"Oh, honey." Her mom looked sad. "You have to stop making yourself a target."

"I didn't do anything," said Kirstie.

"You can't-" began Kirstie's mom.

"See ya in the morning," Kirstie said bluntly, standing up and heading off to her room.

"Kirstie!"

But Kirstie ignored her mom.

By lunch, Kirstie had picked out the people she wanted to be friends with and the people she wanted to avoid. She looked at the people in the cafeteria, analyzing them. She would definitely keep away from cheerleaders and jocks. There was a girl with natural red hair and freckles who looked nice, though, and a guy who'd smiled at her earlier. She didn't really have the nerve to talk to any of those two people yet, though.

Kirstie got up, ready to go to the library for the last ten minutes of lunch, and she walked right into someone.

"Woah, girl," he said, stepping carefully out of the way.

Kirstie noted how very short he was for a boy, and the way he looked at her with such disdain. "I didn't-" she began. "Sorry."

"Naw, It's okay. Just don't do it again," he said, trying to keep a straight face for about three seconds before grinning at her. "Seriously. Now, bye. I gotta catch up with my girls." And he strode off as if he ruled the world.

Wow, Kirstie thought, looking at the guy. He's got… like, real life stage presence, or something. I definitely want to get to know him better.

"Stop daydreaming!" Brittany snapped her manicured fingers in Kirstie's face. "You're in my way."

"Well, you can walk around me, then," Kirstie said. I can't back down to her.

Brittany rolled her eyes, but walked on, bumping her shoulder intentionally into Kirstie's.

Kirstie smiled after her, and felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Hi, I'm Mary, and that was really brave," said the girl behind her, talking very very fast.

"What?" Kirstie turned around. "Thanks." She held out her hand. "I'm Kirstie."

"Pleasure." Mary grabbed Kirstie and pulled her down the hallway and into the library. "Now, I'm gonna help you out, cause you're new here."

"Okay," Kirstie replied, a bit confused.

"First off, it's cool that you don't listen to the popular girls, but it's gonna come back and bite you," Mary said. "Second, you know that little guy you nearly knocked over?"

Kirstie nodded.

"Well, stay away from him as well," Mary continued.

"Why?" asked Kirstie. "He seemed… nice in a weird way."

"Because him and his friends are, like, the one way to ensure you getting treated awfully," Mary said.

"Huh?" Kirstie was totally lost.

"They're who everyone hates and secretly wants to be, because they don't care what people say about them," said Mary.

"I think that's kinda cool, don't you?" asked Kirstie. "Like, being so above all the bullies."

"Cool, yeah," Mary replied. "If you wanna get killed." She left Kirstie standing there.