I watched the countryside roll by. The trees and fields whipped past the window of the car. We were moving again. I never stayed in one place long enough to get used to anything, let along make any friends. I was always the weird new girl who liked to read. No one ever bothered to try to get to know me, and now that I was a senior in high school, it was even less likely, not to mention it was about halfway through the school year. People are cruel, and angsty teenagers are no different.

"We are almost there, Thea," my father said to me.

"Great," I said, I tried my hardest to sound excited, but that excitement had left me too long ago. After you move about six times over the past two years, it is hard to get excited about another new town that you are just going to leave in a few months. We pulled off the interstate and began traveling some back-country roads to our new, or I guess I should say temporary, home.

My father and I had moved around ever since my mother left us. I think about her often. Does she care about us? Is she with another family? Why couldn't she stay, didn't she know that I needed her? She left a little over seven years ago, but the feeling of her leaving stayed with me. That is when we started moving from place to place. I couldn't tell my father, but I needed some stability. I was eighteen years old and I don't have a place that I call home. That's why I read so much. It helps me escape from my current situation and go somewhere amazing. I can be half way across the world or right in my backyard, or go back in time or see the future. Anything to get myself away from right now.

We pulled into the driveway of our new house. It was painted a deep blue with white shutters on the windows. The porch jutted out from the font of the house and the door was a deep gray. It was small, but it was enough for my father and myself. I peered out, I hated getting out of the car, it made everything so real. I slowly reached for the handle and opened the door. It was a dreary day, which was apparently normal here. The skies were overcast and it looked like at any moment it might start raining or snowing. It was cold enough to snow, the wind hit me when I exited the car like a million ice daggers into my face and body. I pulled my black jacket around my body.

"It has two bedrooms, so you will get your own, and this time, you will get your bathroom," my father said looking at me, I could tell he was trying to get me excited about it as well.

"That sounds great, dad," I said back and I grabbed his hand and squeezed it. He smiled back at me. His hair short brown hair had begun to turn gray. His blue eyes were lined with wrinkles, but he still looked handsome I suppose. He had a slightly large nose, but it fit his face well. He turned and his profile was highly recognizable, mostly because of his nose and strong jawline.

We each grabbed a couple bags and walked up the front steps. He pulled out the key and unlocked the door. Lucky for us, we were able to send a moving crew with our furniture a few days early. The furniture sat in the front room and there were a few boxes along with it. I dropped the bags next to the sofa and walked toward the back of the house. I walked through a small living room and back into the kitchen and dining room. The kitchen was big enough to fit my father and I comfortably, but one other person would have made it crowded, not that we would be using the kitchen a lot, neither of us were very good cooks. I walked back into the dining room, and there was a sliding door at the rear of it. I took a peak out of the glass door. The backyard was a fair size with a small patio, enough to fit the round wire table and four chairs, but nothing more. A wooden fence surrounded the yard and the grass looked as if it needed mowed, but that was not really an option in the middle of January. I walked back to the front of the house and saw my father inventorying the furniture.

"Go on upstairs Thea, and pick out your bedroom," he said looking at the furniture, I am sure he was trying to figure out where to put all of it. I shrugged and walked toward one of my bags. I picked up the backpack with some of my books in it, and headed upstairs. The third stair creaked when I stepped on it and caught me off guard a little bit. I stopped climbing for a moment and righted myself and continued up the stairs. The house must have been older and remodeled, but I didn't know for sure. I found a bedroom right at the top of the stairs and a bathroom connected to it, I assumed this was the master bedroom, and I would leave this one for my father. I found a bathroom on the right side of the hallway and a bedroom at the end.

I walked in and it was slightly smaller than the other one. I saw a closet in the corner and opened it. It was small, but would do well for me since most days I wore jeans and some sort of t-shirt or sweater. I walked into the bathroom that would be mine and it was a fair size. Light blue tile surrounded the shower and the tub was a similar shade of light blue. I made a mental note that I would need a shower curtain, but the hooks were still there from the previous owner. The sink was a plain shade of white and a mirror hung above it.

I looked in the mirror, my brown eyes looked back at me. I could see the wavy brown hair that was falling under my gray hat. I looked exactly like my mother, or at least that is what my father told me. She had a round face with small features, which I had as well. The only thing that was like my father was my strong jawline. My large eyes were surrounded by black winged liner, but other than that and a few strokes of mascara, my face was makeup free. I didn't stare too long, I never thought I was anything special, nor did I really care. There was no reason to stare in the mirror and wish to change something that I knew I couldn't.

I shook my head and walked back into the hallway. I ventured back down the stairs to passed the squeaky third stair to see my father unpacking what looked like pots and pans.

"I don't know why we have these," he said, "we never use them."

I laughed because he was right, our diet consisted of take out and the occasional bowl of cereal or maybe, if we were fancy, a can of soup. We are not the cooking type, both of us are semi-ok with cleaning, but my mother was the cook.

I sat down next to him and helped to unpack a few of the boxes. We finally reached our dishes and utensils, which we took as a sign to go find a place for food. We took the car, which still had many of our boxes and bags, and took off down the road. We scoured the town for any sign of food. It seemed that the town was extremely small and the idea of only have one pizza place frightened me a little, it looks like one of us is going to have to become a cook.

We finally found a small pizza shop and we were both so hungry that we had to stop. My father found a spot on the road and parked only a short distance down the street. We were lucky in the sense that we had a smaller car, but still big enough to fit all the things we needed when we moved. We practically jumped out of the car and ran down the street to the pizza shop.

My father pulled open the door and held it open for me. I walked in shaking the cold off my jacket. There were several people in the shop, and it would have seemed that we had three heads each, since everyone just stared at my father and myself. I dropped my eyes uncomfortably and walked toward the counter. We looked over the menu and decided that a large pizza would probably fit the bill.

"Thea, why don't you grab a seat, I'll wait here," my father said to me. There was a slight line and I was tired from unpacking, so I was grateful for his suggestion. I walked back toward the door and picked a seat near the window. I looked out over the street and into the town. I peeled my jacket off and hung it on the back of my chair. I removed my gray hat and sat it on the table. Why did my father insist on moving to places where it was a chore to get ready in the morning or any time you were out? I made a mental note to ask if we could move to Florida next time.

"Is anyone sitting here?" a voice asked, breaking me from my thoughts of palm trees and sunshine.

I looked up to see a young man standing over me. He had black hair slicked back into a bun. His bright blue eyes shone in the light from the window. He towered over me, not only because I was sitting. In his hands were a sandwich and a drink of some kind.

"I'm sorry, yes," I said back, "My dad is up there getting ordering for us," I said motioning to the counter.

I hoped this would make him leave, but he sat down.

"I haven't seen you here before," he said, "Are you new to town?"

He began stuffing his sandwich in his face. I sat there in shock, who did this person think he was?

"Yeah, we just got here today. I'm sorry, who are you?" I asked. Why was this guy just sitting down in front of me and apparently, he left his manners at home.

"Greyson," he said through bites in his sandwich.

"Alright, Greyson," I said, but stopped because I literally had no idea what to say next. Just then, thankfully, another girl walked past. She turned her attention to Greyson and said, "Hi, Greyson, we have a table over there if you would like to sit with us." She motioned to a table with a few other girls and waited for his reply. She glanced at me, and if I was not mistaken, she even glared at me.

"I'm sitting here with the new girl," he said not even acknowledging her.

"Why don't you go sit with them? I am waiting for my father to come back. I am sure I will see you around," I answered, praying that he would get the hint. He looked up me and stopped eating. He dropped his sandwich on his plate and grabbed a napkin to wipe his face.

"You don't want to sit with me? Don't you know who I am?" he asked.

"Greyson?" I replied.

He scoffed, "I am the captain of the football and basketball teams. I am homecoming king, and I plan on being prom king. I am the guy in this town, people worship me, you should think about that," he heatedly explained to me.

He got up angrily and began to sulk over to the other girls' table. He turned about half way and said, "See you around."

I just bowed my head, praying no one else witnessed our interaction. Unfortunately, when I looked up everyone in the small restaurant was staring at me. This was not the first impression that I wanted. Even worse, I knew that he was going to be at school on Monday. He was the last person that I ever wanted to see again.

I sunk down into my seat hoping my father would come back before any other strangers sat down at the table. I looked over to the table with Greyson and he was just staring at me. I really wished I brought a book with me so I could at least try to look occupied.

Finally, my father came back holding a box of pizza.

"Who was that I saw sitting with you?" he asked as he opened the box.

"Just some guy, his name is Greyson," I said.

"Well…" I said pulling a piece out and sitting it on a plate handing it to me.

"Well, there is nothing to tell. He talked about himself to me the entire time. It was such an odd meeting," I said back, getting a little defensive.

"I won't ask about him again," my father said raising his eyebrow.

"Dad," I said, trying to make him understand about this guy. How rude and conceited he was, definitely not my type.

"It's ok, Thea, you don't have to explain to me," he said. We sat in silence for a few moments, mostly because we were devouring the pizza sitting in front of us. I ate the most pizza I think that I have ever had in my entire life, and between the two of us we finished the large pizza in one sitting.

When we made it home, we both could barely move, from the unpacking to the carb overload we were both ready for bed. We had to sleep on air mattresses and in sleeping bags since our mattresses would not arrive until tomorrow.

The rest of the weekend consisted of cleaning, shopping, unpacking and pizza. We only knew where the pizza place was in town, so pizza it was.

Sunday night I realized that I had to go back to school the next day. It was already January and everyone would be pretty settled into their classes by now. I was nervous. I was nervous to go to class. I was nervous about my classmates. And I was nervous about seeing Greyson again. I think that I was most nervous about seeing Greyson. I laid on my bed and heard a knock on my door.

"May I come in?" my father asked.

"Yes," I said sitting up.

"Are you ready for school tomorrow?" he asked coming to sit next to me on my bed.

"No," I said drawing my legs into my chest and laying my head on my bony knees.

"Thea, it will turn out ok in the end," he said wrapping his arm around my shoulders and kissing the top of my head.

"Dad, can you promise me that we won't move before the end of the school year? This is my senior year, and I just want to finish it here."

He sighed, "I wish I could make that promise, sweetheart, but I just can't. I will talk to my boss to see if that is an option, but I will do everything in my power to not have us move by the end of the year."

He pulled me closer and I started to cry into his chest. I had no idea why I was crying, I think all the emotions that I had been hiding were coming out right now.

"I wish mom was here," I choked out.

"I know sweetheart," he said, kissing me again on the top of my head, "I miss her too. She was always so good at this kind of stuff…"

I remembered how she would comfort me when I fell off my bike or got a bee sting. She was good at this stuff, but she wasn't here, and my dad was doing the best that he could.

"I love you, dad," I said through tears. I felt as though I didn't say it enough. He was everything to me and I couldn't imagine what I would do if something happened to him.

"I love you too, Thea. We will make it through this. I am hoping that soon they will hire me at the corporate office and we can stay in one spot, but until then we will be moving. Try to get some sleep, it is going to be a long day tomorrow. I know that your mom would be proud of you."

"Thanks, dad," I said, curling up under the blankets and comforter. He turned the light off and shut my door as he left. I laid there thinking. Thinking about everything and ever possible solution that could happen tomorrow at school and about what he said about my mom. I didn't think that I would ever fall asleep, but eventually I did.

It felt like five minutes after falling asleep that my father was knocking on my door to wake me up.

"Thea, get up sweetheart and start getting ready. You don't want to be late on your first day!"

I got up out of bed and went over to my duffle bag. I hadn't gotten around to unpacking all my clothes yet. I was searching for my favorite black long-sleeved t-shirt, and of course it was at the bottom of the bag. I laid it out on the bed next to my blue jeans. I figured it was good enough. I walked over to the bathroom to brush my teeth and fix my hair and makeup. My hair had fallen in long waves to about my waist and it looked fine to me. I drew on my winged linger and flicked on some mascara. I walked back to my room and dressed in the clothes that I had laid out. I pulled on a pair of boot socks and squeezed my feet into a pair of black combat boots.

I stopped and looked in the mirror on the back of my door. I saw a thin girl with long brown hair staring back at me. I pulled on my gray hat and flung my navy-blue backpack over my shoulder. I walked to the door and opened it. I could smell something coming from downstairs. It intrigued me. Was my father cooking? I walked downstairs trying my best to keep the third stair quiet. I walked around the corner through the half furnished living room into the kitchen.

My father was standing there in his dress shirt and tie making something over the stovetop.

"Hey," I said.

He turned around holding the pan with an oven mitt. I saw that he was attempting to make bacon, but it was burned and the toast on the plates were also burned to a crisp.

"Hey, I wanted to make you a nice breakfast before school, but…" he saw that I had seen the massacre in the kitchen already.

"I'll take a piece of both," I said plopping my backpack next to the refrigerator. I reached in and surprisingly found orange juice. I poured a glass in a plastic cup and poured another for my father. I sat down at the dining room table, which was surprisingly set up.

"You don't have to," he said shaking his head embarrassed.

"I want to! When am I going to eat at school? I honestly have no idea!" I said, smiling gently at him.

He chuckled and put a piece of both on a paper plate. I stared down at the black square and black strip on the plate. I bit into the toast first. It wasn't the worst piece of toast I have ever had, and honestly, he probably did a better job than I would have done. I waited until after a few bites to take a sip of orange juice.

He looked over at me and I smiled. I knew how hard my dad tried and I wanted to make sure that I could do anything to make him know that I thought he was doing a good job. If I had to eat burnt toast for the rest of the school year I would.

After I finished both the bacon and the toast, I grabbed my winter coat and headed out to the car. I climbed into the passengers' seat and looked over at my father. Leaving for the first day of school was always stressful, but for some reason this one felt even more stressful than normal. Was it because of Greyson? Or because I was now a senior and this was going to be the hardest time to make friends? Or was it because my mother still wasn't here?

He started the car and we drove to the school in silence. I could feel my breathing increase as we got closer and closer. We turned into the small parking lot.

"Do you want me to come in with you?" he asked putting the car in park and twisting the keys to turn off the car.

"No thanks, I think that I will be ok," I said. I was trying to be strong because I could see the guilty look on his face.

"Here is some money for lunch," he said handing me a five-dollar bill, "Do you need anything else?" he asked.

"Um, I think that I am good," I said back.

"Good luck," he said kissing my head.

"Thanks, dad," I said opening the door. I leaned back into the car for one more second, "I'll see you after school!" I said and slammed the door. He waved and I waved back. I could hear the car turn back on as I got about half way to the school. He always waited to make sure I was ok. I loved that about him.

I reached the front of the school, I took a deep breath as I looked at the small building. It was smaller than my other schools. The red brick didn't have its original color, but turned slightly gray and the mortar between the bricks had also turned a dull shade of gray. I reached the front doors. I stood there for a moment, I was early enough to wait for a minute. I wasn't ready to do this again. To learn a new school, new people, but none the less, I entered the building.

I took a deep breath when I stepped through the door. Part of the battle was over, but the real war had just begun. There were a few students milling around in the lobby. I walked forward and saw a receptionist sitting in a glass room. I walked toward the door and opened it. There were a few people in the office, most of them engrossed in what they were doing and didn't notice me.

"Can I help you?" asked the receptionist. She was an older woman with graying hair. She wore a sweater with birds on it and flowers. I figured she was in her early fifties or sixties. She was little and round from what I could tell.

"I am new here, and I was wondering where to go," I said.

"Oh, ok dear," she said sweetly, "I'm Mrs. Potter, I am the receptionist in the office. Let me see if I can find Principal Masters."

She got up and waddle to another door in the office. She came out of the room with a tall man who was probably about her age. He was losing his hair, and he had a little bit of a beer belly.

"Hello, I am Principle Masters, welcome to our high school, miss?" he asked, raising his blonde eyebrow.

"Thea, um Thea Ivans," I said.

"Yes, Miss. Ivans. Come on back to my office and we will find your class schedule."

I followed him through the office, adjusting my backpack straps. I felt more of the staff members eyes on me as I walked quickly to keep up with his long legs.

"Please have a seat," he said motioning to one of the chairs in front of his desk. I sat down on the wooden chair, that was not the most comfortable chair I have sat in. I think he did this on purpose so people would not want to visit him, and I hoped that I would never end up back in his office.

"Ivans, Ivans, Ivans, ah, here you are," he said pulling a piece of paper from a yellow file folder, "Here is your class schedule, I will have Mrs. Potter show your first class."

I looked down at the schedule. I had calculus, history, science, English and it looked like a study period as well.

"Alright, come with me," he led me back out of the office, "I hope that you enjoy your time here, if you need anything come down to schedule an appointment. Mrs. Potter? Would you mind showing Miss. Ivans here to her first class?"

"Certainly, sir," she said happily.

"Great, I hope you have a nice first day," he said and walked back to his office.

"Alright dear, let's see where we are going," she took a peak at my schedule, "Ok, we are headed to Calculus in room 219 with Mrs. Stevens. I have a feeling you are going to like her. She is an amazing teacher." She talked on until we got to the classroom about the school and such. We entered the room. There were about fifteen other students in the room. She walked me up to the teacher, she was a short older woman with light gray or blonde hair and blue eyes. She pushed her glasses up on her nose as she looked into the calculus book.

"Mrs. Stevens? This is Thea Ivans, she is the new student," Mrs. Potter explained.

"Nice to meet you Thea," Mrs. Stevens said, "Here is your book and here is a lock, it has the combination on the little slip of paper with it. Also, your locker number will be," she turned to look at a paper, "Ah, your locker will be number 2134. It should be down the hall on your left. Go ahead and put your jacket in your locker and come back here for class."

"Thank you," I said. Mrs. Potter walked me back out of the room and showed me to my locker.

"Do you need anything else, dear?" she asked.

"No, I think I will be alright. Thank you for helping me this morning," I said.

"If you need anything, let me know," she said and turned to walk back toward the office.

I opened my locker, it was an average size. I hung my jacket on the hook on the left side of the locker and closed it. I secured the lock and walked back to the room for class. Mrs. Stevens showed me where an empty seat was, and I sat down and looked at my schedule in more detail. I had calculus, then history, and English before I had a study period. After the study period I had lunch, followed by science and lab, French, and to finish the day I had some sort of music class. I sighed in relief to see that I didn't have to take a gym class. It looked like I still had a few minutes before class started, so I pulled out my book and continued to read. It was a story about a dystopian society after the world ended because of human interaction. It was an interesting book, I was engrossed in the plot and I felt as though I was hundreds of miles away with the characters battling the curses of the humans that had lived on the plant before them.

"Hey," I heard from someone sitting next to me. I turned to see a girl with her hair pulled back in a half pony tail. She wore a dress, and it looked like a pair of high heels. She was a pretty girl, high cheek bones, tall and thin.

"I'm, Sammie, I am the class president and president of the honors society and I help to show new students around. It is nice to meet you!" she said, "You are Thea, right? I heard you talking to Mrs. Stevens."

"Yeah, I'm Thea," I said in reply.

"What are you reading?" she asked. I was about to answer when the bell rang. I reluctantly put my book away, and pulled out a pencil and notebook.

"Alright everyone, settle down," Mrs. Stevens said gaining the classrooms attention,"We have a new student everyone, this is Thea Ivans, and she will be joining our class. So, make her feel welcomed."

I looked around and there were about twenty pairs of eyes looking at me. Most of which, I hoped, wouldn't make a big deal about a new student.

"Alright, let's get back to where we left off last class with derivatives," she began writing some numbers on the board when a student burst through the door. He was tall and he had brown curly hair, with bright blue eyes. He looked flustered, his face was red and he was breathing heavy. He had on a blue and white plaid shirt and a pair of blue jeans. His boots fell heavy as he walked.

"Adam, this is the third time this month that you are late, sit down and get ready for class," Mrs. Stevens said sternly. When she turned back around I watched him roll his eyes at her and plop down in the seat near the door. He was pretty handsome, minus the scar on the side of his face. It ran from his temple down to his chin. I caught myself staring at him, and tried to pull myself away and get back to my work, but I couldn't help looking at him. He hunched his broad shoulders over his desk as he copied what Mrs. Stevens had done on the board.

I made a mental note to aske Sammie about him after class. It wasn't too bad, at least I had done derivatives before. The bell rang and I gathered my stuff and was ready to head to my next class.

"Where are you headed?" Sammie asked sweetly, she peered down at my schedule, "Ok, I have the same schedule until lunch, but I am sure that someone will help you after that. Just follow me for now!"

I followed her as she told me about different ways to get places and different things about the school. She showed me the classrooms for some of the classes that we didn't have together, which I was grateful for.

"Any questions?" she asked.

"Yeah, what was the deal with that Adam kid?" I asked.

"Well…" she said, showing me my seat in the next class, "He moved here not too long ago, I think the beginning of the year. You probably noticed the scar on his face, he was in a car accident last year, and his family moved him here. He doesn't talk to too many people here. He isn't the friendliest person ever."

"Wow. A car accident? Was he ok?" I asked.

"Well, I think so, I mean he is, here right?" she said annoyed. I dropped the subject and listen to her drone on about whatever club she was in and why I should join. Adam walked into this class as well. He sulked to his seat in the back. He threw his book on his desk and got ready for the class to start. I walked up to the teacher explaining how I was new and they gave me the materials for that class. I listened to his monotone voice trying to make the Industrial Revolution sound interesting. I took notes, but I felt my mind floating to the back of the classroom and Adam. A car accident? That scar didn't seem to match what a car accident would do.

The bell finally rang, and I scurried after Sammie. I was excited to get to English class. I wondered what we were reading. Excited for this class, I walked right up to the teacher.

"Hi, my name is Thea Ivans, I am new here," I said to him. He was an older gentleman with gray hair. I pulled him away from whatever book he was reading. "Yes, Thea, I saw that you were coming today. I am Mr. Henry, and I am sorry that you probably won't be in today's discussion, we have just finished chapter three of part one of 1984 by George Orwell. I hope that you follow along with the discussion and catch up to the reading when you can."

"Alright," I said and found an open seat, but this time I was sitting next to Adam. I sat so I could see the non-scarred side of his face. I found myself fascinated by his handsome face. I caught myself staring again, and looked away quickly hoping he hadn't noticed.

"Alright class, what did you think about your reading for today?" he asked. No one spoke, not a single person, but people shifted uncomfortably around in their seats.

"Come on guys, if you don't start talking I am going to have to start calling on random people and I know how much you all love that, come on! What did you think? This is one time when there are no right or wrong answers."

I raised my hand, I had read 1984 before and figured I could stumble through an answer.

"Thea," he said, "Look guys! She hasn't been here and she is willing to give it a try. Go on Miss Ivans."

"I think that Winston is starting to know that Big Brother is really watching him. He is realizing what the government is doing and is starting to realize it in more aspects of his life. He has no proof to support his claim, but he is starting to become more paranoid, like for example the claim about the airplanes. I think it is really interesting how he is reacting to learning that the government is really watching him, and how they are completely demolishing the prospect of history and reinventing it. It can be related to society today, everyone is paranoid about everything watching us. We hear about people tapping the phones or watching via our laptop webcams and this was published in 1949 still has relevance today. It was meant to highlight the Nazi era, but I believe that it can be equated to the technological society that we live in today."

I looked around the room and everyone was just staring at me.

"Well done, Miss. Ivans," Mr. Henry applauded. I saw Adam's hand go up next to me.

"Yes Mr. Bentley" Mr. Henry said pointing in his direction.

"I think that Miss. Ivans makes a few good points, but I think that it is interesting how closely they are watching him. I think that Big Brother or the government knows that he is starting to remember and this could tear down a society that they worked so hard to create. The instructor yelling at him from the telescreen is the example I can think of. It is understandable that people go missing if they start to remember or know too much. The relevance to today doesn't matter as much, it could just be a brilliant literary work like this book." He finished.

"It does matter if it is relevant to today. If it is not relevant to today how will something be memorable? It is most definitely relevant, with the age of technology you never know who is watching you," I answered his last statement.

"It was meant to parallel the Nazi era, you said it yourself. It does parallel the Nazi era in the sense that some of these things did happen then. It is a fictional story though. Not saying that with the way society is headed that this may not happen, but it was also supposed to show the trajectory of the world and that we would have ended up here by 1984 if we did not stop and rethink what the Nazi's were doing."

"Alright," Mr. Henry stopped us, "I would like to see both of you after class, we can continue this discussion later, but you are leaving out the other eighteen people in the room."

I sat there for the rest of class thinking of how I could challenge Adam more after class. I saw him glaring at me and I did my best to ignore and take notes on what my other classmates and Mr. Henry were saying. The bell finally rang and everyone else got up and left the room while Adam and I waited by Mr. Henry's desk.

"What is your next class?" he asked.

"Study period," I said.

"Me, too," he replied.

"Great," Mr. Henry said closing the door, "Sit," he said motioning to two desks as he pulled his chair closer to us.

"I can see you are both passionate about reading, and I am excited to see two students who love to read as much as you two do. I have a few books that I would like both of you to read. We can discuss them here during your study period maybe once a week. I want to push you two to try something different. So, are you two ready to do that?" he asked.

"I don't think so Mr. Henry," Adam answered quickly.

"I just started here Mr. Henry, I thank you for the opportunity, but I don't think that I can. I have so much work to do already, and even more to catch up to the rest of the class," I said in response to Adam and Mr. Henry.

"Well, I respect that. We are going to start a group writing project after the book is finished, I want you two to work together. Maybe you can get on the same page, and if you both ever change your mind, I will be here."