once she got over the disappointment, and realized how unrealistic a car would be on her family's budget, she began to love it. the bike allowed her some freedom. besides, if mina's riding ability was any indication of her driving ability, then the world would have been in for a lot of dented mailboxes.

swinging her bike onto the sidewalk, mina waved to mrs. wong and barely missed colliding into an old lady walking her gaggle of toy poodles. "sorry!" she yelled, losing a chunk of the pop tart she was still holding in her mouth. she watched in disgust as the poodles, who only minutes ago looked cute and cuddly, morphed into snapping, sugar-crazed dogs. the lady stared in shock as she tried to get control of her wild, pampered babies. mina shrugged apologetically in response.

ten minutes later, after cutting through two back streets and riding across three neighbors' back yards, mina arrived at a school yard was devoid of human life, giving her the undeniable impression that she was tardy. she left her bike by the bike rack, but without a proper kickstand it sagged pathetically to one side against the nicer, newer bikes.

running toward the bus barn, she was relieved to see the field trip bus was still there, until it pulled away from the curb.

"no!" mina yelled, running after the bus, trying desperately to catch the notice of the driver.

a window slid down and a familiar blonde head popped out with something silver in her hand. "mina, you really need to get a watch," the girl shouted.

"nan! tell him to stop!" she cried, feeling a stitch begin in her side.

"and a cell phone! you really need to be brought out of the dark ages. i could have called you." the girl just kept talking, impervious to mina's desperation and waning stamina.

"nan! snap out of it! stop the bus!" she screamed huffing and puffing.

"oh, right!" the blonde head popped back inside. a moment later the bus slowly decelerated and pulled to the curb.

out of breath, and slightly limping from the side stitch, mina finally boarded the first steps of the bus. the bus driver gave her an indignant look; this would probably delay their arrival and he was a stickler for being on time. she ignored him and stepped to the front row where her teacher was sitting to hand him her permission form.

"you really should have been on time," mr. west commented. his balding head glistened from the heat of the already too warm bus.

"i'm sorry," mina answered quietly. "we had a power outage."

mr. west looked over her permission form and then nodded for her to take a seat. walking toward the back of the bus was like being in a bad slow-motion dream. she had no choice but to be the recipient of twenty-some odd stares.

ducking her head and sliding into the seat next to nan, mina poked her in the side in revenge. "that's for making me run for so long."

nan grinned, showing perfect white teeth. today she was wore an "i <3 jacob black" shirt, skinny jeans, and black flats. nan was the exact opposite of mina in every way, which was why they probably got along so well. she got a kick out of mina's lack of knowledge in all things social and popular.

"well, maybe if you got a cell phone, you could have texted me you were running late," nan quipped, pulling out her latest iphone, fingers flying over the touchpad.

"what are you doing? are you chirping?"

nan rolled her eyes and laughed, "really, mina, it's called tweeting."

"okay. are you tweeting?"

"of course," nan smirked.

mina's stomach sank. "about what?" she had a feeling she already knew the answer. she saw something in nan's hand when she had previously opened the window and leaned out.

"oh, nothing much. i'm just tweeting the picture of you running like a madman after the bus to all of my followers."

"followers" made it sound like some sort of cult.

"nan, how many followers do you have?" she hoped the number hadn't gone up.

"well, after yesterday's rant about the garbage they pass off as lunch, i'm up to about three hundred." she clicked "update" and immediately chiming could be heard from multiple phones on the bus. snickers and heads turned mina's way and she heard whispers of "loser" and "nerd".

"nan! how could you?" mina said, scrambling over nan so she could be by the windows and out of direct line of sight to most of the riders. she pulled her backpack up over her head and hid behind the bag.

"mina, you need to learn to laugh at yourself; i'm trying to get you noticed. hardly anybody knows who you are."

"i can't imagine anyone wanting to be the center of that kind of attention. i certainly wouldn't."

nan raised one eyebrow in disbelief. "nonsense. everyone wants to get at least some attention. well, except for you. really mina, it doesn't even matter whether it's good or bad, true or untrue, everyone wants to be popular; to be part of some gossip." nan was the friendliest and most outgoing girl in the school. everyone seemed to like nan, not because she was popular or smart, but because she was fun and real.

"not me," mina shrugged nonchalantly.

"so, i guess, in that case, you wouldn't care about the current eligibility status of a certain boy?" nan knew that her best friend had a secret crush on brody carmichael ever since her family moved here.

"brody and savannah broke up?" she sat up straight in disbelief, knocking her backpack to the floor.

"ah ha! see, you are interested."

"no, i'm not," she said.

"yes, you are," nan taunted. she was right, mina did want to know.

"okay, fine... did they?" mina felt a flower of hope start to bloom and then shrivel up dead at nan's next statement.

"no, but see! wouldn't you want to know if they did?"

"i hate you nan taylor!" mina shot out. "you're a dream killer, you know that right? dream killer."

"gee, grimy, keep it down," a male voice shot out from behind their seat.

her face flushed red. mina hated her last name, an easy target for name-calling: grime too easily translated to slime, brine, grimy. she couldn't wait until she got married and could legally change her name; if she could ever overcome her awkwardness and talk to a boy.

sitting back, she let nan talk on about the latest episode of glee and even sang a few bars from the new hit single she downloaded on her iphone. mina didn't even own an ipod, the closest thing she had was an old cd player. that was something else about nan, she was addicted to glee and every popular reality show on tv. she didn't understand her best friend's infatuation. mina's own life was already a reality show; why would she want to watch someone else's?

the bus reached babushka's bakery, and all of the wary and bored teenagers filed off and waited in groups. this was mina's chance to scan the crowd and find the tall blonde-haired brody carmichael. sure enough, he was standing next to savannah white, who looked every bit a princess with her long white-blonde hair, porcelain skin, and big blue eyes. brody seemed distracted as savannah latched possessively onto his arm, marking her territory as only a female high school student could.

brody was the fantasy of every girl's dream. he was a perfectly blended cocktail of aristocrat and jock. the carmichaels prided themselves on family lineage and could follow their ancestors back to when they first came over on the mayflower. they raised racehorses, owned a clothing company, and were by far the richest family in the state. yet, brody never let it get to his head. he never raised his voice, never bullied anyone, and seemed completely oblivious to his social status and effect on girls.