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concerned. Not him, too, I thought angrily.
    “Oh, yeah. No—no, you…uh…just surprised me, that’s all,” I stuttered. He reciprocated with a deep chuckle and held out his hand.
    “Zander. You?”
    I offered my hand automatically. As our palms touched, a warm, humming sensation enveloped my arm. It reminded me how I felt when petting a purring cat. He looked just as surprised as I did. We released our hands quickly.
    “Whoa. Must be some kind of static shock or something. Sorry. I’m Tru. Are you new here?” He stared at me more intently than before, like he was trying to decide whether or not to reply. Could my day get any weirder? I wondered. Homeschooling was starting to sound good.
    I was fairly sure I’d never seen him before. He looked like a senior, with his shadowy jaw. Yes, he shaved, and without any nicks like half the population around here. His neck was corded with muscle, although he didn’t look steroid-bulky, more athletic and healthy.
    He finally seemed to come to a decision. “Yeah. Moved here at the end of summer.”
    “Really? Senior?”
    “I wish. My parents pulled me out of school last year so much, I have to retake my classes.” He leaned closer. “So I’m probably the oldest junior here.”
    “Actually—“ I started to say.
    Just then, Ruthie called out, “Hey, you got here fast!” She was followed by Isaac and Phoebe. They spread out around the circular table and looked questioningly at Zander.
    “Oh, hi guys. Yeah, my, uh, class got out a little early.” Like I was going to tell them I ran out of class to cry like a baby. I shot Zander a surreptitious glance, hoping he wouldn’t mention my little table tantrum. He raised an eyebrow at me, but said nothing.
    I gestured toward my new acquaintance. “This is Zander. He’s new this year.” Zander gave Phoebe and Isaac that assessing look he had given me. Isaac seemed to dislike him on sight. Phoebe gave him the tilted-head half-smile look, aka the “come hither” look. So obvious, I thought. But I couldn’t blame her. And I wouldn’t blame him for falling for it—she was just as beautiful as he was.
    “Cool! We need some fresh blood here at our table,” said Ruthie, drinking in every inch of him. I could almost read her mind. She was in heaven. Two gorgeous guys at our lunch table. We’d really stepped up in the world. Ruthie was going to have to swat away the girls who would soon be flocking our way.
    Here we go , I thought as a giggling squad of girls sashayed past our table, their eyes trying to catch those of both Isaac and Zander, who were still squaring off. I was surprised to see two old friends from my old basketball team, but they totally ignored me. I had to admit it hurt a little, but I reminded myself that I probably did the same thing to them last year.
    Then the moment passed, and after one of those guy nods, Isaac ignored Zander and turned his big brown eyes on me. “So how are your classes so far? Did you get Mrs. Tisdale for English?”
    Having his total focus on me made me feel conspicuous. He seemed to be ignoring everyone else, and there was just so much of him. It reminded me of earlier when he sang to me, and remembering my reaction made my cheeks heat up again, especially since Zander was watching, a slight scowl on his face. Why should I feel embarrassed? Any girl would be into Isaac, right? Why did I feel guilty suddenly?
    I decided to ignore the first question—I had nothing good to say about my classes so far, and I didn’t want to complain, yet. I would unload it all on Ruthie later.
    “No, I’ve got Mr. Mac.” That’s what we called him; his name was actually Macintosh. He was Scottish, with the cool accent and everything. I loved to hear him read out loud. And he happened to be pretty good-looking, for a teacher. Girls were known to stare at him throughout the entire class, especially when he read Shakespeare. He gave off an Ewan McGregor vibe with the whole accent and good looks