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class. She almost doesn’t seem real.” Cat nodded in agreement.

     
    “You! Can you tell me how to do this equation?” Mr. Crawley said pointing his stubby, jagged-nailed finger at Cat.
    “Umm, sir, we haven’t covered that yet.”
    His angry eyes bored into her. “It’s in the next chapter…you mean you haven’t read it? Should I have to tell you to read it?” He approached her desk and put his hands on either side of it. “I’m sorry, but we’re not like your old SNOBBY institution where you were spoon fed information. We actually have to do our own work here.” He backed up and glared at the rest of the class, still pointing his finger at Cat. “Class, this is an example of a poor student. Not prepared, not thinking ahead and has to be told what to do. Poor little spoiled girl, daddy can’t help you now.” Cat bent her head toward her desk, the heat of embarrassment filling her face. Mr. Crawley walked back to his desk, sat down, and stared at the shocked faces before him. “Get to work!” he said sternly as he picked up the daily paper and rustled it open.
    After class, Cat walked down the hallway, her head hung low. Tears filled her eyes before she reached her locker. Suddenly, she bumped into someone. Without looking up she murmured her apology and waited for the person to move out of the way. Realizing they weren’t moving, she wiped her tears and raised her head meeting the piercing blue eyes of Astoria High’s star running back, Ryan Beckford.
    “Are you okay?” Ryan asked, his voice filled with concern. She stood shell shocked, not sure what to say. She wished he would just leave her alone. The last thing she wanted to do was to cry in front him. She didn’t cry pretty, her face always became blotchy and her eyes swelled.
    “Cat what’s going on?” Amanda asked coming up beside Ryan, followed by Matt and Julie. Seeing the tear tracks on Cat’s face, three pairs of questioning eyes turned to Ryan.
    “Oh hi guys, I had something in my eye and it was bothering me,” Cat explained hurriedly. “Sorry I bumped into you Ryan! Got to go! Mascot tryouts you know.” He gave her a puzzled look. “No, not me, a friend,” she said with a nervous laugh. “Come on people move it or we’ll be late.” She grabbed Matt’s hand and practically ran down the hall with him in tow, Amanda following quickly behind.
    Julie blocked Ryan’s exit, her hands on her hips. “What was that all about? Did you make her cry?” she asked coldly.
    “No, I didn’t. She ran into me. You better go after her, she seemed really upset about something,” he answered.
    “This is a warning! If I find out you did upset her, things will not go well for you!” she said sternly and then stormed down the hall, not waiting for his reply.
    What was that all about? That girl’s intense! I didn’t even do anything. Females are so complicated! he thought.
    Reaching the gym, the four friends went inside. Surprisingly, it was empty. “Are you sure this is where the tryouts are?” Matt asked.
    “Yeah, that’s what the flyer said,” Cat confirmed. “Let’s sit and wait a few minutes and see if anyone shows up. I hope we didn’t miss it. I promised Elle we’d be here,” she said with no sign of tears left on her face. A few minutes later a door at the far end of the gym opened and a miserable looking Elle emerged.
    “This doesn’t look good,” Matt whispered.
    “Hey Elle, what’s wrong, did tryouts get canceled?” Cat asked as she came closer.
    “No…no one showed up but me. So I got it…by default. I’m the new Panther and I think I’m gonna be sick,” Elle said, looking more pale than usual.
    “You’ll be great!” Cat said putting her arm around Elle’s shoulder and giving her a light squeeze. “You’ll be the best mascot this school’s ever seen, and we’ll be your biggest fans!”
    Elle’s smile was a little off. “Thanks guys.”
    “What are friends for?” Amanda exclaimed, putting Elle