Girls' Back-to-School Outfits

 Madeline's Outfit

 Lizzie's Outfit

 Andrea's Outfit

 Debra's Outfit

Skye's Outfit

I Hate My Lab Partner/Junior Year (Chapter 5)

The next day, Andrea's class was assigned another experiment. Tired and still having tints of blue in her curly hair, Andrea dragged her feet to her counter from her seat. When she was a foot away, Jessika stepped in front of her.
"Oh, hey," greeted Andrea.
"Hi, Andrea," Jessika greeted back. "Look, I want to apologize."
"For what?"
"You know what."
"Yeah, I do know what."
"I didn't realize how irresponsible I was being for the last two weeks."
"Well, you were being pretty irresponsible."
"I know. I just don't connect with school."
"You think?"
"No, I don't think; I know. But I've realized that my behavior might have affected you in a negative way. And I am sorry that I have been a 'threat' to your education."
"Well, I wouldn't say 'threat'. I would say... No, I would say 'threat'."
"I'm sorry."
"I forgive you. It takes a woman to admit what she has done wrong."
"And I promise that I will be more focused when it comes to school."
"That's great to hear."
"Another great thing for you to hear is that I asked Mister Cavanaugh if we could switch partners."
"Really?"
"Yeah; in case I forget to stay focused and willing to learn, I thought you should have a better lab partner. Someone who is not like me."
"Oh, Jessika, I'm going to miss you."
"Hey, if you ever need me, I will be right across the room."
"Why would I need you?"
"To mess something up."
"Oh, yeah. Good to hear but I will try to get over it. Thank you."
"Thank you. Also, I love the thing that is going on with your hair."
"I want to say thank you but it's not on purpose."
"Oh, it's not?"
"No, that's from when the experiment--"
"Oh, yeah."
"--blew up in my face and got in my hair."
"Now I remember. Gotcha."
"Yeah; I can't get it out."
"What shampoo did you use?"
"I used that Bed Head stuff. 'Tigi'."
"Oh, that crap does not work."
"Really?"
"Yes like a nest."
"What do you recommend?"
"Mmm. Maybe Neutrogena."
"Really?"
"Yeah, that's what I use."
"Oh, meirda."
"Yeah; and you look a little red."
"Yeah, I know."
"Is that from the experiment?"
"Yeah."
"Because it was hot?"
"Yeah."
"Okay."
"Yeah, I got a little bit of an allergic reaction from it as well."
"Aw, I'm sorry."
"Hey, what's done is done."
"You look good."
"Thank you. I look like a slice of bacon gone wrong. But other than that, I do look good. Thank you."
"Well, goodbye, Andrea."
"Goodbye, Jessika."
Jessika smiled at Andrea before walking away to her newly assigned counter and lab partner. Andrea smiled to herself once she got around her counter. When she looked up, she saw a red-haired, freckled-face boy approaching her.
Once he was close enough to her, Andrea greeted him. "Hola, chico. I'm Andrea; you must be my new partner."
The boy scoffed. "Well, isn't it obvious? And my name's not 'Chico', it's Randall."
Andrea scrunched her forehead. "Okay, hi, Randall."
"You already said hi to me. I know Spanish."
"Oh, eso es muy interesante."
"I don't know all Spanish! I'm not a God."
"Sorry for assuming."
"You should be sorry."
"You want me to get the aprons?"
"Do I want you to get the aprons?"
Andrea nodded. "Yeah."
"What kind of question is that? 'Do you want me to get the aprons?' The aprons are needed. Tell me that was meant to be rhetorical. Of course you're not going to tell me because you were actually serious. 'Do you want me to get the aprons?' Uh, duh! Of course I want you to get the aprons. But you can get them without asking. We need the aprons for the experiment. Geez Louise."
Andrea gave Randall a blank expression. "Oh, my God. I was just asking. I thought you would want to get them."
"Well, you thought wrong."
"Uh-huh. I'm going to get the aprons then."
"You should."
Andrea picked up the tongs from the counter and walked away from Randall. "Oh, Jessika," she sang, squeezing the tongs repeatedly.

I Hate My Lab Partner/Junior Year (Chapter 4)

The week after, Andrea's homeroom teacher assigned the class another experiment. Andrea, not wanting to deal with her lab partner, was sheerly infuriated but knew she just had to grin and bear it. As the students went to their assigned counters in the classroom, Andrea picked up the instructions' sheet from her counter and started to notice that Jessika was typing on her cellphone, ignoring Andrea and their scrambled experiment.
"Hey," Andrea tried to capture her attention. Jessika continued to type on her phone. "Hey." Jessika still gave no answer. Andrea then snapped her fingers in front of Jessika's face, making her look up. "Hello."
"Um, I'm texting," Jessika replied.
"Um, so? We're doing an experiment on the color change... photosynthesis thing. You know what I mean."
"I know. That's why I'm over here."
"Well, while you're over here, can you go over there and get some alcohol?"
"Aren't we too young to drink?"
"No, it's for the experiment!"
"Alright, calm  down. Why can't you get it?"
"Because I'm reading the instructions."
"Well, can I read the instructions?"
"I don't know. Can I trust you?"
"Of course you can. I know what I'm doing."
"Can you do the right thing?"
"Yes."
"Then I'll go get the extra equipment."
"By the way, I drink alcohol anyway. I don't care about laws."
"Then you can text when you drive."
Andrea walked away as Jessika glared at her. While Andrea picked up the equipment from the table across the counter, Jessika skimmed through the sheet. After only a couple seconds, Jessika looked back down into her phone and began to text. When Andrea came back, she settled the objects on the counter and gave an angry expression towards Jessika who was not paying attention to her.
"Jessika," Andrea called.
Jessika looked up. "Yeah, what's up?"
"What did I say?"
"That texting comment was hurtful."
"But-- Ugh, sorry. Now what did the sheet say?"
"Oh, it said to put the thingy with the thingy."
"'The thingy with the thingy'?"
"Yeah, and you have to put the other thingy on it."
"The thingy, huh?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"Jessika, I told you to do one thing. You couldn't do that?"
"Look, I'm helping."
"You're helping, right? Well, if you're helping, then go and get us some goggles."
"Ugh, those are not my style."
"It's not like people wear them as a fashion statement. Please go."
"Okay, since you said 'please'."
"And please, put your hair in a ponytail."
"I rather not."
Andrea chuckled scornfully. "I rather you will."
Jessika placed her phone in the pocket of her skirt. She walked off to the safety goggle cabinet while Andrea placed the flask on top of the stand over the burner on the counter. She muttered to herself about how Jessika was really annoying as she brought the graduated cylinder closer to her. Soon, Jessika came back and dropped a pair of goggles on the counter.
"You only brought one?" asked Andrea.
"Oh, I'm sorry," said Jessika. "Did you want one?"
"Yes! Actually, I need one."
"Sorry. I'll go get it."
"You do that."
Jessika rushed back to the cabinet for another pair of goggles.
Andrea dragged the bottle of alcohol closer to herself. "Idiota," she mumbled.
Jessika came back with the goggles and threw them on the counter to have them be near Andrea. She picked up the ones that she brought earlier and put them on.
"Yeah, give me the dirty ones while you have the cleaner ones," said Andrea sarcastically. "That's generous."
"Ugh, I can't see," Jessika groaned.
"You've said that the first four times we've had experiments. How many times are you going to keep saying that?"
"Until they clean the goggles."
"They do clean the goggles. They just don't clean them good."
Andrea twisted the cap of the bottled water open and poured it into the graduated cylinder slowly.
"This is so boring," commented Jessika.
"Sorry that it's boring to learn."
"Thank you."
Andrea rolled her eyes. After pouring in the desired amount of water in the cylinder, she sat down the bottle and put the cap back on. She poured the cylinder into the flask and turned the burner on to a low heating.
"Yay, we're done," said Jessika. "Let's leave."
"Hang on a second! We just got started."
"Jesus."
"Yes, you need Jesus. Okay, this sheet says, 'Pour Liquid Number One in water once it bubbles.' Liquid Number One? Fancy. I mean, not fancy, but it's cool."
"Alright, dweeb."
Andrea carried a blank expression on her face. Nevertheless, she opened the bottle that said 'Liquid Number One' from the counter and pour a half a teaspoon in the beaker. Slowly, the brown liquid made the water turn green.
"Whoa, how it do that?" Andrea's widened her eyes.
"Duh, science," Jessika said, checking her phone.
Andrea turned her head to see Jessika on her phone. "Can you please put your phone away? The teacher is going to see."
"I don't care what Bradley Cooper over there sees."
"He looks more like Orlando Bloom, you trouble maker. And in case you did not know, that's Spanish for 'trouble maker'."
"Whoa, Andrea. Don't trip on pebbles on me, okay?"
"Excuse me?"
"I am helping you and you're not letting me in."
"That doesn't make any sense."
"That's because you can hardly speak English."
"Okay." Andrea walked up to Jessika until she was an inch apart from her. "Look, even though you have done a couple of things for me, you still haven't done anything. Now you are going to help me and help me right or else, I'm going to rip out your acryllic nails and stick them into some place fierce."
"Okay, one... you need a breath mint. Two, if help is just what you want, then help I will give you."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Good. Thank you."
"Don't mention it."
Andrea walked back to the counter. "Now, let's proceed with the experiment. So this sheet says that once the water is a solid green, we can pour Liquid Number Two in it. But when we do so, we--"
Andrea stopped talking when she saw Jessika take a strong sniff of the bottle of alcohol.
"What in the world are you doing?" Andrea asked.
"Smelling the alcohol. Duh?"
Andrea swiped the bottle from Jessika. "No more distractions, kay-kay?"
Jessika giggled. "Andrea, stop being ridiculous." She flicked her hand over the heated flask to show a 'Give-It-To-Me' sign but as she did that, two of her rings slipped from her middle finger and dropped in the flask.
"Oh!" Andrea groaned. "Dang it, Jessika! You dropped your ugly gargoyle rings in the water."
"Hey, they were of birds. Besides, it was an accident."
"Accident or not, we're going to get in trouble. Why can't you wear rings that fit?"
"They were incredibly stylish."
"No, true that, true that. But still, now what are we going to do?"
"Calm down. We can still continue. Let me just add the second liquid to the thing."
Jessika took off the cap from the bottle labeled 'Liquid Number Two' and poured almost half of the bottle into the flask.
"Wait!" shouted Andrea. "I didn't give you the certain amount!"
Suddenly, the solution in the flask started to overflow and bubble excessively.
"What's going on?" asked Jessika.
"You tell me! You added too much liquid."
"I will just get rid of this container and get a new one."
"No, you can't touch it."
Instantly, the solution shot out of the flask like a volcano and hit Andrea mostly in the face. Although, the solution made a big splash, none of it touched Jessika. The accident caught every student in the class' attention. Mister Cavanaugh hopped out of his seat from the desk when he sensed the accident.
"What's going on?" he asked.
Andrea started blinking as the once green, now blue solution dripped from her face, staining it blue. She coughed to get some of it out of her mouth. Her goggles no longer appeared on her face.
"She did it!" Jessika pointed at Andrea.
"Andrea?" the teacher tried to grab her attention.
"Hot, hot," Andrea uttered.
"Okay, it was me," Jessika admitted.
"Blue has a flavor."
"Andrea, are you alright?" asked Cavanaugh.
"My spine taste like a daffodil," her words were slurred. She then fell back and passed out on the floor.
"'Blue's Clues' if you know what I mean," said Andrea's classmate, Cory, to his lab partner.

I Hate My Lab Partner/Junior Year (Chapter 3)

The next day, after another exhausting day from a different experiment in Physics class, Andrea would say, the girls got together in the cafeteria during lunch time, sitting in the same seats as the year before and the days within the first week of school. When discussing a topic to talk about, Andrea decided to express her feelings about her lab partner.
"I can't believe her! She is so incompetent. I mean, why go to school if you don't want to learn? That is such a waste of time. Besides, she is always gluing her eyes to her stupid magazines. Like, who brings those to school? School is a place that involves concentrating and she has an inability to do so. If she paid attention as much as she did her fake nails, maybe she would have more common sense. I can't stand her. Maybe if her parents spelled her name correctly, she wouldn't have so much trouble following instructions. School is there so you can learn. Learn! And Jessika can care less about that. So incompetent."
The girls stared at Andrea with blank expressions, as if she was a different person.
"What?"
"Earth to Andrea, where are you?" asked Debra.
"Guys, I'm serious! Jessika is basically the most irresponsible person I have ever met."
"There are a lot of irresponsible people in this school," said Madeline, "and frankly, we can't stop them."
"You want my honest opinion, Andy?" asked Skye. "Jessika kind of almost reminds me of you. Like, how you used to be... or how you are."
"I couldn't agree with you more, Skye. The way that you describe Jessika, she does kind of sounds like you. No offense."
"You really think so?" said Andrea.
"Yeah, it's like 'looking into a mirror' type of way," responded Debra.
"What does Jessika look like?" asked Lizzie.
"She looks like you but Korean," answered Andrea.
"Then she must be fabulous."
"I thought she was. Until she said I pencil on my eyebrows."
"You do pencil your eyebrows sometimes," said Madeline.
"Yeah, but I didn't think people would notice."
"Andrea, this might seem like a stupid question," started Debra, "but why you change?"
"Because we're juniors. And like what Skye said, we have one more year and we're free adults. I want to take school seriously this time because if I do slack off, I won't be able to graduate with all of you. I don't even know how I made it to the eleventh grade. But I'm not going to let people or things stop me from doing what I got to do. I don't want to grow without you."
"That's so sweet, Andrea," said Madeline softly.
"We're not going to grow without you either, Andrea," admitted Debra.
"Yeah, that's right," added Lizzie. "We're a team."
"Forever and always," smiled Skye.
"Thanks, guys," Andrea tilted her heads. "What would I do without you four?"
"Become friends with a four?" inquired Lizzie.
The girls laughed.
"You always know how to make me laugh," smiled Andrea.
In response, the girls put their hands out across the table to a point where all of their hands touch. Andrea was the last to place her hand over her friends' hands. But when she does so, the girls all took a look at her hand which was crimson red and forming tiny blisters. Seeing Andrea's deformed hand made the girls flinch and jolt back. Andrea looked at her friends confused.
"What happened to your hand!" asked Madeline, balling her hands into fists and burying them in her chest.
Andrea glimpsed down at her hand. "Oh, this? There was a little accident in my Physics class which involved Jessika spilling a suspicious liquid."
"Oh, my God!" said Skye, her eyes wider than ever.
"That's what I said when it spilled on me."
"And the teacher didn't give you a bandage?" asked Madeline.
"Oh, no, he did give me a bandage. It just disintegrated."
"Wow," whispered Debra, locking her eyes on Andrea's hand.
"Excuse me but I got to go throw up," said Lizzie, before getting up and walking out of the cafeteria.
"Just wondering, why do you seem so calm about your hand being red and bumpy?" questioned Madeline.
"Because in my head," started Andrea, "I'm beating Jessika senseless. Imagination seems to get me by."
"I see."
"Don't you want to go to the nurse for a band-aid or something?" asked Debra.
"Nah, I'm good."
"Andrea Gonzalez, you are the strongest person I have ever met," confesses Skye.
Andrea put her hand on her chest. "Thank you."
"Now we don't want her chest to disintegrate, now don't we?" said Debra, almost quietly.
Soon, a brown-haired, attractive boy, out of nowhere, rushed up towards Andrea and slowly kissed her on the cheek.
Andrea grinned. "Good evening, Kevin."
"Good evening," he responded in his suave voice, looking down at Andrea.
"Hello, Kevin," all the girls greeted.
"Hello, ladies."
"Babe, I heard you called me a dog to one of your friends," said Andrea. "Would you like to explain yourself?"
"Uh... who told you that?"
"Some weird blond kid."
"Cory. Uh, I didn't call you a dog; I said you were feisty like a dog. And you know I like that, baby."
"Then say 'cat' next time."
"I will. Sorry if it felt insulting to you."
Andrea giggled. "No, that's okay."
"Sweet. I got to go. Who's the best?"
"Me."
"That's right." Kevin dropped down and pressed his lips on Andrea's lips. "Later, baby."
"Later, papi."
Kevin smirked at Andrea then walked off through the cafeteria.
"Why doesn't he sit with us?" questioned Debra. "He's your boyfriend, of course."
"He loves to sit with his 'cool' friends," answered Andrea. "I can sit with him but he can't sit here unless he's with his friends."
"Why does he need to be with his friends to spend time with you?" asked Madeline.
"I know, right? But when we go on dates, it's completely different."
"Well, if he starts to mistreat you, just know that you can take him," said Skye.
"I know."
Lizzie began to come back, entering the cafeteria and sitting back down in her seat.
"What I miss?" she asked after letting out a short belch into her hand.
"Kevin has to be with his friends in order to hang out with Andrea during lunch," answered Madeline.
Lizzie gasped. "What? That's not right, Andrea. You should not take that. Dump him."
"I'm not going to dump him," said Andrea.
"Then shoot him. You know, do a little dribble then swish."
"What?" Skye responded.
"She doesn't want to dump him so why don't she 'swish' him?" Lizzie said, flattening out her hand then curving it in like a hook.
"I think you mean 'dunk'," corrected Madeline.
"Yeah, it's 'dunk', not 'dump'," Andrea agreed.
"Really?" responded Lizzie. "It's 'dunk'? Geez, no wonder I'm failing physics."

I Hate My Lab Partner/Junior Year (Chapter 2)

Andrea entered the classroom labeled "206" and looked around. She gazed upon empty seats and tried to spot a seat assignment. Seeing no assignment or teacher, Andrea just sat down in the nearest open seat. She laid down her books onto the smooth, wooden desk. She placed her glittery binder on top of her other books and opened it up. She unzipped the pencil pouch and took out a cheetah-printed pen. After she does so, she quickly looks to her left and saw a boy who was an inch away from her.
"D'oh!" she shouted out, surprised. She placed her hand on her chest and said, "You scared me."
"Sorry," said the boy, who was clad in a green jacket and carrying a full head of blond hair.
"Who are you?"
"I'm a friend of Kevin. Kevin Christie."
"Oh, I know him. He's my boyfriend."
"Yeah, and I've seen you once and that is frankly not enough of times."
"Well, if you like what you see, don't get too happy. I suppose you're his friend and that would be very inappropriate."
"Uh, I don't know what you're talking about but I am his friend. You are definitely what he says you are."
"Beautiful? Glamorous? Poise?" she grinned.
"No, feisty. Like a dog."
Andrea dropped her grin into a frown. "Dog?"
"In a good way. If he meant it in a good way. Well, it was nice seeing you, Allison."
"Andrea."
"Close."
The boy walked away to his seat which was farther away from Andrea's chosen seat.
"Él es un perro," muttered Andrea.
Soon after, a bunch of students entered the classroom and chosen their seats. Before the school bell rang, the teacher, who was a tall, middle-aged man, had entered and observed all of his unfamiliar students.
"Welcome, class," he began to speak. "My name is Cavanaugh and, well, I am your homeroom teacher."
"Dang, Cavanaugh sure is fine," Andrea whispered to the girl sitting next to her.
"I will be your homeroom teacher for the rest of the year. I have no plans on leaving the school as I have been here for five years."
"Am I in the second Magic Mike movie?"
"I am going to put a syllabus on your desks, but before I do, I would like to tell you a little about myself. When I was thirteen, I loved schoolwork and I had a dream of becoming a teacher."
"Boy, if I was his teacher, he'd be my pet."
"Stop talking to me, please," said the girl quietly.
"I graduated from the University of Education," continued Cavanaugh, "and so far, I have taught in three schools. I have also taught engineering as well."
"If he could teach me anything," Andrea continued to whisper, "it would definitely be chemistry."
"Please stop," the girl ordered, a little louder this time.
"What? I can't make comments?"
"Is there a problem, girls?" asked Cavanaugh, looking at Andrea and her neighbor.
"Oh, no," responded Andrea in her normal tone. "Just making friends here."
"Oh! I almost forgot; since we will be doing tons of experiments for experience, I am going to assign you a lab partner that you will do lab work with until the end of the school year."
The classroom clamored softly.
"Hey, if there is going to be problems, then I will give you an F just like that."
"I'll do whatever you say, Orlando Bloom," whispered Andrea.
Cavanaugh walked behind his desk and picked up a clipboard, clipping onto a printed out piece of paper. "Now, from this chart, I am going to announce who and who are lab partners. After I read this whole thing, you may look for your partner." He started to read aloud from the chart, "Olly Anderson and Sady Zealand; Chloe Chapin and Zeke Davenport; Maya Davis and Leah Messing; Geoff Fowl and Ben Xiang; Andrea Gonzalez and Jessika Ming; Emily Groverfield and Malika Test; Chester Hennessy and CeCe Sheffield; Cory Holmes and Isabelle Rivers; Randall Lowe and Guy Bellamy; Constance Richards and Jace Davis; and Jason Peterson, you are by yourself."
"Aw," uttered a male classmate.
"Now find your partner and get to know them. I'm going to place the syllabus on your desks."
The students got from their seats and scrambled through the classroom, looking for their assigned lab partners.
Before Andrea got up, she asked her neighbor, "Are you Jessika Ming?"
"No," answered the girl.
"Then up out of my face." She got up and walked through the field of pairs. She looked left and right, seeing if there is a girl who is by herself. Luckily, she found her.
"Hello," greeted an Asian girl wearing a green floral skirt and an off-the-shoulder tee. "Are you Andrea Gonzalez?"
"Do crows make noise?" Andrea responded. "You must be Jessika."
"With a K."
"You got a K in your name? Nice!"
"I love your scarf."
"I love your everything."
"I get it from my mama."
"I get it from my grandmama."
The girls giggled.
"I like you already," said Jessika. "We're going to be awesome lab partners."
"Awesome and stylish."
"Yeah!" they both said at the same time. They high-fived and giggled away.

A few days later in the same week, all of the lab partners in the class were together and by individual laboratory counters as Mister Cavanaugh assigned a scientific experiment for all of the students. Andrea walked up to her counter which had Jessika Ming standing by it, reading a fashion magazine. Andrea brought two pairs of goggles and held out one of them towards Jessika.
"Here you go," she said.
Jessika looked up. "No, that's okay. I'm reading an article."
Andrea flopped the goggles on the counter. "No, Jessika. It's for the lab experiment. We must wear safety goggles or chemicals will get into our eyes and make us Stevie Wonder."
"I'm wearing contacts."
"Put on your goggles."
Jessika groaned. She closed her magazine and slammed it on the counter. She picked up her safety goggles and the girls put them on together.
Andrea picked up a plastic shielded piece of paper from the counter and put it up close to her face to read it. "'Fill beaker up with water and place it on the stand over the burner. After you do so, turn on burner to the lowest heat setting'. Okay, I'm going to get water for the beaker. Can you try to turn it on while I'm gone?"
While Andrea was talking, Jessika was flipping through her magazine. She looked up and said, "Uh-huh."
Andrea nodded. She walked away towards the sink across the room, which was blocked by a line of three students. Andrea stood in the back of the line and waited until the line in front of her was gone. When it was, she turned on the faucet to a lukewarm setting and filled the beaker with water half-way. After that, she turned off the sink and walked back to her counter with the beaker. When she arrived, she placed the beaker on the tiny stand but noticed that the heat was not on.
"Jessika," she called.
"Mm-hmm," Jessika replied, still buried deep into her magazine.
"Did you turn the burner on?"
"Of course."
" Usted es un mentiroso! The burner is not on."
"Well, what do you want me to do?"
"I don't know. How about turn it on?!"
Jessika groaned. "Fine." She grabbed the handle to the burner and turned it all the way, making the fire come out raised high.
Frantic, Andrea quickly turned the handle back to its original spot, turning the fire off. "Are you nuts?!" she yelled at Jessika. "The paper says, 'lowest setting'. You could've burned my eyebrows off."
"Well, they're still on your face, aren't they? Probably because you heavily penciled them on."
Andrea's face balled up with anger. She cried a furious yell, not too loud, but still audible, and started to run over to Jessika. She wrapped her hands tightly around Jessika's neck and began shaking her back and forth. Most of the students in the classroom locked their eyes on the not-so-friendly lab partners.
Soon, the teacher rushed over to the girls. "What is going on here?" he asked, putting his hands on his waist.
"Nothing!" responded Andrea, still choking Jessika. "Just making friends here!"
Cavanaugh quickly grabbed the back of Andrea's shirt and pulled her off of Jessika. Jessika nearly dropped to the floor, hanging on to the counter to keep her from falling.
"Is there a problem here?" asked Cavanaugh to Andrea angrily. "Because if there is, I can just give you an F as one of your first grades."
"No," replied Andrea. "Oh, no. There is no problem, sir. I promise I will behave. I'm sorry."
"You better be." Cavanaugh walked away from the lab partners.
Andrea turned around to face Jessika. "I'm sorry, Jessika," she calmly apologized. "Didn't mean to choke you out."
Jessika rubbed her neck. "I guess it is okay. I never realized how fine the teacher is. Whoa! A complete distraction; I'll tell you that."
"Now you've lost me."

Volume 2: I Hate My Lab Partner/Junior Year (Chapter 1)

Madeline opened the door and entered the school. She held her cotton candy pink colored cellphone to her ear after dialing in it.
"Hello?" she said, walking the hallway. 
"I'm here," responded a girl's voice.
"If you're here, than where are you?"
"Closer than you think."
Lizzie walked over to Madeline as she came from a different hallway that waited inside for Madeline. Madeline smiled and embraced Lizzie. They put away their cellphones and walked down the hallway together.
"You're a mysterious one," Madeline said.
"Well, it was dark in there," said Lizzie. 
"You look nice."
"Thanks. It's almost school-appropriate."
"I love the blazer."
"Of course you do. You wear blazers all the time. You should be a lawyer."
Madeline giggled. "I wish."
As they passed another hallway, Andrea spotted the girls as she stood by the edge and caught up.
"Hey, wait up!" she called.
"Andrea!" Lizzie and Madeline greeted.
"You didn't see me?" Andrea walked next to Lizzie.
"No, not really," said Madeline.
"I thought I did," replied Lizzie, "but then I was like, 'No'. But when I saw you, I was like, 'Yeah'."
"You know, I'm not invisible," said Andrea.
"We know," said Madeline. "But with that butt, you'll never be."
Andrea smirked.
"I'm so excited for our first day of school," confessed Lizzie. "We're finally seniors."
"We're juniors," Madeline corrected.
"That, too! So what do you think we'll do today?"
"Depending on what classes we have today," answered Andrea. 
"Oh, I have physics, I remember. Do you think I might have to run track?"
"What?"
"Girls, girls!" yelled a female voice.
The trio turned around while slowing down and saw Debra quickly approaching them.
"Debra!" the girls responded in happiness.
Once Debra caught up with them, the girls continued to walk through the halls with Debra next to Madeline.
"You look boho as usual," commented Andrea.
"I try to," Debra responded. "A maxi dress like this deserves to be blown on a breezy day like this."
"Calming," added Lizzie.
"How did you get here?" asked Andrea to Debra.
"I walked," answered Debra. "It's a beautiful day to do so."
"But I could've driven you. I would've been happy enough to do that for you."
"I know but you know that I don't believe in cars."
"How can you not believe in cars when I saw a bunch of them in front of the school?" asked Lizzie.
"No, silly. I meant that I don't like to be in cars so much. The gas you use to fill the car comes out from the back when you drive and pollutes the air."
"Well, if millions of people are driving cars and polluting air every day," started Andrea, "then the world is not going to break anytime soon. That's like not eating toaster pastries when thousands are made to be eaten."
"I like toaster pastries," admitted Lizzie. "They're like a flat jelly donut. Fun."
"You know, I kind of agree with Debra," said Madeline. "We need air to breathe and if people are going to tear down the trees to build shopping malls, we are going to be doomed in, like, tomorrow."
"Coming from the girl who wants to 'save the world'," said Andrea.
"Hey, it seems impossible but it was never confirmed that it wasn't possible."
Suddenly, the girls changed from four to five when Skye popped from a passing hallway and glided next to Debra.
"Hola, amigas," she greeted.
"Skye!" the girls greeted back.
"Hey, Spanish is my thing," said Andrea.
"Okay," Skye responded. "What have you girls been up to?"
"We were talking about pastries and gas."
"Excuse me?"
"Oh, not that type of gas."
"It's not that important, Skye," said Madeline.
"It's a very important issue," Debra responded.
"Yeah but I have a car."
"So where are we heading?" asked Skye.
"I don't know. I guess we're just waiting for the sign that tells us to report to class in five minutes."
"It takes us five minutes to get to class?" asked Lizzie. "That's, like, thirty seconds in light years."
"Who told you that?" asked Andrea.
"I don't remember. My last science teacher?"
"We'll stick to that answer until further evidence," said Madeline.
 "So how are you and Jude?" asked Andrea to Skye.
 Skye sighed. "Me and him are fine. I mean, we're not together anymore but--"
 "What?" Andrea butt in.
 "What happened?" asked Debra. "You two were perfect together."
 "It just felt weird," replied Skye. "Jude and I were just better friends so that's what we are now."
 "So Jude is cool with that?" asked Lizzie.
 "Well, he's been sending me letters."
 "Love letters?" questioned Madeline.
 "No; regular letters. Like, 'Dear Skye, I just bought the new iPhone. Made me think of you. O.M.G. L.O.L. G.T.G. I.L.Y. X.O.X.O. Sincerely, Jude."
 "He does know you can send that in a text, right?" asked Lizzie.
 "I have no idea. I haven't replied to any of his letters but I'm thinking about sending him one."
 "Why is he even sending you letters?" Madeline asked.
 "Because he has the flu so he can't come to school."
 "Well, if you're going to break it off with him in a letter, write something like, 'I'm sorry that it has to be this way but you leave me choice. When I said it was over, it meant it was over. Though, we can still be friends.' Or something like, 'Hey, when I dumped you, I meant it, you big baby. Now deal with it!'"
 "That's a little harsh," said Debra.
 "Really? Because I just thought of worst letters than that."
"Boy, I am so psyched that we are juniors," admitted Skye.
"And seniors," Lizzie added.
Skye made a confused face. "Right. Just one more year and we will be free adults."
The girls agreed. They high-fived all of each other and made noises of individual enjoyment.
"Hey! Keep it down!" shouted a gray-haired teacher who was standing against the wall far beside the girls. His call made the girls stopped walking and cheering. "Shouldn't you all be getting to class?"
"Uh, we didn't see the sign," responded Lizzie, sticking her face towards him. She then turned to her friends while quickly pointing to the teacher with her thumb. "This guy."
"Go to class anyway!"
"Alright," replied Madeline.
The girls continued to walk down the hall together.
"Why is he so angry?" questioned Debra.
"I know," said Andrea. "That guy became redder than a tomato."
"Do you think he's been drinking tomato juice?" asked Lizzie.
The girls giggled at Lizzie's question.
"I'm serious."
"Maybe we should get to class," insisted Madeline. "We'll just catch up at lunch."
"Does anyone remember their new homerooms?" asked Skye.
"I do," answered Andrea. "I'm in Room 206, meaning it is on this floor."
"How did you know?" asked Lizzie.
"Because the rooms with a 200 number are on the second floor."
Lizzie gasped. "Spooky."
"It's really not. The other rooms-- Never mind. I should just head there before Mister Tomato Head yell at us again."
Madeline giggled. "Okay, see you later."
Andrea disassembled herself from the gang and walked towards the nearest internal hallway. The rest of the girls gave their farewells to her while waving to her. Andrea turned her head and waved back as she made her destination to her assigned homeroom class.