Crissy stood by Sara’s locker, trying to be patient. She held the invitation tightly in her hand, glancing down at it every few seconds, just to make sure that it was actually there and she wasn’t dreaming. She watched the end of the hall where Sara usually came from. A frightening thought crossed Crissy’s mind. What if Sara didn’t come? She didn’t have Sara’s number, or know where she lived. How would she get the invitation to her? She was so worried that she didn’t even notice Zac until he was right beside her with his arm around her shoulders. “Don’t worry, babe.” he said sweetly, “I’ll be your knight for today.”

Crissy quickly pulled away. “Zac! What are you doing?”

He grinned. “Hey, I can protect you just as well as that Sara Janus chick. So don’t worry.”

She frowned. “I don’t need protection.”

He laughed strangely and leaned back against the lockers. Crissy glanced at the writing on his T-shirt that read “I'd kill you, but I'm too busy burying the remains of your dog". She lifted her eyes to his black eyes and hair. Everything about him was black, even the two cords that hung from his ears and created a trail to his duffel bag. Headphones.

A teacher walked by and glanced at him. “Zac, what are you doing?” the teacher asked.

“Just listening to my satanic music again, Mr. Ridley.” Zac said with a wide smile.

Mr. Ridley sighed. “You know the rules about portable CD players.”

Zac began rambling to Mr. Ridley about how the rules against portable CD players were unfair and unjust, amazing Crissy with his thoughtful argument that CD players in school only increased the students’ appreciation for fine music, and studies show that music appreciation does indeed increase the students’ grades in other areas of study. After a while, Mr. Ridley just shook his head and walked off, leaving the two alone.

“You’re a very convincing person.” Crissy said.

“And you’re a very cute person.” he said, replacing the arm that he had removed from her shoulders when arguing with the teacher.

“I’m curious though. Why me?” she asked.

“Why do you even ask? You act like I’m popular or something, like you’re special just because I gave you some attention. I’m nothing special, Crissy. You shouldn’t feel like I am.”

She stared at him for a moment, studying his jet-black eyes. They were a bit scary, especially when he was serious like this. But for all his efforts, he could never be as scary as Christoph. Suddenly she began giggling and Zac narrowed his eyes. “What’s so funny?” he asked.

“It’s just that... it’s funny to see you acting so serious.” she said between giggles.

Zac’s expression softened, but he pretended that he was still annoyed. “Can’t I be serious?”

“I guess everyone can. But it’s funnier for some than others.” she replied.

He gripped Crissy tighter. “So, what’s with the envelope?” he asked.

“Oh this? It’s an invitation to a party at Kurt’s house.”

“Kurt? Christoph’s lap-dog?”

Crissy nodded. “Christoph said I could invite Sara. And maybe you.”

Zac stepped back, releasing Crissy. “You’re kidding! Christoph wouldn’t let you invite me!”

Crissy just smiled. “I asked him last night and he said he’d see. I really think he’ll say yes.”

Zac’s eyes flashed. “So, you were thinking about me all night last night, weren’t you? I guess it would be hard to get me off your mind, eh?”

Crissy knew he was joking so she laughed and nodded. It was just moments later that Sara entered the hall and walked to her locker. Crissy immediately held out the envelope to her. Sara looked at it questioningly, but took it and opened it up. “What’s this?” she asked as she read it.

“You’re invited to Kurt’s party. Christoph is co-hosting it so he has authority on who gets invited. He told me last night that I could invite you!”

“Christoph wanted you to invite me, did he?” she asked suspiciously, but Crissy was too excited to even notice.

“Well, can you come?”

Sara read the invitation over two more times, burning the words into her mind before she looked up. “I guess so. But I want to stay with you the whole time. I don’t know many of Christoph’s friends.”

Crissy smiled. “Ok! I want you to stay with me anyway. This is the first time I’ll have a friend at one of those parties!”

Sara half-smiled herself. “You’re awfully happy today.”

“Yeah. Christoph and I are getting along better than we have in months. I’m just so excited that he’s letting me invite friends!”

“Friends?” Sara asked, emphasizing the plural form. She glanced behind Crissy at Zac who was wearing a strangely terrifying grin. “Who’s this?” she asked curiously.

“This is Zac. Christoph might let me invite him too.”

Sara stared at him for a moment before her eyes went wide. “Hey! Don’t I know you from somewhere?”

Zac blinked. “Uh... yeah, we go to school together.”

“No.... I know you from somewhere else. I can’t place it though.” she said thoughtfully.

Crissy just giggled until the two of them looked at her with surprised expressions. “You’re acting mighty strange, Crissy.” said Zac.

Crissy just kept laughing. She didn’t care if she seemed odd now to the only people who had considered her normal. She just knew that she was happy. She was happy that Christoph was treating her well. She was happy that Sara was coming to the party tonight with her, and she was happy that Zac might be coming as well. Everything was coming together like one big puzzle and she couldn’t help but smile, laugh, and giggle. It had been so long since she had been able to comfortably do these things. Now she felt like she could do it forever.

“My, aren’t you three happy.” a voice said.

Crissy stopped laughing and looked up. Christoph was standing in front of them, holding one of the famous white envelopes. He looked at Zac, then back to Crissy. He handed her the envelope and gave her a wink. While Crissy was busy giving it to him, he narrowed his eyes and glared at Sara. “You’re coming to the party, aren’t you Sara?” he asked, his velvet lips curling into a grin.

She narrowed her eyes as well. “Yeah. I’ll be there.”

Christoph’s eyes became soft again and he put his hands into his pockets. “That’s great.” he said with a laugh, walking off and beginning to whistle aimlessly.