Matt sits next to the scrawny bleach blonde

"Hi, I'm Matt." He settled into the seat next to the blonde. "What terrible thing did you do to get sent to summer school?"

The girl gave him a strange look. "I like school. Don't you?"

Matt had never thought about school as something people could like. It was a **** chamber designed to humiliate all but the most popular kids. From her scrawny figure, he didn't figure this girl made that grade. On the other hand, just disagreeing with his new seatmate seemed like a bad start to a relationship.

"I guess school is sort of like the atmosphere or something. You don't think about liking it or disliking it. It just is... with some parts that are good and others that suck."

"I was kidding about liking it. I'm Ursula. I haven't seen you before. Are you new?"

"Yeah, just moved into the area."

Matt was surprised to find chatting with Ursula was relatively easy. Usually, girls seemed to take delight out of going quiet and making him carry the full weight of the conversation.

"You going to the dance this Friday?" Ursula asked during a break from discussing the good and terrible teachers.

Dance? Matt had been vaguely aware of posters and signs up but he'd tuned them out when he saw the price tag. Where would he come up with thirty bucks between now and Friday?