A Good Yarn Page 0,93

and exchanging gossip. Here, she'd stand out like a searchlight in fog. The new kid. Friendless and alone.

She dawdled until the classroom was empty, then gathered up her things and headed out. To her astonishment, Andrew was waiting by the door.

"How's it going?" he asked. His books were tucked close to his side; Courtney immediately noticed how tanned he was - and how cute.

"About as well as can be expected," she told him. It seemed everyone was moving in the same direction, and Courtney followed the flow. So did Andrew. She stopped at her locker long enough to drop off her books. She was gratified that Andrew chose to wait for her again. "I certainly know how to make a grand entrance, don't I?" she said wryly.

Andrew grinned, which made him even more appealing, and Courtney forced herself to glance away. "I haven't seen Annie yet."

"She was looking for you earlier."

That was encouraging.

"How'd you get to school?"

It was embarrassing to admit she'd taken the bus. Her grandmother had needed her car and besides, Courtney had never driven it. All summer she'd used her bicycle for transportation and it'd worked out great. But things were different now. Only nerds rode bicycles to school. So it was either walk or take the bus. Given those choices, she'd opted for the school bus but had been the only senior on board.

"The bus," she whispered.

"I'd offer to drive you, but I have to come in early because of football."

He'd do that for her?

"Mom dropped Annie off," he explained.

"I can't ask my grandmother to do that."

He nodded in agreement. "Let me work on it. I know a guy who doesn't live that far from you. If you were to offer Mike gas money, he'd probably be willing to pick you up."

Courtney smiled delightedly, relieved and a little astonished at her good fortune. This was a perfect solution and she'd pay whatever his friend wanted. Not only would she avoid the humiliation of the bus, she'd have an opportunity to make a friend.

As they entered the cafeteria, she expected Andrew to join his friends. Instead, he got in the lunch line behind her.

"You're looking great, by the way," he said.

She'd worked hard this summer and it felt so good to have him, of all people, notice how much weight she'd lost. "Thanks. You are, too."

"It's football," he explained. "I bulk up every year." He slid his tray behind her as they advanced in the line. "I'll talk to Mike and get back to you tonight."

"Cool."

She chose a chef's salad with low-fat dressing and skipped the soda, selecting bottled water instead. If there was an award for righteousness, she should receive it.

"Courtney," Annie shouted and hurried over to her as soon as she'd finished paying for her salad. "Come and meet my friends."

"Sure." She started to walk away and realized she'd abandoned Andrew. Turning back, holding her tray with both hands, she said, "I'll talk to you later, all right?"

"Later." He nodded, sauntering across the room to join a group of seniors.

"He's going to find someone to give me a ride to school," Courtney told Annie, nearly bursting with the news.

"Mom said he should," Annie informed her. So much for that, Courtney thought, squelching her disappointment. Bethanne was responsible for this. Well, it shouldn't matter. Instead of obsessing about the fact that Andrew hadn't come up with the idea himself, Courtney should be grateful - and she was. Just not as happy as she'd been before.

"Annie!" a girl called out. "Over here."

Annie hesitated, and when she turned toward the other girl, Courtney sensed reluctance. Courtney followed her to a table occupied by two heavily made-up girls. They had various body parts pierced and were dressed mostly in black leather. Courtney felt completely out of place; for their part, Annie's friends eyed her as if she'd descended from outer space.

"This is Courtney," Annie said, introducing her. "We met over the summer. Tina and Shyla." Annie gestured first to one and then the other.

"Hi," Courtney said.

"Hi." Shyla smiled; Tina didn't.

"You trying out for the cheerleading squad?" Tina, the girl dressed entirely in black, asked. Her nose was pierced in five places.

That these friends of Annie's figured Courtney was skinny enough to make the grade was a compliment, but she knew they didn't mean it that way.

"Not really."

Annie frowned at the other girls. "Courtney's my friend. Come on, guys, she's new here."

Tina turned her gaze from Courtney and stared at Annie. "We haven't seen much of you lately."

"I've been busy,