Benji sat down hard in his desk, the bell ringing to signal the beginning of class. He had put a bandage on his forehead that morning, and had tried to comb his hair so that nobody would notice. But his mother had had tears in her eyes as she had ushered him out the door that morning.

Benji looked around for the teacher, and was relieved to see that his usual English teacher was absent. The substitute was glancing around the room with a bored expression on her face, and after scribbling a few assignments on the board, retreated to the desk at the back of the room, a romance book clutched in her hand. Ignoring the work on the board as most of the class was, Benji proceeded to doodle on the back of somebody's forgotten worksheet.

He heard the class door open a few minutes later, and heard the substitute shuffle past him, and glanced up. Someone had just come into the room but the sub was standing in the way, so all he could see of the newcomer was a hand clasping a purple slip - the purple slip that all new kids had.

He watched in curiosity, waiting until the sub moved away. There was a new person standing there all right - a new girl. She was glancing around the room uncertainly, fingering the strap on her messenger-style backpack. She had long, dark gold hair that reached the middle of her back, and the expression on her face showed her uncertainty.

She stood there for just a few more minutes, before her eyes rested on the only available desk in the room... the one right next to Benji. She walked slowly over, and his eyes followed her movements as she sat down. Suddenly, for some odd reason, he noticed her shoelaces. They were black, with blue nautical stars - he hadn't seen any like them before, and they were quirky in a way that he liked.

"Um... nice laces." She turned to look at him. That was possibly the dumbest thing I have ever said was the first thought. Benji was surprised when she smiled at him.

"Thanks," she said.

"I, uh, guess you're new?" Benji said.

She nodded. "Yeah... my dad's in the military, and we move around a lot."

"Where did you live last?"

"Washington state."

"Oh."

He glanced at her slip, trying to read the messy handwriting. He saw the name - Horizon.

"Pretty weird name, huh?" she said.

He glanced up at her. "Kind of unusual."

She sighed. "My parents are ex-hippies. Call me Rusty."

He furrowed his brow. "How do you get Rusty from Horizon?"

She smiled. "My younger brother could never say my name when he was little, so it always came out as Rozzy or Rusty or something."

He nodded. "I'm...Benji."

She nodded. "Yeah, first period Geometry, right?"

He shook his head, confused. "No."

She furrowed her brow. "But you sat right in front of me."

Benji paused for a second, then laughed. "That was my brother."

Rusty stared at him, bewildered for a moment. "You have a twin?"

Benji smiled. "Yeah. That was Joel."

Rusty looked off into space for a minute. "That would be cool to have a twin."

Benji smiled. It was nice to have somebody to actually talk to for once. Someone to talk to where the talking didn't include a few insults before a fight.