She buys the rats and picks up Dandelion. She hands Daisy to Ethan. ,, Be very gentle. ,,

Hmm...let's see.

Scott glanced up and saw one of Lise's classmates, and a lazy smile spread over his face. Taking that as an invitation, she started toward him, weaving her way past the tables. He flipped out his iPhone, pressed a button, and looked at the classmate with half-lidded eyes, still grinning.

A phone rang close by.

She jumped a bit, but continued walking. Behind her, there were gasps, and then hysterical giggles. And then, the whispered conversation that always makes you think they're talking about you.

Another phone rang.

And another.

And now, whispers and laughter were spreading like wildfire. The laughter couldn't be directed at her, could it? She saw several people point in her direction, whispering among themselves, and tried her best to ignore them. Scott's table was only a few feet away.

"Hey, hot cheeks!" A hand smacked her butt and she shrieked. Spinning around, she glared at Dan Ottoman, a blond, pimply clarinet player from band. He leered back at her and winked. "Never took you for a player, girl," he said, trying to ooze charm but reminding her of a dirty Kermit the Frog. "Come down to band sometime. I've got a flute you can play."

"What are you talking about?" she snarled, but he snickered and held up his phone.


At first, the screen was blank. But then a message flashed across it in bright yellow. "How is Meghan Chase(Lise's classmate) like a cold beer?" it read. She gasped, and the words disappeared as a picture flashed into view.

Her. Her with Scott in the parking lot, his arm around her shoulders, a wide leer on his face. Only now--her mouth dropped open--she was butt naked, staring at him in wonder, her eyes blank and stupid. He'd obviously used Photoshop; her "body" was obscenely skinny and featureless, like a doll's, her chest as flat as a twelve-year-old's. She froze, and her heart stopped beating as the second part of the message scrolled over the screen.

"She's smooth and goes down easy!"

The bottom dropped out of her stomach, and her cheeks flamed. Horrified, she looked up at Scott, to see his whole table roaring with laughter and pointing at her. Ring tones echoed through the cafeteria, and laughter pounded me like physical waves. She started trembling, and her eyes burned.

Covering her face, she turned and fled the cafeteria before she started wailing like a two-year-old. Shrieking laughter echoed around her, and tears stung her eyes like poison. She managed to cross the room without tripping over benches or her feet, bashed open the doors, and escaped into the hallway.

He moves Floppy to his arm so both his hands were free. He cupped them

Daisy squeaks up at him and nuzzles his fingers. She then curls up in a little ball and swiftly falls asleep.

Lise sighed. Even if she didn't trust...well, anyone, she still couldn't just let a girl cry because the guys at her school are utter jerks. She stood up, ignoring the laughter of her classmates and inconspicuously followed the girl-Meghan- out of the cafeteria.

His hands aren't big enough to hold her with only one, but he really wants to pet her

She was in the corner stall of the girls' bathroom, sobbing her eyes out and planning her move to Canada, or possibly Fiji--somewhere far, far away. She didn't dare show her face to anyone in this state ever again.

She knocked on the door to her stall, Not staying anything just yet.

She fell silent--or tried to, as she was hiccupping still.

Shes fallen asleep. ,, Youll have to wak all the way there. ,, She warns calmly.