Brrrrrrriiiiiiggggg! My alarm clock wakes me up, while I try to cover my head with my pillows.  I rush to get out of bed. I should have gotten out of bed half an hour ago.

“Hazel Rose Johnson, get down here right now! The bus leaves in five minutes!” My mom’s voice echos into my room.

“Coming!” I call back.

I quickly grab some clothes off the ground and pull them on. I’m so rushed that I accidently put on two different kinds of socks. Oh well, I’ll just have to live with it. I can’t be late, I’ll get in so much trouble, maybe even a detention.  I hustle downstairs, say a quick goodbye to my mom, and head out the door with no breakfast, my stomach growling. My brother, Miles, is already by the bus stop. The bus is just pulling up as I dash to the curb.

“Oops, did Hazel forget her lunch?” Miles teases, like always.

I’m about to yell that I didn’t, but then I picture my lunch sitting on top of the counter. Then I realize that Miles was right. Miles is always acting better than me just because he is in 8th grade and I’m in 6th.  Typical older brother. I stick my tongue out at him.

I get on the bus and head for my usual seat next to my best friend, Rosie. She is picked up at the stop before me, so she is always waiting for me. Rosie isn’t there but, I sit down anyway. I’ll ask her later why she wasn’t on the bus. As the bus pulls away from my house I see a girl with bright orange hair and a purple tutu make her way down the aisle. That’s more than a bit strange. I’ve never seen her on the bus before, in fact, come to think of it I’ve never seen her at school before. I think I would have noticed orange hair. Everyone else is behaving normally like a purple tutu is the most normal thing in the world for a 6th grader to wear. Before I have a chance to think about this she starts to come towards me.

Please don’t sit by me, please don’t. Then everyone will be looking at me. I think to myself.

She sits down anyway. Oh no. I think. I sink down into my seat so no one can see me.

“Hi Hazel,” she says.

“Uh, hi. How do you know my name?” Now, I’m really confused. Why isn’t Rosie here? She always calms me down.

“Are you kidding?” A voice comes from behind me. It’s my friend, Katie. “You guys have been best friends since K4.”

“What? No!” I exclaim befuddled. “My best friend is Rosie, not whoever this is!”