On Monday, all Zoey heard about was the new girl. She heard people in the halls, passing her, talking about her. The seniors at the lunch table were very interested in her.

"Is she pretty?" asked Helga. Zoey shrugged.

"I... guess?" she said.

"No need to get jealous already," said Drake. "She's probably way hotter than you anyway." Helga shot him a glare.

"Talk again and I'm going to electrocute you," she said scathingly. She pulled a nail file out of her purse. "Try me."

"What's her power?" asked Sam. Zoey noticed that she and Mark were sitting next to each other, and their hands were under the table. Zoey had the sudden urge to yell, 'hand check'.

"Um, same one as Synth's, actually," said Zoey. "We thought it was singing, but it turns out she was just really good at it."

"She shares a power?" asked Kaylee. "I didn't know powers shared!"

"Well, of course they do," said Helga. "Look at how many people have super strength and flight and speed They're the common powers. No offense, Mark, but it's the truth. Then there's boring powers, like Zoey's and Dana's. No offense again, but they are. And then there are truly special powers, like ours. I guess Synth's is just more common than we realized. Or maybe they're the only two people in the world with the power. You never really know."

"My power's boring," said Orion, leaning against his fist and playing with his food. "Ooh, I can blind people briefly!"

"Think how handy that could be in a fight," said Synth. "They can't see, you can. Imagine the hits you could get in."

"I guess," said Orion. "I'd rather have something cool, like walking through walls. You know Jason Meier can?"

"Yes, we know," said Helga, exasperated. "We've gone to school with him for like, twelve years!"

"You know what would be really cool," said Mark.

"What?"

"Being able to trade powers with people. Like, steal their power for a while," he said. "You could have everyone's power!"

"Not a bad thought," said Synth. She had a strange smile on her face that Zoey couldn't quite interpret. "That would be neat." They were silent for a moment, pondering the possibilities.

"The best would be choosing your power," said Zoey. "I mean, we're all just stuck with what we get. I like my power, but it would've been nice to choose."

"I love my power, but I don't think I would've thought of it," said Kaylee. "I really like what I got. What would you choose, Zo?"

"I don't know," she said, pausing. "I guess I hadn't actually thought about it. I really like my power too, but I grew up loving to cook and stuff. Maybe something with fire, though. I don't like to be cold."

"I think you want fire so you could be Rob's other half," said Dana, grinning surreptitiously.

"Rob?" asked Kaylee.

"Rob who?" asked Laura, leaning in closer. "There are two Rob's in our grade and a Robbie." Zoey flushed.

"Rob's her boy," said Dana. She seemed to enjoy the attention from the others.

"What grade is he in?" asked Laura.

"Yours," said Mark, giving Zoey a look of amusement. She glared at him.

"Stop with the guessing game," said Zoey, irritated. "Rob Clancy." They were all silent for a moment, surprised that Zoey had exploded.

"Oh, I guess we have four Roberts then," Laura said quietly.

"I can't believe we forgot that Rob Clancy exists," said Kaylee.

"I can," said Synth and Helga together.

"Well, he's nice and everything," said Kaylee. "He just doesn't do much."

"He just hangs out with that stupid Edward Simons. You know," said Helga, sneering, "Edward's dating that girl with like, the alphabetizing power. Librarian in the making."

"She doesn't alphabetize," said Laura, rolling her eyes. "God. She had like, telekinesis or something. Just because she works at the library over the summer doesn't mean she's gonna be one. She just likes to read. And for your information, she's really nice."

"Apparently everyone in our grade is really nice," said Helga, sighing theatrically.

"Except you," said Drake, grinning. Helga glared at him.

"Anyway," said Kaylee, trying to restore order, "so Zoey's dating him."

"Does this mean we have to talk to him now?" asked Helga.

"Stop it," said Kaylee. "I doubt he wants to talk to you anyway. I mean that if Zoey's dating him, we have to tell absolutely everything we know about him."

Synth's face lit up. "Like that time he threw up on Miss Ulfson in sixth grade? That was priceless!" The seniors all burst into laughter.

"I heard about that!" said Sam. "Unbelievable. And he got in trouble for it!"

"That was retarded," said Kaylee. "I mean seriously, how could he hold that back?"

"Oh, remember in eighth grade, he asked you to formal!" said Helga to Laura. "And you said yes."

"He was a really fun date," said Laura. "I will not hear anything about that. He was really nice and paid for my ticket and everything. You are definitely not allowed to pick on him for that."

"You are so defensive today," complained Helga, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, Rob Clancy. Apparent nice guy. I think you should watch out for him, personally." Zoey was confused.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because men are pigs," she said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. Zoey raised her eyebrows, but said nothing.

"Well, you know what," said Laura, "I think you made a great choice, Zo. Rob's a really awesome guy. We were friends in middle school, but we haven't really had any classes together for high school, so we stopped talking."

"For the better," Helga muttered.

"I think he's boring," Synth offered. "He never talks in English."

"Because you have Mrs. Butch or whatever, who is the most boring teacher ever," said Kaylee.

"Well, true," she said. "But I still think he's boring." Zoey shrugged.

"I don't," she said.

"Good thing you're the one of us dating him then," said Synth. She had a strange look on her face again, and Zoey wasn't sure if she liked it.

The next weekend, Rob was busy hanging out with Ed and a few other guy friends, but he promised that he would make it up to her, and that they would have Them Time the next weekend. Zoey nodded and smiled. It wasn't a big deal.

On Friday, Kaylee invited Zoey and Mark to a Thing, as she called it.

"Just a little thing," she said, "at my house. Sam, you two, Helga, Drake, Synth, Laura, blah blah, the group stay overnight. Wanna come?"

"I'll be there," said Mark immediately. "Where do you live?" He looked at her. "You want a ride, Zo?" Zoey looked at him and then at Kaylee. She was surprised that Kaylee had invited her. She got the impression at lunch that they didn't really like her that much, that she was only there because she was Mark's friend, and they liked him.

"Um, I'll ask my parents," said Zoey. "I'll text you, Mark." She smiled at Kaylee. "Is Dana coming?"

"Oh," said Kaylee, her face falling, "my parents said ten people in all, including me... And she was eleven..."

"Oh," said Zoey.

That evening, Zoey asked. Her parents said yes, and offered to pick up Mark the next morning. Zoey texted Mark, who accepted her offer, and told her he'd pick her up at seven.

"Kaylee says bring a food something," the text added at the end. Zoey sighed. She glanced at the clock, and it told her that it was five thirty. She decided to make brownies - quick, mostly mess-free, and delicious. She threw the ingredients about, not really watching what she did. Her mind was filled with uncertainty. What if Dana wanted to do something? What if Melanie did? What would she say?

She shoved the brownies into the oven and sat down, waiting for them to bake. She then sat down on the couch and pondered. She felt bad for abandoning Melanie and, especially, Dana on a Friday. She felt sure that Dana would text her the moment she got to Kaylee's, asking her if she wanted to do something. And then Melanie - Melanie was new. She wasn't back in any kind of swing, because she didn't have a swing at Super City yet. Zoey felt it was practically her responsibility to make sure Melanie was meeting people and having fun. And it wasn't like it was a responsibility she didn't like. Then her back stiffened. Her responsibility? She realized how neurotic that sounded.

'I sound like one of those insane, over-achieving honor roll kids. All they do is talk about their responsibilities. Like anyone cares how many times a week they have to clean their room and when they do their homework to "optimize their learning potential". Ugh.' Zoey refused then and there to be one of those people.

She could go to Kaylee's if she wanted. It wasn't like Dana had no other friends. It wasn't like Zoey couldn't hang out with other friends sometimes, even if Kaylee and that group didn't like Dana. It wasn't like Zoey couldn't be friends with whoever she wanted. She wasn't Dana's property. And Dana wasn't a leech - she could handle a Friday without Zoey. She relaxed slowly, finally allowing herself to believe that it wasn't a big deal. As she leaned back into the couch, squishing herself into the leather, she smelled something that had never once come from the kitchen before.

Something was burning.

Zoey was on her feet and in the kitchen in barely a second. She wrenched open the oven and saw something that almost made her heart stop. Her brownies were charred and blackened - utterly disgusting and unedible. She gaped at them for a moment, before she realized that she should turn the stove off. She reached out a shaky hand, turning the stove off with a click. She grabbed an oven mit and pulled the brownies out of the oven. She stared at them, unbelieving.

"What's that smell?" Zoey turned and saw her mother standing on the other side of the kitchen, her nose wrinkled. Zoey held up the brownies mutely. "I didn't know you could mess up a recipe, honey," said Helen, walking over to her. "What happened?"

"Good question," said Zoey, unnerved. Her voice shook a little. "Has anything like this ever happened to you?"

"Once," said Helen. "It was just after you were born. I was very tired, and a little sick, and it took a lot to do just a little bit of telekinesis. But I relaxed and had my soup, and I was good as new in a few days. Don't worry, honey. It'll come back." Zoey looked up at her mother, and felt a bit comforted. It would be alright.

"Thanks, Mom," she said. "Can I just take the Cheesey Chips to Kaylee's?" Her mother nodded, and she heard Mark honking the horn of his car outside. Zoey hurried out the door, carrying the chips, and jumped into Mark's car.

"Hey," she said.

"Hi there," said Mark. "Ready?"

"No, I left my brain in the house."

"Awesome, let's go." Mark pulled out of her driveway and headed down the street. After twists and turns, they were in front of Kaylee's small home. They hurried up to the door and hurried to her basement.

"Hey!" called Kaylee happily. "About time you two got here! We're gonna pop in The Breakfast Club."

"Ugh, why didn't someone tell me this was a chick movie night?"

"Shut your pie hole!" called Orion, sounding personally offended. "This is the second best movie ever made."

"What's first?"

"Breakfast at Tiffany's, obviously."

"Shut up," said Helga. "I want to actually be able to hear!" Zoey settled herself in to watch the movie. Squished between Mark and Synth, she felt no uncomfortableness. She was perfectly at home among these people she hadn't known for very long. She noted that this year was so very exciting for her. She was meeting so many new people, and she was having more fun than she'd had in ages. She couldn't help but notice that her time was usually spent trying to increase Dana's self-esteem or trying to keep Mark from attaching himself to a girl, to keep Dana's self-esteem from dropping further. As she realized this, she couldn't help but be annoyed. Why couldn't Dana work on her own self-esteem? Why did she need Zoey assuring her that she was not, in fact, lame or boring? Zoey realized how tired of it she was. She understood why she welcomed these new people do much. She longed for change, something to make her life less about other people's needs. And now, thanks to these new people, she had it.

As Judd Nelson walked across the Shermer High School football field, raising his fist into the air in triumph, Zoey smiled. She always assumed that Bender and Claire had become close afterwards. Even though they said they'd never talk to each other again, there was no way that Andy and Allison or Bender and Claire stayed apart. She truly believed it.

"I love that movie," said Sam, breaking the silence.

"Same," said Helga. Her voice sounded different to Zoey. There wasn't a hint of malice or condescension in it.

"You know, you and Drake are just like Claire and Bender," said Synth, pushing her.

"Shut up, I am so much prettier than Molly Ringwald!" said Helga, laughing. It was almost strange to see Helga so free from her usual anger. Zoey finally understood why they were friends with Helga. "And besides, Drake isn't badass enough to be Bender."

"Meany-face," said Drake, shoving Helga the other way, a huge grin on his face.

The next morning, Zoey awoke with her head in Laura's stomach, her legs under Orion, and her feet were freezing cold. Orion was still sleeping on his arms, which were on an actual pillow. Zoey couldn't move an inch without waking him up. She groaned.

"Who else is awake?" asked Helga.

"Zoey," said Zoey.

"Finally! I've been up for like, an hour. I am so bored."

"I can't move," said Zoey. She heard a rustling noise, then Helga laughed.

"You can move," she said. "Orion won't wake up, I'd bet a million dollars. Just wriggle your legs out from under him, and it'll be fine." Zoey slowly pulled herself up into a sitting position and pulled her legs out from under Orion's body. She stood up immediately.

"I'm free!" she joked. Helga giggled.

"Orion always manages to fall asleep trapping somebody," she said. "We think he plans it." She looked at Zoey for a moment. "You want to go get breakfast?"

"Sure," said Zoey. "You think they're gonna wake up anytime soon?"

"Some of them," she said. "The girls will be, at least. I don't really know about Mark, but I know Drake and Orion have a good hour before they might wake up." She rolled her eyes and smiled. "Here, it's this way."

"You're pretty comfortable in Kaylee's house," Zoey commented.

"Well, we've been friends for a really long time," said Helga. "I know her parents pretty well, too."

"Oh, I'm like that with Dana," said Zoey. Helga rolled her eyes.

"In all honesty, I don't understand why you and Mark are friends with that girl. She seems nice enough, but she's always trying so hard to be the funniest or coolest or prettiest. I don't think she gets that it just doesn't matter."

Zoey felt like she'd slammed face-first into a brick wall.

"It doesn't matter?"

"Of course not," said Helga, flipping her hair back and quickly tying it up in one swift motion. "There are three kinds of 'popular girls' in high school. There's the girls who are really funny, but average looking, but since everyone likes them, they manage to become popular. Like Sam. Then there are the girls who are popular by association. They're average looking, too, but maybe they're more shy than the big, loud, funny girls. Like Laura. And then there are girls like me. Gorgeous, but the biggest bitch around." Helga smirked with pride. "And everyone wants to be my friend, because if you're my friend, that somehow makes you a cooler, prettier, funnier person. But in truth, the people who try so hard to be my friends just look stupid. That's why I'm usually such a bitch. I don't want people using me to make themselves more popular. Popularity is a waste of time. If I'm popular because I'm pretty, then that's that. If Dana isn't popular, then she should just accept it and have fun with the friends she has. It's not like she's completely friendless. She's got you and Mark, for whatever reason."

"She is really nice," said Zoey, defending her friend. "She's just... really insecure."

"I noticed," said Helga. The bite was back in her tone, and Zoey felt her own defensiveness rising. "Whatever. It's her problem. You shouldn't let her walk all over you so much. If you ask me, she's only there for you so you'll make her feel better about herself." Zoey didn't say anything. Helga opened one of the cupboards and smiled. "Found breakfast!" she announced.

She pulled out three boxes of small doughnuts.

"That's for all of us?" said Zoey doubtfully.

"No, there's about five more boxes, and then one just for Orion," said Helga, opening the powdered doughnut box. "He eats like a pig."

--

Zoey was not excited for school on Monday. She rolled out of bed, groaning, wishing for another day to sleep in. She pulled on sweatpants and threw her dark hair up onto the top of her head, yawning. She could tell that it was going to be a long, slow week. Zoey lumbered through Monday, tiredly stumbling into people. Tuesday, she yawned through each class, taking incoherent notes about things like ionic bonds and the government.

"You look dead today," said Dana on Wednesday.

"I am," said Zoey. "I  need more sleep.  I didn't get like, any this weekend."

"What did you do? Every time I called your phone, it was off," said Dana.

"Ugh, it's a long story. Maybe later.  When I'm less tired."  Dana nodded, but looked a bit crestfallen. Zoey's eyebrows came crashing down, and she grimaced in annoyance.

"What's wrong?" asked Dana, and Zoey thought for a moment about telling her. She thought that maybe if she told Dana to stop being so insecure, maybe she would. Maybe if she told Dana how incredibly irritating it was when she demeaned herself, and called herself things like boring, ugly, fat and stupid, since Dana was none of these. Maybe if she told Dana she couldn't handle hearing it anymore, maybe then Dana would stop. But Zoey didn't get to make the decision to tell Dana, because a loud, piercing scream echoed throughout the hallway.

All conversation stopped for one brief second, followed by another scream, and then another.  Soon everyone in the hallway was screaming, and before Zoey knew what was happening, she was running down the hall, pushing people out of her way. People ran past her, running the other direction, their eyes wide with confusion and fear. Some girls were in tears, on their phones with their parents, asking to be picked up. She saw Melanie near the front of the crowd, her face as horrified as every's around her. Zoey grabbed her arm, and she turned to look at Zoey.

"What happened?" Zoey asked over the yelling. Melanie jerked out of her stupor, and she pointed to the two people on the floor.

But they weren't exactly two people. There were two torsos, but two arms.  The boy, Tim Anderson, and the girl, Michelle Carter, were attached at the shoulder, and screaming in pain. They were both jerking away, trying to be their own person again, to get away from the obvious agony, but their skin had melted together.  They had become one person.

Zoey was frozen. The boy's and girl's twisted faces were disturbing, frightening, scarring, but she couldn't look away. Everyone else's screaming was muffled in her ears, and all she could heard was Michelle's panicked, pained cries of help help help and Tim's incoherent screams.

Suddenly, she was being shoved out of the way, and there were teachers there. Miss Margo and Mrs. Hank were trying to push the students away from Tim and Michelle. Mr. Phillips was yelling for the nurse and Mrs. Luce, and Zoey saw him tell Synth to run and get one of them, or both. She nodded gravely and sprinted for the Home Ec hallway, which was very close. Then Miss Margo was holding Zoey's shoulder, shoving her backwards away from the teachers, Tim, and Michelle. Mr. Phillips was bellowing for Mrs. Luce, and several other students hurried off trying to find the nurse and Mrs. Luce.

The panic was dwindeling. People were calming down enough to ask questions like Who did this? Zoey heard the students asking the question over and over again, and Zoey cringed internally.

Synth ran around the corner with Mrs. Luce right behind her, just as another student came around the corner with the nurse. Mr. Phillips screamed at Mrs. Luce to knock them out, damn it! And a moment later, Tim and Michelle were silent.

Their eyes closed in a moment, and their breathing slowed a little. It became less shallow, and more even. The pain remained evident in their facial expressions, but they were silent, sleeping.

Mr. Phillips was gasping for breath, his bald patch gleaming with sweat.

"Students,"  he gasped, "go to your classes. Now." Zoey looked at Melanie and they parted ways, Zoey heading to Home Ec. She went and sat in her stool, staring forward onto the countertop, seeing only the tears flowing down Michelle's cheeks, only hearing Tim's agonized screams.

"Hey," said a gentle voice next to Zoey. She looked up and saw Rob. "You saw it, didn't you?" Slowly, Zoey nodded, and tears jumped into her eyes. "What happened?"  Rob asked quietly, putting his arm around her. "All we heard was that Tim Ansderson and Michelle Carter got hurt." Zoey swept away the tears and shook her head.

"No," she said, "not exactly. They... they were one person.  They were attached at the shoulder, literally. They were screaming.  They must've been in a lot of pain. It was like their skin molded together at the shoulder." She didn't need to tell Rob about the smell, or the exact tenor of their piercing cries, the tears rolling down horrified student's cheeks, or the bellows of terrified teachers. The sight of adults afraid scared Zoey to her core, because she had never seen an adult truly afraid before. She'd seen her mother angry, and her father nervous, but never fear. She'd never the utter terror she had seen on Mr. Phillip's face.

"Are you ok,  Zo?" asked Rob.  Zoey took a deep breath. She wasn't sure if she was ok. It was hard to tell.

"It was just... scary," said Zoey, exhaling. Mrs. Luce walked into the classroom, and Zoey sat straighter.

"Mrs. Luce!" called one of the boys in the back, "What happened? I heard something big happened." Mrs. Luce put a hand to her temple. She looked stressed, but relieved.

"I'm sorry," said Mrs. Luce, "I'm not really allowed to tell you. I'm sure you'll find out though, with rumors and everything. And I'm sure the students involved will tell you everything at some point. Now, because of the... incident, I'm going to postpone our lesson for today. Please don't get too loud."

Zoey breathed deeply. Mrs. Luce was calm enough to give Zoey her own bit of peace, though there was still a gnawing fear in the back of her mind. Her breathing became normal, and she quietly explained the details to Rob, who was very obviously curious.

"Whoa," said Rob. "That's just... unbelievable. Their bodies became one body... Where did their arms go?"

"I have no idea," said Zoey. "But it was the worst thing I've ever seen in my entire life."

"I believe it," said Rob, emphatically. "I wonder who did it...  I mean, it's not like they did it to themeselves." Zoey was silent. She was afraid that she knew who had done it. She had seen her power used before. And it was completely possible that she had used it on Tim and Michelle.