Wouldn't it be Funny?

Chapter 3

"I had a strange dream last night," Billie looked up from her breakfast. Watching her expectantly, I waited for her to continue. We sat in the third-floor hallway snacking on a mix of cafeteria food and home-brought goodies. It was tradition to skip breakfast at home and have our own little "breakfast club" in the mornings. Lauren was late as usual.

"You know I had a strange dream too," Sam commented. "There was flying monkeys and everything!" Sam wore her usual odd assemble,  leggings, shorts, and sandals. All bright neon colors.

Billie held up her hand in Sam's face. "Yeh, whatever. But listen." Sam only snorted in response. "So I got arrested for chewing gum in the library, and this really hot officer was there..."

I listened to her strange dream, wondering if my friend's dream would ever come true. The part about aliens invading and teaching the principal how to do the cha-cha slide was pretty cool.

"So, Ember... you had sectionals this morning, how were they?" Billie asked.

"Actually they ran quite smoothly!" I said, hearing the surprise in my own voice. "They listened, and that freshman finally figured out that his left foot goes first." I snorted at the memory. Ever since I became section leader, I took it upon myself to make my section the best if could be. Since the fifth grade, I have been obsessed with becoming the best trumpet player in our band. It was hard, but my competitive drive compelled me to catch even the band directors eye.

I was hardly the sporty type, like Billie. So band was perfect for me. It was all about discipline, community, and leadership. Band was the structure I needed in my crazy life.

"You know I had a strange dream last night, there was a break in at the school. They broke all the desks in the building." I squirmed in irritation. Something wasn't right, I chose to ignore it.

But why did I say that?

Lauren finally arrived and brought breakfast muffins, probably why she was late. The irritating feeling was still crawling under my skin. I couldn't shake it.

I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. An overbearing scent of male washed over us. "Lauren brought muffins! That's awesome!" Zayne came up from behind me and sat down, snatching a muffin.

He sat next to me, a bit close. I tried to ignore all the strange feelings rumbling in my stomach. At least the crawling feeling was gone.

He needs to spray the cologne, not bathe in it.

I pretended to get something out of my bag, and made a huge show out of it, acting like I couldn't find whatever it was. It gave me the chance to scoot away to a safe distance.

Sure, Zayne and I were friends. Just like the rest of us. But sometimes I questioned why he hung out with us in the first place. Zayne's a nice guy, don't get me wrong but he acted oddly around me sometimes. He either hovered over me or ignored me altogether. The girls think he has a bit of a crush.

Well, he has a horrible way of showing it.

With his bright orange hair and alarming grey eyes, he was a strange one at that. Lauren was the first to introduce Zayne to our little group of misfits. At first, he fit right in, he worked like a puzzle piece gluing us all together. Honestly, his charismatic attitude and harmless persona were probably one of the reasons we let him stick around.

Billie, the genius: a jack of all trades, there was nothing that Billie couldn't do. She was interested in everything and anything that was within her grasp. Hockey? You got it. Sculpting? Been there, done that. Five mastered musical instruments? Working on the sixth! Billies' high-set blonde ponytail gave off the aura of a "dumb blonde" but her kick butt attitude turned heads.