My first class is biology. I can't find it and get my first demerit for wandering the hall. It is 8:50 in the morning. Only 699 days and 7 class periods until graduation.

The trick to surviving an interrogation is patience. Don't offer up anything. Don't explain. Answer the question and only the question that is asked so you don't accidentally put your head in a noose.

Gossip is the foul smell from the Devil's backside.

They're on their way to the foreign-language wing. That's no surprise. The foreign kids are always here, like they need to breathe air scented with their native language a couple times a day or they'll choke to death on too much American.

We swore sacred oaths to be strong and to save the planet and to be friends forever.

So, she tells me, the words dribbling out with the cranberry muffin crumbs, commas dunked in her coffee.

I wonder how long it would take for anyone to notice if I just stopped talking.