“Don’t worry. Lots of kids have moved here and made new friends in the blink of an eye,” my new teacher tells me. “Oh, and don’t be concerned about your braces. Most everyone has them here.”

Great. Even my new teacher thinks I’m a nerd, and he hasn’t even known me for five minutes. If my teacher thinks that, I can’t imagine what the rest of the class is going to think.

I wonder what kind of speech he gave them about me, “The New Girl.” He probably made it sound like I’m some kind of freak with weird allergies whose dad just died and everyone should be nice to me.

I wish I was back with my friends at my other school, where everyone knew me and I was the one hearing the new-kid speeches.

The bell rings, and the class piles in. Maybe if I don’t move, they won’t see me. Oh, well, it was a nice try. Everyone stares like I’m some kind of alien.

This weird girl walks in and says, “Hi, my name is Alicia.”

“Um, I’m Annie,” I say.

She makes a really weird face and says, “Hi, Annie. You can sit with us at lunch today if you want.”

What a dork …

Maybe this new school won’t be so bad after all.