The second period bell rings. As I start to pack my things, I hear Ms. Henry's voice float above the endless chit-chat around me. "Alice," she calls. "Please come up and see me before you leave."

I glance up from my desk and nod. Her smile is warm, comforting. I can't help but smile back. I push my notebook into my backpack and then stand. As the last student rushes out, I walk toward her desk. "Is everything alright?"

Her grin grows. "I want you to take a walk with me," she says, standing. She snatches a key-lanyard from her desk and starts toward the door. She leads me out the door and down the hallway.

I follow, becoming suspicious. "Am I in trouble?" I don't feel that I am, because she's smiling like a crazy person. But at the same time, I can't help but worry. There are only a few months left until graduatation. Thanks to my abundance of sick leave and horrible grades, I'm not sure I'll graduate. The last thing that I need is another offense added to my record.

"No," Ms. Henry says. "No, it's nothing bad, I promise."

I follow her past a throng of students, out the building door, and toward the main office. As I walk across the courtyard, I feel beads of sweat trickle down my spine. I wipe at my forehead with the back of my palm. "This heat is intense," I grumble under my breath. I'm not used to it being so hot in May.

Ms. Henry hears me. As she opens the door to the main office, she says, "It'll only get hotter."

I sigh. I realize that she is leading me toward the principal's office and, for a moment, I become uneasy. Last time I went into that room I was screamed at by Blue-Eyes's psychopathic mother.

The principal sits behind his desk as we enter. I pause in shock when I see my mother siting in one of the chairs in front of him. She smiles widely at me.

I squint suspiciously. "What's going on?"

Ms. Henry moves around me and walks toward the desk. She greets my mother and then moves to stand beside the principal. I wobble toward the empty chair. She and my mother help me sit down. Then all eyes turn to me.

"So we have some good news," the princpal starts. He smiles at me too. I'm kind of getting creeped out by all the cheerful smiles. He shuffles through some papers on his desk and then passes a sheet toward me.

I pluck it from his hand and scan over it. It looks like a report card.

"What's this?"

"Your current grades."

My mouth runs dry. While a few of my grades survived my "too obsessed with my boyfriend to do my homework" phase, most did not. That included Ms. Henry's class.

But as I look at my grades, I realize that the low scores have vanished. I now have almost completely straight A's.

"Can I cry?" I whisper.

My mother laughs. Ms. Henry grins and crosses his arms over her chest. The principal smiles. "You did it, Alice. You can walk across the stage."

I lower the report card and set it on the desk in front of me. I wipe at my eyes and start to laugh. I'm going to graduate. I'm actually going to graduate.

"You did it, baby," my mother says. She wipes at her own eyes, pearly tears glistening at the corners of her eyes. She leans forward and hugs me close.

I nod. "I can't believe I did it."

"You worked really hard, Alice," I hear Ms. Henry say. I shift backward in my chair so I can look at her. She smiles at me. "All those lunches and packets paid off."

"Thank you," I tell her earnestly.

The principal clears his throat. Our attention returns to him, and he slides a packet of papers forward. I pull it close and skim through it. It's a sizing chart for a graduation gown. He smiles wide. "Go ahead and pick out your size. We will get it rush-ordered so you'll have it before the ceremony. You'll have to come in your own dress. Make sure that it's either black or white, and that it complies with the school dress code. Okay?"

I nod. My mom takes the packet and skims through it. "Thank you," she says, and wipes again at her eyes.

Then we're dismissed.

My mother checks me out early and, in celebration, we go grab some ice cream from the nearest McDonald's. Then we head on home. I immediately settle down in my bed for a movie marathon. It isn't long before Kylie and Amanda join me in bed.

"We missed you at school today," Kylie says cheerfully as she crawls in beside me. "I heard that you have some good news to tell us."

Amanda plops down onto the edge of my bed. "Yeah, your mother wouldn't tell us what it was."

I grin at them. "I get to walk across the stage with you."

Kylie gasps and throws her arms around me. Amanda's lips stretch wide. She stands and pumps her fist into the air. "I'm so proud of you, Alice!" she says. "I knew you could do it!"

I can't help but giggle like a two year old.

I'm so excited. Despite the set backs this year has brought, I'll be able to graduate like a normal teenager. For a moment, I didn't think I'd make it.

Then I hear my mother shout up the stairs. "Hey, girls! Why don't you head on downstairs. It's time for dinner."

Kylie and Amanda share a mischevious look. I squint at them, instantly suspicious. Amanda starts toward the door as Kylie helps me crawl out of bed and stand. She loops her arm through mine and waddles with me through the door. Both help me down the stairs.

When I enter the family room, I almost faint.

"Surprise!" My mother, Amanda, and Kylie all shout together.

I clutch at my chest. My heart races just behind my ears, loud and throbbing. The entire room is completely covered in pink. A bunch of pink balloons float around the ceiling, dancing back and forth across the room. The couch is covered in pink presents and surprisingly, Ms Henry sits at one end. She sports a sheepish smile on her face and wiggles her fingers in a wave. The coffee table holds a bunch of silver trays and pink-themed desserts atop it. A massive banner stretches from one wall to another, reading, "It's a girl!"

"What's this?" I ask. My hand moves to my forehead and I look around, distraught. "I'm having pink-overload."

My mother steps closer. Her hands reach out and, with Kylie's help, I'm ushered toward an empty chair. I plop down into it, a heavy sigh escaping my lips. My gaze becomes accusatory as I stare at the people surrounding me. "What's going on?" I repeat.

"This is your baby shower!" Kylie explains. She bounces on the balls of her feet. The excitement that seeps from her body seems to roll off in waves. I watch her take a seat on the floor, beside the coffee table. Amanda plunks down beside her.

"We're missing someone," Amanda announces. Once she makes herself comfortable, she squints and looks around.

I hear the doorbell rings. A breathless laugh escapes my lips and I slump back into my chair and watch the door, still suspicious. My hand rubs the curve of my stomach. "This is crazy," I murmur.

Ms. Henry leans closer toward me. "Are you alright, dear?" she asks in a motherly tone. "If the shock is too much..."

I dismiss her concerns with a shake of my head. "I'm fine. I'm just...surprised. I wasn't expecting anything like this."

Amanda snorts. "You had to expect a baby shower, at least." She snatches a pale pink cupcake and starts to peel the paper away. "We have more than enough reason to celebrate!"

As we talk, I hear my mother rush toward the door. She throws it open. "Come in, come in!"

Our guests are ushered into the family room. I can't help it; my lips stretch into a wide grin at the sight of them. Eric carries a pale yellow present and sports a grin of his own. Tobi scampers toward the coffee table. He deposits a lime green present next to the piles of pink on the couch.

"Hey, guys," I greet them. I'm still kind of recovering from the shock of all the pink. I sit up a bit and stretch a hand out toward Kylie, beckoning for her to grab a cupcake for me.

She obliges and passes over a vanilla cupcake. I shove it into my mouth, devouring it instantly. Eric watches in amusement. "Congratulations," he says. He gestures toward the banner and wags his eyebrows. "It's a girl."

I snort. "Your sarcasm is refreshing."

His smile widens. He joins the group at the coffee table in front of me, though he sits closer to my chair. He passes his present up to me. "Sorry about the yellow. I didn't strike you as a pink kind of girl."

I stare at him, mock-wounded. "I'm really not."

My mother grabs her camera and rushes us around, trying to get pictures. I kind of sit back and relax as she takes over. Amanda scarfs down another cupcake. Her gaze turns toward me, expectant. "So what are you going to name her?"

I pause. The tissue paper in my hand falls back inside the bright pink bag as I sit back and purse my lips. "I don't know," I say.

"You don't have long to figure it out," Amanda warns.

I scratch at my head. "I never really thought of baby names before. What do you guys think?"

Kylie pokes at her own cupcake. "I already have my kid's names planned out," she says. "If I have a girl, her name will be Sophie Jane."

"And a boy?" Amanda asks.

"Tristan," Kylie says, smiling at her.

Amanda makes a face. "All the Tristan's that I know are jerks."

"Focus," Eric laughs at them. He grabs a cupcake and takes a massive bite. "We need girl names. What about Grace? Or Emma?"

I rub at my stomach. "I kind of like Emma."

The baby kicks my hand when I speak. I jolt with surprise and look down at my stomach, eyes wide. A massive grin stretches across my lips as I look up, my gaze instantly locking with Eric's. "Emma it is, then."