Once class actually began, things started settling into their normal routines. Everyone was buzzing a little bit more than usual, there was a sort of electricity in the air. But teachers taught, and students took notes, and bells rang.
Karyn was on her way to lunch the next time she bumped into Sarah McMillan.
"Oh, good," the cheerleader smiled, "I could use some help with something. Follow me!"
"Wait," Karyn hesitated. "Why me? Why aren't you enlisting one of the cheerleaders?"
"This was sort of a last-minute thing, and you're here right now. It gets you off campus, and might even give you permission to skip a class. Do you trust me?"
Karyn didn't. "What do you need me to do?"
"There was too much stuff from the bake sale," Sarah stuck out her tongue. "Administration wants me to get rid of all of it before lunch period starts, and they gave me permission to leave campus with one helper, for the express purpose of donating it all to the soup kitchen."
"And I'm supposed to be your helper?"
Sarah blew out through her nose. "Do you want to go on a little adventure today, or not? Come on, Kar, it'll be fun."
Karyn stopped for a moment to look Sarah in the eye. Really searched behind those little blue disks, through the black pupils at their center, into the person behind them. Karyn wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she knew she'd find something if she searched deeply enough.
"Why are you acting so nice today?" Karyn asked after a few seconds.
Sarah just looked back at her, as if searching Karyn's eyes the same way her own had just been searched. And then something happened that Karyn was not prepared for at all. Something she never thought she'd experience in her life. Something that made her question everything about how she experienced reality, a moment that was harder to understand than when she watched her own hair change colors before her eyes.
Sarah hugged her.
It was just a gentle, platonic wrap around the shoulders, but it was sincere. And along with it, came some quiet words. "I'm trying to be a better person, Karyn. Genuinely. Truly." Sarah took a step back, but kept her hands on Karyn's shoulders. "Now I need to get everything to my car before lunch starts. Can you help me collect some food so we can donate it to the homeless?"
Despite her better judgement, Karyn relented. And ten minutes later, she and Sarah were just fitting the last cardboard box into the back seat of a custom-painted purple Audi TT.
