The next day Nick decided to approach Cassandra in the hall before homeroom. It was a little after seven and the halls were still pretty empty. Nick rushed to kis locker and put his books away. Then he wandered over to the water fountain and started to saunter through the hallways. As he turned a corner, he ran right into Cassandra and knocked papers and books out of her hands.

"Oh, my God! I'm so sorry! I'm kinda lost and I wasn't watching where I was going and-" she tried to explain.

"Don't worry about it. It's early, stuff like this happens. My name is Nick Carter," he said, then stooped down to pick up her stuff.

She kneeled down as well. "Hi, Nick. I'm Cassandra Wilson. It's really nice to meet you. I just moved here from Colorado and don't really know anyone."

Nick started to gather the papers together into a stack and found a school map and a schedule attached together by a paperclip. He gestured toward the map and asked, "Do you need help finding your way around? Have you found your locker?"

"Oh, I don't have a locker. I was looking for my homeroom."

"Wait! You don't have a locker? How come?"

"I guess the school keeps growing. They said they ran out. Apparently this is the first year it has ever happened."

"There's an empty one about a little ways down from mine. You can use that one if you want."

"I don't know if I should, what if it is someone else's?"

"Alright, but that someone hasn't used it since school started and that was over a month ago. I really don't think they'll miss it all that much."

"Okay, I guess I'll use it. Could you also help me find room 103, I think Mr. Redd's room?"

"Here let me see," Nick said as he glanced at her schedule. "Oh, that's Miss Reed, room 130. It's in the same hallway as mine."

With that the two started walking, and with the walking came the talking.

"So what's the weather like in Colorado? Do you really get as much snow as they make it out to be?" Nick asked.

"Probably. If you don't like the snow, you really can't live there. We lived up in the mountains and we would get feet of snow in one storm."

"Yeah, I was born in Jamestown, New York. It's really nice during the summers up there, but they get hit hard with the snow."

"Oh, so how do you like the snow?"

"Well, I couldn't really tell you. I've lived down here in Florida since I was two. I couldn't imagine setting so much snow. What do you do during the winter?"

"Skiing, snowboarding, all those fun snow sports."

"Really? You should meet my friend Kevin. He loves to snowboard."

"Oh, cool. Does he go here?"

"What?"

"To school?"

"Oh...no, he's actually, um, 22. His birthday was last week."

"Really? How old are you?"

"Fourteen, you?"

"Fifteen."

"Are you a freshman?"

"No, sophomore."

"Oh, I guess we won't have any classes together, then."

They turned another corner and Nick led Cassandra to her new locker. He twisted the lock and punched it and it popped right open.

"What's the combination?" Cassandra asked.

"I don't know. You don't need it," Nick said as he shut the locker and demonstrated how to open it. "You just twist the lock to the right and hit the locker. Here, Cassandra, you try."

"Alright, but can you call me Cassie? I don't like my name. It's too long."

"Okay, whatever, now try to open it," Nick replied as he shut the locker. She fiddled with it and banged it, but it wouldn't open. After a minutes of trying, she gave up.

She turned to Nick and said, "I can't do it. Is there any way to find the combo?"

"I guess you could try the office, but this will make it easier. Give me a second." Nick turned away from her and opened the locker again. He pulled out the contents of his pockets and placed a penny over the part where the lock latches onto the frame of the locker. He pushed it into place and closed and opened the locker. "There, now you try," Nick said triumphantly.

"What? Just pull?"

"Yep."

She easily pulled it open and smiled. She turned to Nick and thanked him. She shut it and they continued walking. Nick pointed out to her the location of his locker and then started walking towards their homerooms. They passed AJ in the hallway and he gave Nick a huge smile. The two stopped just short of the end of the hallway.

"Your homeroom is right there," Nick said as he pointed to his left. "Mine is right down there in the corner, room 141. The bell is going to ring in a minute or two, so I'm gonna go. I guess I'll see ya around sometime."

"Oh, Nick, wait a minute," Cassie said.

"What is it?"

"Can you wait for me at my locker before lunch?"

"Yeah, of course, I'll see you then," he said as he turned and went into his homeroom.