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Amelia was one of those girls who seemed dipped in honey, she was so perfect, so golden. Nothing at all like her two jerky brothers, who were always hassling him in the cafeteria. Noah had never noticed her watching him before, and the realization that her attention was at this very moment focused on him made his knees go a little wobbly.
    He ollied the board and almost lost it on the landing. Focus, dude! Don’t bite it. He zipped down to the faculty parking lot, spun around, and came rumbling up the concrete ramp. There was a handrail on one side, slanted downward. He spun around, and popped up onto the railing. It would’ve been a sweet slide all the way down.
    Except for the fact Taylor Darnell chose just that moment to walk in front of him.
    Noah yelled, “Outta the way!” but Taylor didn’t react in time.
    At the last possible instant, Noah rolled off his board and tumbled to the pavement. The skateboard, its momentum established, slid all the way down the rail and smacked into Taylor’s back.
    Taylor whirled, yelling: “What the hell, man? Who threw that?”
    “Didn’t throw it, dude,” said Noah, picking himself up from the ground. His palms were both scraped, and his knee was throbbing. “It was an accident. You just got in the way.” Noah bent down to pick up the skateboard, which had landed wheels up. Taylor was an okay kid,
    one of the first who’d come up to say hello when Noah first arrived in town eight months ago. Sometimes, they even hung out together in the afternoons, showing each other new skateboard tricks. So Noah was shocked when Taylor suddenly shoved him, hard. “Hey! Hey, what’s your problem?” said Noah.
    “You threw it at me!”
    “No I didn’t.”
    “Everyone saw it!” Taylor looked around at the bystanders. “Didn’t you see it?”
    No one said anything.
    “I told you, it was an accident,” said Noah. “I’m really sorry, man.”
    There was laughter over by the trailer classrooms. Taylor glanced at the girls and realized they were watching the exchange, and his face turned a furious red. “Shut up!” he yelled at them. “Idiot girls!”
    “Geez, Taylor,” said Noah. “What’s your problem?”
    The other skaters had popped up their boards and were now standing around, watching. One of them joked,
    “Hey, why did Taylor cross the road?”
    “Why?”
    “Cause he got his dick stuck in the chicken!”
    All the skaters laughed, including Noah. He couldn’t help it.
    He was unprepared for the blow. It seemed to come out of nowhere, a sucker punch to the jaw. His head snapped up and he stumbled backwards and fell, his butt hitting the blacktop. There he sat for a moment, ears roaring and vision blurred as his shock gave way to hurt rage. He was my friend, and he bit me!
    Noah staggered back to his feet and lunged at Taylor, tackling him head on. They both sprawled to the ground, Noah on top. They rolled over and over, both boys flailing, neither one able to get in a decisive blow. Noah finally pinned him, but it was like holding down a spitting cat.
    “Noah Elliot!”
    He froze, his hands still trapping Taylor’s wrists. Slowly he turned his head and saw the principal, Miss Cornwallis, standing over them. The other kids had all backed away and were watching from a safe distance.
    “Get up!” said Miss Cornwallis. “Both of you!”
    At once Noah released Taylor and rose to his feet. Taylor, his face by now almost purple with rage, screamed: “He shoved me! He shoved me and I tried to defend myself!”
    “That’s not true! He hit me first!”
    “He threw his skateboard!”
    “I didn’t throw anything. It was an accident!”
    “Accident? You liar!”
    “Both of you, be quiet!” yelled Miss Cornwallis.
    There was shocked silence in the schoolyard as everyone stared at the principal. They’d never heard her yell before. She was a prim but handsome woman who wore suits and low heels to school and kept her blond hair neatly tucked into a French twist. To see