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"Hmm… I could wear this with those thigh-high tights I never wear," Maria DeLuca said softly to herself. She held the short, lime green dress up in front of her.

But then, hadn't she stopped wearing them because nobody wore thigh-high tights anymore? She tried to remember if she'd seen anyone at school in them lately.

Maria shook her head and glanced at the clock. "I am so late," she muttered. She was supposed to meet her five best friends at Flying Pepperoni soon. At the rate she was going, she'd never be ready in time.

"Maybe I should wear something blue," she murmured. It would make her eyes look even bluer. But Alex Manes, her best boy buddy, had told her that guys were lying when they said they loved a girl's eyes. She snorted. Alex would probably tell her she should show up in a teddy and high heels.

Maybe that's what it would take to get Michael Guerin's attention. Because admit it, she thought. That's why you've been staring at yourself in the mirror all morning. You're trying to figure out what will make Michael notice.

Maria's cat, Sassafras, nudged open the bedroom door and leaped onto her bed. "Hey, Sass, you probably know exactly how I can make Michael realize I'm a g-i-r-l, right? Cats know everything-they just won't tell."

Maria picked up her gold chain-the one holding the ring she'd found at the mall last night-and looped it over her finger. She swung the ring back and forth in front of Sassafras's smushed-in Persian face. Sassafras pretended not to be interested for a minute. Then she shot out one paw. Maria caught a glimpse of something wet and red smeared across the pads.

"You're bleeding!" she cried. Sassafras must have been stalking through the rosebushes again, hunting birds. She was always getting herself scratched up that way.