And not just becauseof new clothes or new classes. This will be her first school year with a driver's license; her first with a part-time job; her first with a serious boyfriend.

"Angela!" Kayla calls out. Angela smiles with relief as she sees her two best friends, Kayla and Sara, already hanging out by the front doors. "Hey!" she says, walking up to them. "You look so cute!" Sara says, admiring Angela's new shirt. "So do you," Angela says.

Kayla scans the school building skeptically. "I can't believe we're back here," she says.

"I can't believe yesterday it was still summer and today it's all over," says Sara. She turns and smiles at Angela. "But you and Joe stayed together. That's pretty impressive."

"I know," says Angela. "Eight months now. We're like an old married couple!"

"Oh, come on," says Kayla. "You're the cutest couple in school. Everyone says so. You know it's true!"

Angela smiles. She thinks back to how her relationship with Joe started. It was the best time of her life. She was excited just to see him at school every day, and he would call her every night and they would talk for hours. Her parents loved him. Sometimes the whole family—Joe included—would have dinner and then watch a video. He was always welcome in their home.

She gets butterflies in her stomach, though, as she thinks about how intense things have gotten in the last couple of months. He still calls her every night, and now he gets annoyed when she can't talk to him for long. He's still really nice to her. But sometimes he can snap at her with a meanness that catches her off guard. That's what it must be like to be in love, she thinks—when emotions are just so strong.

"Oh, I have to go meet Joe. He beeped our code," she says.

"But class starts in five minutes," says Kayla. "We have to go."

"I'll meet you guys later," Angela says.

She walks over to the parking lot where she and Joe decided they would meet during school. He's leaning against his car, looking cute as always, with his backpack at his feet. "Hi," Angela says, and gives him a quick kiss. "What's up?"

"Nothing's up," Joe says. "I just wanted to say hi before we head in for class."

"Oh," she answers, smiling. "That's sweet. We have to go, though. The bell just rang."

"What's your hurry? We have the whole year to sit in class."

"Joe, come on. I don't want to walk in late on the first day."

"Fine," he says. "You worry too much. Let's meet back here after school, though. I want to hear how your day was."

"Yeah, that would be great," Angela says. "Oh, wait a minute, I can't today. I have a meeting with the yearbook staff after school to divide up photography beats for the year."

"You're doing yearbook again?" asks Joe. "I thought you weren't going to do that because it took up so much time. When will we get to hang out if you're always taking pictures?"

"We'll hang out all the time. It doesn't take that long. And it's not every day."

"Maybe you just want to hang around football practice so you can flirt with all the guys while they work out," Joe says.

"Give me a break," Angela says. "I'll get to watch you while you practice. And I'll probably get assigned to the girls' soccer team or something anyway. Come on, we have to go to class."

"Alright, alright," Joe says, picking up his books. "Let's go."