For the seventh time in three years, Lucy Schulman has transferred to a new school.  With the wish that "please let there be just one of them that's nice," Lucy opens the door to her new 5th grade classroom.

There Lucy finds Eric, the typical class bully, and Shelley, who asks Lucy to join her in an archeological excavation after school.  Instead of digging with a shovel, Shelley and Lucy explore an attic.  They are looking for items to auction to raise money for the school's math team.  A puzzle box and a pair of rings threaten the girls' growing friendship when Lucy is transformed into a cat and Shelley's life is put in danger.

Chapter One

FIRST DAY BUTTERFLIES

Lucy Schulman did not want to open the door to the 5th grade classroom. The noise from the other side made her stomach twist and turn. This would be the seventh time in three years she’d stood in front of a new classroom.

“You can do this,” Lucy said quietly to herself. “The first day is always the hardest. Please let them be nice…please let there be just one of them that’s nice.”

She twisted the doorknob, and the rumble of the students faded slowly as all eyes turned to her. A tall, thin young woman tilted her head to Lucy and smiled.

“Good morning.”

“Hi,” Lucy replied.

“Won’t you come in? I’m Miss Alexander and you must be Eleanor.”

The teacher stepped towards her. Several students snickered at the name “Eleanor” and Lucy glared in their direction.

“I go by my middle name, Lucy.”

Miss Alexander cleared her throat. “All right, Lucy. Please take a seat over there.”

Lucy walked down the indicated aisle. The empty seat was behind a girl with black-framed glasses. A boy to her left was bent over his spiral notebook scribbling something he hid with his hand. Seated behind the empty desk was a girl staring aimlessly out the window. Lucy no longer felt like a spectacle. Everyone had either gone back to their work, or their minds were elsewhere.

At least they stopped staring.

The whispering insult came as soon as Lucy sat down. “Nice earrings, freak.” Lucy turned to see a boy with a sinister grin staring at her. Before she could think of a comeback, the teacher addressed the class.

“Boys and girls, Lucy has just moved here from southern California. I hope you’ll make her feel at home.”

Lucy folded her arms and sank into her seat. This was a nightmare.

“Hey, Hollywood. Can you get me into the movies?” the boy teased.

“Eric Stratton,” Miss Alexander called out. “That will be enough.”

Eric seemed to be not only the class clown, but a thorn in Miss Alexander’s side. He appeared to be several years older than the other students in Miss Alexander’s 5th grade. Maybe he had repeated the fifth grade more than once.

“Shelley,” Miss Alexander said in a more pleasant tone. “Will you get Lucy a literature book, please?”

The girl sitting in front of Lucy stood. Her surprisingly long unfettered chestnut hair stopped just short of her belt. When Shelley walked down the aisle, Eric made an obnoxious sniffing noise. By the time she returned with the book, Eric was pinching his nose and making a face. Shelley ignored him and presented Lucy with a thick textbook.

Without a word, the freckled-faced girl smiled at Lucy.

“Thanks,” Lucy said, smiling back.

“Shelley, since you don’t have a partner for our Lit project, why don’t you team up with Lucy?” Miss Alexander suggested. Shelley’s smile broadened. The girls nodded, and Shelley sat down.

The intercom buzzer sounded. “Miss Alexander?”

“Yes?”

“You have a phone call.”

“Thank you. I’ll be right there,” she replied. The teacher wrote instructions on the board and turned to the class. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. Read pages 121-140 in your Literature books. We’re going to discuss the story when everyone’s finished.”

When the classroom door closed, Eric jumped from his seat and posed for an imaginary camera. “How about this, Hollywood?” Eric stepped onto the seat of his desk. “I can see it now, my face on billboards, T.V. commercials, magazines.” He sprang from his seat and came within inches of Lucy’s face. “Got an agent, Hollywood?”

Lucy didn’t even blink. “Yes. As a matter of fact, I do.”

This bit of information caught Eric off guard. Trying to recover, he grumbled, “Well, then…sign me up!”

“Sure,” Lucy replied with a smile. “Oh, but there’s just one thing you’ll need to do first.”

“What’s that?” asked Eric.

“You’ll need to get a face replacement!”

The class erupted with laughter. Eric backed away from her until he bumped into the desk behind him.

“That isn’t funny freak!” he exclaimed. He snatched up a pair of scissors from their ongoing art project and pointed them at Lucy. “Maybe you’d like to lose that pony tail, Hollywood.”

Lucy slid from her desk, and moved away from Eric, her hands protecting her long locks.

Shelley jumped from her seat and stepped in between them.

“Leave her alone, Eric!”

"So the freak is joined by the geek? Smelly Shelley thinks she can step up to the plate? What else you got? Come on! Come on!” Shelley paused for a moment, realizing that the entire class was staring at her. She straightened and said, “A brain…unlike you!”

Once again, everyone broke into hysterical laughter.

Eric staggered a bit, taken off guard by Shelley’s sudden burst of courage.

“Yeah, laugh it up you guys. Just wait until later...then I’ll -- ”

“You’ll what?” Miss Alexander had returned. Eric froze, as did the rest of the class. “You’ll what? I’m really very interested, Eric.”

Eric retreated to his seat. With his head held low, he rapped his fingers on his desk nervously.

“Mr. Stratton. ‘Later’ for you will be detention after school today,” Miss Alexander ordered.

Without looking up, Eric said, “But I have football practice.”

“Not today, Mr. Stratton. Today you will sit in this classroom until I say you can leave and the next time you pull shenanigans like that in my classroom, I’ll make sure you won’t see the gridiron for the rest of the year. Do you understand?”

No answer. An uneasy silence lingered in the air.

“Do you understand?”

Through his clenched teeth he muttered, “Yes ma’am.”

The tension eased. Miss Alexander directed everyone to continue their reading.

As soon as her new classmates turned their attention to their literature books, Lucy placed her hand on Shelley’s shoulder and whispered, “Thanks, ” she whispered.

The freckled-faced girl slowly turned around. She tucked a loose strand of her long hair over one ear and smiled. “You’re welcome. I’m Shelley.”

“Hi,” Lucy replied.

“After school, I’m going on an archeological excavation into a space that no one has entered for years. Would you like to join me?”

“Uh…well, sure,” Lucy answered.

Shelley smiled and turned around. Lucy let out a deep breath. The butterflies in her stomach had stopped fluttering. She had survived the first round, and this was definitely the first time she had been invited on an archeological excavation on her first day of school.