Panel One: Narration: "Evening" Wide, open panel of Fern's room. She, Geri, and two other girls are in a circle on the floor, surrounding a partially-eaten pizza. Behind Fern is her half of the room. The bottom of a loft bed can be seen, with a dresser and clothes rack underneath it. A fancy vanity is at the foot of the bed, with a bookcase just visible beside it. There's a carpet in the middle of the floor under the girls. The leftmost girl, who has her back to us, asks, "You spent all day with DJ?" She is slender and dark-skinned, with long, black braids and wearing athletic, dance-type wear. She has gold tube beads scattered throughout her braids. The other new girl speaks up next. "Oh, how was it? What's he like?" She's laying on her stomach, dressed comfortably in shorts and a tank top. She has medium brown skin, and bouncy curls dyed a bright berry shade. Her hair is partially braided on the left side. "Just the afternoon, and Cal was there, too," she answers. "DJ's quiet, and... Really focused." Fern is sitting cross-legged, and has changed out of her nice pants and into knee-length leggings. She still her her wraps on. "A lot like in class, then," says Geri. She has her back to the viewer, and is dressed in cute pajama pants with a macaron print and a comfy, short-sleeved tunic. Her hair is down.

Panel Two: Low shot, level with the girl on the floor as she leans towards Fern. From this angle we can see a cute diamond print on her tank top, and that the front left section of her scalp is braided. She has a sly smile on her face. "So... Why exactly are you hanging out with DJ all of a sudden?" she asks. Fern, sitting next to her, does not look amused and answers, with her pizza halfway to her mouth, "Tasha, whatever you're thinking, you're wrong. We're just studying." "What about the new guy?" Tasha asks.

Panel Three: Geri, holding her pizza and smiling brightly, says, "Cal's sat with us to eat a few times. He's really nice!" From off, panel, as an aside, someone asks, "But didn't he almost flip a table on Royce???" "Yeah, so?" answers Geri. Fern, from off, panel, says, "UGH! I'm not looking for more boyfriends!"

Panel Four: Cartoony panel of Fern's dark silhouette as flames roar behind her. A spark can be seen where one of her eyes is, and she has a wicked grin on her face. "I'm going to learn all of DJ's study secrets!" Chibi heads of the others are below, with various bemused expressions. "Typical Fern," says Tasha. "There it is!" says Geri. "Of course!" chimes in the other girl.

Author Note