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she had to push her way through a swarm of plastic looking girls with cell phones and too much hair product, to put her things away.  She could feel the stares burning through the back of her head.  She just ignored them and headed off to he r first class. S he could hear the snickers and comments about her hair as she walked down the corridor.
    At her old school nobody even noticed it anymore. They were so used to it that it wasn’t mentioned.  Dani was going to have to start a ll over.  On the way into class several jocks shadowed her.  They too had noticed the white streaks in the front of her dark chocolate brown hair.  She took a seat at the front of the room. She pulled out her map and schedules to find the shortest route to her next class.
    One of the jocks said, “This place is a zoo.  Did you see?  They’re enrolling zebras now too.”
    That’s when an angel in blue jeans and a Hollister t-shirt came to her rescue.  He had entered the classroom just in time to hear the comment and the laughter that followed.  He scowled at the jock and said, “They’ve also have started letting jackasses on the football team.”  Another round of laughter erupted.
    “Whatever, Lucas.  You’d be on your ass if you stepped out on the field, ” the jock spat back at him.
    Dani’s savior brushed her arm on the way to go sit with the offending jocks and said, “Ignore him.  His mommy forgot his meds this morning.”
    Lucas was the hottest guy she’d ever laid eyes on.  He looked like he belonged in a teen magazine, smiling his perfect smile and breaking hearts.  He had flawless suntanned skin, shaggy, honey-blonde hair and steel blue eyes with gray flecks that made her stomach do strange little cart wheels.  Dani thankfully had several classes and lunch with him.  That first day in the cafeteria, she found an empty table in the corner to spread out her lunch.  She noticed those steel eyes across the room.  He sat at a table full of mostly older kids, jocks, cheerleaders, and other various plastic girls so he must be popular.  Odd, considering it was the first day of high school.  He must be one of those people that naturally draw others to them.  He caught her looking and she wanted to slide under the table.  Her face was so hot she knew she couldn’t hide her embarrassment as he began to get up and walk her way.  Dani stopped breathing.  He sat across from her and leaned over to take a few strands of white hair in his fingers and tuck them behind her ear.
    “You do that on purpose?  Is that a Goth thing or something?” he prodded with a grin.  “Your clothes don’t look Goth and I don’t see any black nail polish.”
    She had to remind herself to breathe because blue was not her color.  Other kids started filtering over from the table he’d abandoned.  She reached across the table to brush the hair out of his eyes and mocked, “Did you do that on purpose?  You look like a Disney channel reject.”
    The other kids that had come to the table were taking in the scene and waiting for a response from Lucas.  He cracked a smile, tilted his head, “I think I’m going to like you.  I’m Lucas, by the way.”  He reached across and stole some grapes from her lunch.
    “I’m Dani.  The hair’s natural.  They’re birthmarks or a birth defect depending on your point of view.”
    “I like it, and I like a girl that doesn’t take any shit.”  He strutted around to her side of the table to get a closer look.
    That was it.  Lucas accepted her immediately and everyone else followed his gracious lead.  Dani was part of the in crowd and they had been together ever since that day.               
    Tonight, four years and one summer later, they were in the bed of his pickup truck curled up in the same sleeping bag.  The stars were beautiful but she couldn’t take her eyes off Lucas.  They had done this a thousand times but this night was different.  She was leaving for school