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But her brows arched just so, and her lips were full and almost looked as if they bore a hint of rouge. Her hair, a shining dark brown, hung in heavy waves halfway down her back. Every other head of hair in the roomwas blond or mousy brown, and every other girl wore her hair (usually dull, lifeless and desperately in need of a wash) cut to shoulder-length or shorter and pulled back somehow, or tucked under a bit of cloth.
    “I’m Sofie Vogel,” the girl announced as she strode to the back of the room, grabbed a desk and a chair from the corner and pushed them into the gap beside Lena’s desk. The boy on the other side shuffled over to make space.
    Sofie was a warm, bright light in a room full of mud grey moths.
    Lena forgot the lesson on her desk and the novel in her pocket. Her spine straightened. She touched the fingertips of one hand to the fingertips of the other and felt something, a flicker.
    “Hi, I’m Sofie.”
    Lena’s lips twitched into a small smile. She raised her eyes and turned her head. “And you are …?”
    Lena jumped. The girl was talking to her! “Me? I’m, ah … I’m Lena,” she said.
    The boy who had moved aside, Willem, leaned over and spoke in a stage whisper.
    “Don’t bother with her. She’s some sort of halfwit,” he whispered. “I’m Willem. I’m who you need to know around here.”
    Sofie arched a brow a little higher, but she did not turn her eyes away from Lena’s.
    “Is that so?” she said. “Thank you for telling me.”
    For a moment, Willem stayed still. Then he sat back in his chair.
    “Boys and girls,” Juffrouw said, “I would like you to join me in welcoming Sofie Vogel to our class. She is, I understand, quite a star at Latin.”
    Sofie grinned and shook her head. “Never could see the point of learning dead languages,” she said lightly.
    “That is not the report I have. There will be no hiding of lights under bushels in my classroom.”
    “Well, then, let it shine!” Sofie said, and Lena wondered if she might launch into Latin on the spot.
    Juffrouw Westenberg smiled slightly. “Watch your attitude, Juffrouw Vogel,” she said. “I will overlook your joking and your tardiness because it is your first day, but after this, I will accept no more of either.”
    Teacher and student regarded each other.
    At last, Sofie laughed. “Of course, Juffrouw,” she said. “Respect and punctuality. You have my word!”
    The teacher scanned the classroom, raised her hand to her mouth and coughed. “See to it,” she said.
    Lena wasn’t sure why Sofie behaved as she did, but her own habit of reading under the table ceased the moment the newcomer entered the classroom. And her delight when Sofie stuck by her at the end of the day was indescribable.
    When Juffrouw Westenberg dismissed them, Lena tidied her few things into her bag slowly, hardly breathing as she waited to see what Sofie would do.
    Willem paused by the door. “Hey, Sofie,” he said, in that casual, gruff teenage-boy way, “want to walk with us?”
    “No, thanks,” Sofie said, glancing in his direction. “I’m waiting for Lena.”
    Lena stared at them both. Her heart soared and then plummeted, preparing itself for disappointment. What could possibly possess this new girl to choose her as a friend?
    Willem shrugged. “Your loss,” he said. He looked at Lena. “A big loss, actually!”
    But Sofie had stopped paying attention to him. “Come on, Lena,” she said. “Let’s get out of here.”
    And there it was: the start of something new. Eager though she was, Lena hesitated a moment. After what had happened with Sarah, she wasn’t sure she deserved a new friend.

    Things changed between Lena and Sarah after the outing that ended in front of that terrible sign. Lena had grown less eager to reach out, less willing to go to Sarah’s house. After all, she told herself, they didn’t really want her there anymore. And if she and Sarah didn’t go to Sarah’s house, where could they go? Parks were