"Ryder," Tony said in a stern voice. "Can you please put that bag of chips away? There's no eating in the class."

I looked at my bag of chips, then at my uncle. "But I'm hungry."

"Then you should have had breakfast," Tony said.

"I did," I said. "My dad made me bacon."

Tony sighed. "Please just put the bag away. You can't expect to be exceptions to the rules."

"I don't think that," I objected. Tony raised an eyebrow and I sighed before putting the bag of chips back into my backpack. My smoky bacon flavored chips. I couldn't help it if I was hungry and needed a bacon fix.

Tony continued talking about the expectations and safety whenever we were going to the biology lab. Then, he told us he had assigned us lab partners. My partner ended up being Mae, the new girl who was also new in the dance studio. I didn't mind being her partner, because I that meant I would get to know her more.

And hopefully prove to her who the better dancer was. Even though that had nothing to do with biology.

We then had to go down to the biology lab, even though we weren't going to be dissecting anything, thankfully. We were just getting to know the lab and making sure we knew how to behave in it.

And no surprise that he was looking at me when he said that.

When we got to the lab, he gave each pair their assigned table to work at, then told us to look at all the equipment and the list of them we got to make sure we had everything.

Mae and I both got to our table and I pulled out the container of the equipment. "So," Mae said slowly, and a bit quietly. She was a bit shy. "How long have you been dancing for?"

"Fourteen years," I said. "Ever since I was three."

"W-wow," Mae said. "That's long. No wonder you're such an amazing dancer."

That caused me to give her a smile. "Thanks. You're an amazing dancer, too. How long have you been dancing for?"

"Only eleven years," she said. "I started when I was six."

"That's still a long time," I said, taking everything out of the equipment container. "Some of the dancers at our studio have been dancing for as long as eight years and they're still amazing dancers. So, where did you live before moving here?"

"Lachine," Mae replied.

"Lachine," I repeated. "Nope, never heard of it."

"It's in Quebec," Mae said.

"Oh, so you're from Canada," I said. "Have you ever had poutine?"

"All the time," Mae said with a small smile. "I loved it there, but all good things come to an end, I guess."

"Why did you move, then?" I asked. "To an all new country?"

"Well, my parents recently got divorced," she said.

"Wow, I'm sorry," I said. "I have no idea what that feels like."

"Don't worry, I knew it was coming for a while," she said. "They're still close friends, but they're just not in love anymore. My mom's family was here, so I came down with her. So, is all the equipment there?"

I looked at the checklist, counting off all the equipment. "Yup, everything. On an unrelated note, is our teacher looking?"

Mae looked at Tony before looking back at me. "No, why?"

"No reason," I said before digging into my backpack and pulling out a few chips. I seriously couldn't help it if I was hungry.

"Didn't he tell you not to eat in class?" Mae asked. "Or the lab?"

"Well, yeah, but I'm hungry," I said. "Besides, he can't stay mad at me for breaking the rules." I popped one of the chips in my mouth, but the crunching ended up catching my uncle's attention.

"Ryder, what did I tell you about eating food in class?" he asked.

"Uh, not to do it?"

"Then why are you doing it?" he asked. "What would your parents say about you breaking the rules?"

"Well, my mom would be disappointed," I said. "But my dad would wonder why I got caught and would tell me to be careful next time. Come on, you know them."

Tony sighed. "If I see you eating them one more time, I will confiscate them."

"Come on, man, that's not cool," I said. "It's smoky bacon flavor."

"Ryder...”

"Okay, okay," I said. "I won't eat anymore." I looked down at the chips already in my hand. "Will these count?"

"Finish those and I better not see them again."

"Sweet, thanks," I said, shoving the chips into my mouth. When I finished eating them, I said, "You know you're my favorite uncle, right?"

"You only have two," Tony pointed out.

"Yeah, and I like you more than I like Uncle Graeme, which means that you're my favorite," I said. "And since you're my favorite, can I eat some more chips?"

The stern look he gave me before walking away told me otherwise.

"He's your uncle?" Mae asked. "And your teacher?"

"Yup," I said. "Fun fact, he actually taught my parents the first year he became a teacher."

"You're parents knew each other in high school?" Mae asked.

"Yeah," I said. "They started dating in their junior year."

"Wow," Mae said. "They must really be in love."

"Yeah, they are," I said softly.

It was amazing to see my parents still in love after everything they had been through. But, at the same time, it was a bit discouraging for me. I felt so pressured to be in a perfect relationship and by an expert on love. I mean, if someone needed love advice, they came to me. I've never even had a girlfriend and I was seventeen.

Thankfully, the bell then rang to end class. I told Mae that if she didn't have anywhere to sit for lunch, she could always join me. Not only was she new to the school and the dance studio, but she was also knew to the country. I wanted her to feel welcomed.

When I was at my locker, someone in my biology class, Earl, walked up to me. "Ryder, I need some advice," he said.

I sighed, knowing exactly what was coming. "Alright, what is it this time?" I asked.

"I accidentally got my girlfriend mad," Earl said. "I really didn't mean to, though. What should I do to show her how sorry I am?"

"Depends on what you did," I said. "What did you do?"

Earl winced. "I called her fat."

"Seriously?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. Earl was probably the one who came to me for love advice the most and every time he did, I was ready to slap him for being stupid. "Okay, here's what you need to do. First, you should probably jump into the ocean for being so stupid and pray that a shark doesn't eat you alive."

"Now wait a minute...”

I held up my hand. "I'm sorry, but who here is the love expert?" When he didn't reply, I gave him a smile. "Exactly. Now, as for your girlfriend, you did apologize, right?"

"Yeah, of course I did," Earl said. "But then she swore at me."

"Well, I can't blame her," I said. "To make up to it, you should probably buy her chocolate and treat her to the mall or any place she likes going to."

"But I barely have any money," Earl said.

"Then you should probably get ready to be single forever if you keep being stupid and not being able to make up for it," I said. "Look, if you don't have any money, apologize one more time and tell her at least twice per day how beautiful she is. And, I swear, if you come to me one more time because you made a stupid mistake, I will be the one to push you into the ocean."

"Got it," Earl said. "Thanks, Ryder."

"No problem," I said before heading off to my next class.

It was boring to say the least. I really wanted to eat my chips, but I wasn't allowed to eat in that class and I couldn't risk getting my smoky flavor bacon chips taken away. The only time I would actually eat in class was in my uncle's class because I could get away with it.

Most of the time.

Finally, it was lunch and I went to the cafeteria to get a lunch to go with my chips before sitting down at my regular table with Elizabeth and Julia. "Julia, you're dad is mean," I said as soon as I sat down.

Julia furrowed her eyebrows. "What? Why?"

"Because he wouldn't let me eat in class."

"Oh, boo hoo," Julia said sarcastically. "He won't even let me eat in my bedroom. Well, I do it anyway, but if I get caught, I won't be able to use my laptop for a week. A week. My mom, on the other hand, could care less."

"I like your mom more than your dad," I said. "Aunt Charlie's cool."

Mae suddenly walked up to the table, still looking a bit shy. I gestured for her to sit down beside me and she slowly did. "Mae, these are my cousins, Elizabeth and Julia. Guys, this is Mae. She's new to, well, the whole country."

"Welcome to America," Julia said with a smile. "Where are you from?"

"Canada, so not that far," Mae said. "I miss it, but I've visited here a few times to be familiar with it."

"Well, I know you'll like living here," Julia offered. "Besides, if you know Ryder, you'll make it through this school. Everyone knows Ryder and Ryder knows everyone."

"That's not true," I objected. "Well... Yeah, that's true." I guess it helped that my parents went her and all the staff knew of them.