Stupid rich girl thinks she owns this school because her daddy's a hotshot lawyer with a mansion on the outskirts of town. Is what Declan Coffey would have said about Kyleigh Hayes if he wasn't too busy staring down the principal. The back window of the room framed Principal Moses's bearded face well, but the lighting from behind made him look very ominous.

"Care to explain why Ms. Hayes said you were stalking her?" he asked. "We take things like that very seriously in this school."

Declan sighed. "I wasn't stalking her." Next year, he would hopefully be at college and not have to worry about things like this. High school was so overrated.

"She said you came up to her and her friends with a digital camera and started taking pictures."

"That's not what happened." Self-consciously, Declan looked down at his neck, where he still had a camera hung. "I'm a nature photographer--well, at least, I want to be one. I was taking pictures of the budding trees in the forest. I didn't even notice the girls were there until they started yelling at me."

Leave it to Kyleigh to pull something like this. She had most of the students fooled with her looks (admittedly she was very hot) but not Declan. For almost as long as he could remember, she had been a spoiled brat--making fun of peoples' lunches, talking back to teachers, threatening to sue people who bothered her. In second grade, he had made the mistake of calling her that to her face, and since that day she had made it her mission to make his life as difficult as possible. This latest stunt was on brand, but that didn't mean it didn't bother him.

Principal Moses pondered this. "You're a good kid, Mr. Coffey. I believe you--and we both know Ms. Hayes can be a handful. But stalking complaints aren't something I can take lightly. I'll write this one off, but repeated complaints will have to go on your official transcript, which will diminish your chances of getting into college."

Declan nodded briskly--he didn't want to risk his chances of college. "Yes, sir. You don't have to tell me twice. I promise I'll stay away from Kyleigh Hayes for the rest of the year." He had been exposed to her for long enough. Hopefully avoiding her would be good for everyone's mental health.

He had no idea how difficult it would be to keep that promise.

By this point, Declan had the instructions memorized for the Fox River Design College application. A portfolio must consist of up to five photographs along with a brief description (100 words) of how you created each one. For nature/wildlife photographers, at least one photo must show a wild animal in its natural habitat. Consideration will be given to the effort put into each piece. Remember, this is a chance for you to show off your best and hardest work!

He had plenty pictures of flowers, birds, squirrels, and trees, but he knew that wouldn't be enough. He would be competing with kids who traveled the world and took pictures of leopards and elephants, so he needed something truly extraordinary. A rare animal, something impressive and endangered.

Hence the Thornton's warbler, a beautiful yellow bird that only lived in a few forests in the world. If Awesomebirdlover1000 on the internet was to be trusted, there was one living in the forest somewhere near this town. If he found it, he would definitely get into Fox River. There, professional photography wasn't a mere fantasy for people to laugh at. It was a creative pathway, a pursuit for dreamers who genuinely believed in the power of art to change the world. And it was the place he wanted to go more than anywhere else.

So far, despite plenty of research on the warbler, he hadn't seen any evidence that it existed. Still, he spent lots of time wandering the outskirts of town in the afternoons and evenings when it was supposed to be the most active, hoping he would stumble upon it.

He stepped over a log, looking around. It was almost golden hour, the best time for photography, so he snapped a few quick shots of the redbud trees glowing in the afternoon sun. He was about to go around and get a different angle when he heard it: birdsong.

Trilllllllla treeee! Trillllla treeeee! Just like the recordings he had listened to online.

Declan froze and cocked his head, hoping the bird would sing again and it wasn't a figment of his imagination. Finally, he heard the song coming from deeper into the woods. Slowly and deliberately, he followed its call.

Trilllllla treeeee! The birdsong seemed to never get closer. Declan saw an interesting-looking spiderweb, but he couldn't take a photo now. He had to pursue his mission.

There it was! Just like in the pictures online, the Thornton's warbler sat on a stone grooming its feathers. It must have been a male, because it was beautifully, almost ostentatiously colored. Its body was vibrantly blue, and the golden crest on its head seemed to glow with sunlight. He knelt down in the trees, selecting the right lens for the job.

Just as he lined up the shot, the bird hopped off the stone and flew farther away. Declan cursed under his breath and began following it into the forest.

He couldn't follow very far, though. A fence blocked his way--barbed wire marked with red and white signs. No Trespassing. Property of Finley Hayes, Esq.

Great. If there was one thing all the articles about the Thornton's warbler agreed on, it was that it didn't leave its nest very often in the springtime. If the warbler's nest was on the other side of that barbed wire, Declan had only one way to get his perfect shot and apply for his dream school.

He had to convince Kyleigh to let him into her backyard.

Declan scrolled through Fox River social media that night until his eyes burned. The application was due on April 12th, which had seemed like a lot of time at first--but now it felt oppressively soon. Surely he could find the Thornton's warbler again in that time. There had to be a backup plan that didn't involve talking to his nemesis. Maybe he could find another way around the fence.

Except if he did that without getting permission, he wouldn't be a fake stalker. He would be a real stalker. Then he wouldn't be any closer to college.

Instagram showed him pictures of field trips the photography students were taking: sea turtles in tropical blue water, macaws in the jungle, close-ups of brightly colored constrictor snakes. Self-consciously, he looked at the picture he had taken of the redbud trees in the evening sun. Sure, it was beautiful, but it wasn't exactly a standout compared to the exotic landscapes and animals on the screen. He went to sleep dreaming of what he would do when he saw the warbler again. How he would frame it. What shutter speed and aperture he would use. Its feathers were so yellow and blue, a natural contrast that made it one of the most photogenic birds he'd ever seen.

He woke up groggily, barely managing to stagger out of bed for school. His mom had left a plate of corn muffins on the counter for him, and he ate one with butter before he headed out the door. The walk to school was familiar, but today, his thoughts raced.

He couldn't exactly walk up to Kyleigh and ask to go into her massive backyard to photograph a bird. She would just call him crazy. At the same time, though, he couldn't be too subtle about it or nothing would ever happen.

Too soon, he stood at the front entrance of school. Ironically, Kyleigh showed up at the exact same time he did. She pulled up in her car with a group of her friends: Meena, Val, and Dottie something-or-other, the resident drama queens of Wildwood High. All four girls wore crop tops and way too much makeup on their faces, but her outfit was definitely the craziest--floppy hat, pink bell bottoms, white lace-up shoes. She and her friends took turns checking each other's makeup, paying no attention to the fact that they were blocking the road. Then the other three walked inside, leaving Kyleigh to park the car.

Declan loitered by the door, waiting for Kyleigh to finish parking so he could talk to her. Meena shot a deprecating glance at him as she walked by, something like who is this loser standing here for no reason? Maybe he did look a little weird.

Eventually she showed up, bright blonde hair waving under the big floppy white hat. She looked like a melting cowgirl. As she walked by, she shot him a cursory glance, similar to Meena's, but more curious than superior.

"Hey," Declan said.

She paused. "What?" Not an evil what. Just an annoyed, rushed what.

"I just think it's not cool to tell on me to the principal for nothing," he said. "I wasn't trying to stalk you and your friends, just take pictures of the plants in the forest." Great job there. Definitely the best way to quickly make friends with somebody was to call them out on their bratty nonsense.

She considered it for a moment. "Well, I'm sorry," she answered briskly. "You should be more careful about where you point that camera. People might get the wrong idea. Is that all?"

Why had he thought this was a good idea? He needed a backup plan fast--talking to Kyleigh was getting him nowhere. "Yeah," he said. "That's all."

It was an awkward end to the conversation, especially considering the fact that they had class in rooms next to each other, so they had to walk down the hall next to each other for the next few minutes. His hand accidentally brushed her arm on the way through a doorway, and he quickly retracted it. Didn't want to get any of those bratty rich girl cooties on him--or that gross stinky perfume and lotion.

Still, though... this was the first time he had ever heard her apologize for one of her schemes. Maybe, deep down, there was more to Kyleigh Hayes than he knew. But it had to be very deep down.

Declan stared at the whiteboard in the physics classroom, hoping he was reading it wrong. Of course, he and Kyleigh were lab partners. Of course they were lab partners, despite the fact that he had literally promised to stay away from her for the rest of the year. This whole "pre-assigned random lab partners" thing they were trying this year was a real headache. He was surprised he'd made it through the first semester without being forced to interact with her.

He flashed back to last time he had been lab partners with Kyleigh, back in seventh grade. It was a disaster. They had measured pH of water using bright color-changing liquid. She had refused to do any of the work, stating that "it might get on my shirt." So he had to do everything by himself while she sat on the side and scrolled on her phone, which led to all the measurements being wrong.

His friends Kim and Joss, who had been assigned as partners, looked at him with pity before heading off to their workstation. He nodded and twirled his finger next to his head, the universal sign for crazy. They disappeared into the far corner of the room, giggling.

At least today's lab was something he knew a lot about: lenses. It involved shooting beams of light through differently shaped lenses and finding the point where they came into focus. He figured he could knock it out in twenty minutes, with or without help from Kyleigh, so he began setting the equipment up.

She showed up three minutes late, having exchanged her floppy hat for a set of different-colored hair clips. She didn't acknowledge Declan's existence at first, just picked up the instruction book and started thumbing through it. He sighed and got ready for another awkward non-interaction. At least it was better than a hostile interaction. "What are we doing first?" she asked matter-of-factly after a few moments.

He was too surprised to say anything for a moment. "Probably go in order of convexity," he said at last, matching her flat tone.

They went through the motions of the first measurement quietly, adjusting the lens until it focused to a single point of light on the wall. Looking at the light, Declan was reminded of yesterday evening: the warbler's beautiful feathers in the evening sun, disappearing behind a wall of barbed wire--and with it, his chances of a college career. She was his chance to get another look at that bird, and he refused to blow it.

"Hey," he said to Kyleigh, wrinkling his nose at her perfume, "how was your day?"

A veritable record scratch. She froze and locked eyes on him. "Why are you asking me that? I thought you hated me."

"Not really," he said, semi-truthfully. He only hated her because she was so hateable. It was justified.

She picked up another lens and checked her reflection in it before slotting it into the lab machine. "It was a pretty good day," she answered. "Hung out with my friends, did some homework, tried out a new makeup brand, all that. Now let's get back to the lab."

The second measurement took even longer than the first due to both of their stubborn refusal to exchange words. By the end of it, the point on the wall was still a bit blurry, but he figured it was close enough for full credit. He closed his eyes and thought about getting a scholarship to Fox River, finally meeting other photography students there who saw the world the same way he did--as a work of art waiting to be captured. It started with the warbler. It started with Kyleigh.

"Hey--" he said.

She cut him off before he could even ask another question. "What? Why are you so interested in me all of a sudden?"

"Fine," he snapped. "Be that way. I guess I was wrong for trying to be nice to a psychopath like you."

Kyleigh side-eyed him as she twirled a pencil between her fingers. "That's a little rich coming from a nerd like you," she growled. "You really think I'm a psychopath?"

"Yes!" The answer exploded out of him faster than he could rein it in. "Because you are one! You're a brat, you don't care about other peoples' feelings, you think you can do whatever you want just because your dad's rich, and you've been trying to make my life miserable for the past ten years!"

Instantly, Declan knew he had gone too far. He wished he could put the rant back in his mouth, but just like normal vomit, word vomit was impossible to swallow back up. Kyleigh flinched and shrank away as though she had been hit, then went back to writing in the workbook, very deliberately keeping her eyes away from him. He silently cursed. He was never going to find that bird again before the deadline, not after that misstep.

For the next fifteen minutes, as they tried to set up the third lens, they didn't even look at each other. Nothing they tried would make the light on the wall come into focus, no amount of pushing or pulling or even rotating. Declan was supposed to be good at this, and the longer it took, the more frustrated he got at his own inability. He was considering giving up and faking a set of measurements when he heard Kyleigh speak up.

"Take a break and come back to it later?" she offered exasperatedly.

"Yeah," he groaned. He sat down on the floor next to the table. A moment later, he heard her sit down next to him on his right. Ignoring her, he kept his attention directly on the wall to his left, which had the periodic table printed on it. Rhenium. Osmium. Stupid spoiled rich girls. Beautiful, elusive songbirds.

"Declan." Kyleigh's voice was softer, almost apologetic. That was new.

He still didn't turn to look at her, but he shifted his focus toward her. "What?"

She sighed. "I haven't been trying to make your life miserable. I barely know you, and all you ever do is shoot passive-aggressive vibes at me. The stalking report was a misunderstanding. Sure, I was mad that you called me a spoiled brat in second grade, and I played some mean pranks on you when we were twelve, but that was middle school. People change."

Now Declan was pretty sure he was living in an alternate universe. He finally turned to look at Kyleigh, who had her arms wrapped around her knees as she leaned back against the table leg. Yes, she really had just admitted she was wrong.

"I'm sorry for being passive-aggressive," he said. "And for calling you a psychopath."

"I'm sorry for assuming the worst of you," she answered with a small smile. She stood up, poofy pants swishing around her legs. "Now are you ready to finish this lab, or what?"

He clambered up to his feet next to her and looked with a fresh set of eyes down at the lens. The concave lens. Which was supposed to be convex. He laughed out loud, recognizing the irony of the situation. "All this time, we've had it backwards."

He turned it around, and she quickly adjusted it to a tiny dot of light. He measured the distance as she wrote it down. Lab was officially over, and for once, Declan didn't find the experience of being near Kyleigh blood-curdling.

"Hey," he said as they left the lab, "maybe we can get reintroduced now that we don't hate each other? Like, hang out, see who we actually are under all the defensiveness and prickles."

She chuckled. "You know, you're not so bad when you're not lurking in the woods. Sure, me and my friends go to game night at the Riverfront Canteen on Sundays. Stop by sometime." Then she disappeared again down the hallway, rejoining the drama queens with a smile--a group of brightly colored, chattery macaws flocking around the halls and looking down on everyone.

As soon as they were gone, Declan gave a little fist pump. His plans for the college application were all coming together. He and Kyleigh still weren't friends, but it didn't seem impossible anymore that they could be.