Rhett Norton’s New Start Rhett Norton was thirteen, tall and skinny like a string bean that had shot up too fast. His brown hair was always a little messy, and behind his clear glasses, his brown eyes sparkled with mischief. He and his mom had just moved to a quiet little town in California, nestled between rolling hills and orange groves. It was supposed to be a fresh start. But Rhett was a troubled kid, to say the least. Back home, he’d made one dumb decision after another—sneaking out, talking back, pulling pranks that went too far. His mom hoped the small-town school would be different. Seventh grade was about to begin, and on the very first day, Rhett walked into class like he owned the place. He was loud, cracking jokes during roll call and turning his desk into an impromptu drum set with his pencils. By lunch, he’d already been sent to the principal’s office for “disrupting the learning environment.” The other kids loved it. By the end of the day, Rhett Norton was the most talked-about boy in school—funny, fearless, and totally unpredictable. His mom, who had taken a job as the school nurse, kept a close eye on him. She’d patched up his scraped knees more times than she could count and had plenty of practice calming down teachers. “Rhett, tone it down,” she’d whisper when he zoomed past the nurse’s office between classes. But Rhett couldn’t help it. Being loud and funny was how he made friends. It was also how he stayed out of his own head. A few weeks passed, and the novelty of the new kid started to settle. Rhett still got into trouble—nothing major, just the usual chaos—but something shifted the day he first really noticed Emma. Emma was in his seventh-grade class too. She wasn’t loud like Rhett, but she wasn’t a shy nerd either. She had a calm confidence, laughing easily with her friends and raising her hand in class without showing off. She sat two rows over from him