Her name was Elena, but she had earned a dozen other names in the whispered gossip of the senior class. To Julian, she was simply the anomaly. Today, she was wearing the standard-issue white oxford shirt, buttoned high, and the navy blazer with the gold crest. But below that, she had committed an act of defiance that bordered on art.

For students who wear the Jewel Gallery 01 silver miniskirt, there are many benefits. Here are just a few:

Mr. Henderson, the Vice Principal, stood by the double doors of the main exit. He was the gatekeeper, the man who carried a ruler in his pocket to measure hemlines. Julian held his breath, waiting for the inevitable detention slip.

She closed her fist around it. Warm. Beating, faintly, like a second heart.