Parker Cole, for example. She survived first semester, sure, but still doesn't fit in. Mostly everyone thinks Parker is weird—in her cowboy hats and capes and violet perfume—and even she agrees. But she dreams of being known beyond her persona, for the real reasons, especially by a guy . . .

Like her new lab partner, Chase Dobbs, a Southern boy with surfer hair. Chase has resolutions too—getting off of academic probation, for one, and avoiding military school, where his formidable father is this close to sending him. Chase must straighten up. But as soon as he gets back to campus, he has to deal with mini-disasters and distractions, including his strange, aloof lab partner, Parker—and the bizarre events that bind them.

Parker and Chase are dead-set on turning their second semester, and maybe their whole lives at Wellington, around. But even the best-laid plans can be destroyed. And the most unlikely friendship might be what it takes to graduate to the upper class.