sorry.”
“Bonjour, Monsieur Piedmont,” Madame said with an edge in her voice, gesturing for him to sit down.
“Asseyez-vous.”
Over here
, Lizzie thought, watching him as he moved into the room, looking for a seat.
Just look over here…
But he stepped past her without a glance. All the way to the back of the room, right into the knot of desks that held the
Alpha Male triad of Ken Clayman, Eli Blackman, and Chris Eaton.
Lizzie turned forward in her desk.
“Since when is he friends with that crew?” she whispered to Carina.
Carina looked back at Todd and shrugged. “He’s a guy, ” she said.
For the rest of homeroom, Lizzie tried to construct a cool, clever, and hopefully funny apology.
I’m sorry I never made it back,
she thought.
Yes, I totally bolted from your house but I really
would
like to kiss you. When can we get back to that?
When Madame had finally reached the end of the list and the bell had rung, Lizzie turned to Carina and Hudson. “I’ll meet
you guys in history,” she said, packing up her stuff.
“Just be friendly,” Hudson said.
“Yeah, don’t be all tweaked out that he didn’t write you back,” Carina put in. “Make light of it.”
Um, as if
, she thought as she scrambled to catch up with Todd in the hall. “Hey,” she said when she was just behind him. “How was the
party?”
Todd turned around. He seemed surprised, as if they were the sort of friends who waved hi to each other but never really talked.
“Hey,” he said, slinging his bookbag over his shoulder. “What’s up?”
“Sorry I never made it back,” she said, plunging right in. “I really wanted to, but we ended up going to Montauk and it was
kind of an emergency—”
“Hey, no worries,” he said, holding up his hand to stop her, as if he were some cool surfer dude. “Things were a little crazy
this weekend.” His eyes darted around the hallway, looking for something, or someone. She waited for more of an explanation,
but he didn’t give one.
“Was it fun?” she asked.
“What?”
“The party.”
“Oh, yeah,” he said distractedly, still looking around. Suddenly he cocked his head as if he’d just had a brilliant thought.
“Hey. I think we need to get to English, right?”
Before she could answer, he turned and started walking up the hall. Lizzie watched him, dumbfounded. This wasn’t like Todd.
He never acted uninterested in talking to her. Was he mad at her?
“Hey, you still owe me a story,” she teased as she followed him down the hall. “Don’t think I’m gonna forget about that.”
“Hey, Piedmont!”
She looked over. Ken Clayman was waving him over to where he and Eli and Chris were standing near the lockers. “Get over here!”
he yelled. “We’re doing fantasy football!”
Todd glanced back at her. “We’ll talk later. Okay?”
She just nodded and watched him walk over to his new friends. A moment later the whole pack of them moved down the hall, nudging
and jostling and laughing. She couldn’t believe it. Fantasy football? He’d been living in England for the past three years.
What did he care about the NFL?
At a loss, she turned to see Sophie Duncan and Jill Rau emerge from the girls’ bathroom, shoulder-to-shoulder, both of their
kilts hanging unfashionably to the knee. Sophie and Jill weren’t the coolest girls in the class—they wore bright pink lip
gloss and had huge public crushes on Zac Efron—but they were nice enough, even if they were constantly gossiping about people.
“And are you totally
sure
?” Sophie asked, pushing her glasses up her nose.
“Yep, Kate and Ilona were talking about it at the deli,” Jill confirmed, rubbing a lip gloss wand over her lips. “It happened
after everyone else went home. So I won. I said they’d hook up the first week.”
“They hooked up the first
weekend
, not the first week,” Sophie countered.
“Same difference,” said Jill.
They were all walking in the same
“Bonjour, Monsieur Piedmont,” Madame said with an edge in her voice, gesturing for him to sit down.
“Asseyez-vous.”
Over here
, Lizzie thought, watching him as he moved into the room, looking for a seat.
Just look over here…
But he stepped past her without a glance. All the way to the back of the room, right into the knot of desks that held the
Alpha Male triad of Ken Clayman, Eli Blackman, and Chris Eaton.
Lizzie turned forward in her desk.
“Since when is he friends with that crew?” she whispered to Carina.
Carina looked back at Todd and shrugged. “He’s a guy, ” she said.
For the rest of homeroom, Lizzie tried to construct a cool, clever, and hopefully funny apology.
I’m sorry I never made it back,
she thought.
Yes, I totally bolted from your house but I really
would
like to kiss you. When can we get back to that?
When Madame had finally reached the end of the list and the bell had rung, Lizzie turned to Carina and Hudson. “I’ll meet
you guys in history,” she said, packing up her stuff.
“Just be friendly,” Hudson said.
“Yeah, don’t be all tweaked out that he didn’t write you back,” Carina put in. “Make light of it.”
Um, as if
, she thought as she scrambled to catch up with Todd in the hall. “Hey,” she said when she was just behind him. “How was the
party?”
Todd turned around. He seemed surprised, as if they were the sort of friends who waved hi to each other but never really talked.
“Hey,” he said, slinging his bookbag over his shoulder. “What’s up?”
“Sorry I never made it back,” she said, plunging right in. “I really wanted to, but we ended up going to Montauk and it was
kind of an emergency—”
“Hey, no worries,” he said, holding up his hand to stop her, as if he were some cool surfer dude. “Things were a little crazy
this weekend.” His eyes darted around the hallway, looking for something, or someone. She waited for more of an explanation,
but he didn’t give one.
“Was it fun?” she asked.
“What?”
“The party.”
“Oh, yeah,” he said distractedly, still looking around. Suddenly he cocked his head as if he’d just had a brilliant thought.
“Hey. I think we need to get to English, right?”
Before she could answer, he turned and started walking up the hall. Lizzie watched him, dumbfounded. This wasn’t like Todd.
He never acted uninterested in talking to her. Was he mad at her?
“Hey, you still owe me a story,” she teased as she followed him down the hall. “Don’t think I’m gonna forget about that.”
“Hey, Piedmont!”
She looked over. Ken Clayman was waving him over to where he and Eli and Chris were standing near the lockers. “Get over here!”
he yelled. “We’re doing fantasy football!”
Todd glanced back at her. “We’ll talk later. Okay?”
She just nodded and watched him walk over to his new friends. A moment later the whole pack of them moved down the hall, nudging
and jostling and laughing. She couldn’t believe it. Fantasy football? He’d been living in England for the past three years.
What did he care about the NFL?
At a loss, she turned to see Sophie Duncan and Jill Rau emerge from the girls’ bathroom, shoulder-to-shoulder, both of their
kilts hanging unfashionably to the knee. Sophie and Jill weren’t the coolest girls in the class—they wore bright pink lip
gloss and had huge public crushes on Zac Efron—but they were nice enough, even if they were constantly gossiping about people.
“And are you totally
sure
?” Sophie asked, pushing her glasses up her nose.
“Yep, Kate and Ilona were talking about it at the deli,” Jill confirmed, rubbing a lip gloss wand over her lips. “It happened
after everyone else went home. So I won. I said they’d hook up the first week.”
“They hooked up the first
weekend
, not the first week,” Sophie countered.
“Same difference,” said Jill.
They were all walking in the same
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