much.” Adrian didn’t respond.
We’d
received our final schedules a few days ago in the mail. Just for something to
do, I pulled mine from the front pocket of my bag and looked it over, even
though I had already memorized the location of all my classes. The short drive
to school felt more like an eternity.
“I
can’t believe we have only one class together.” I didn’t add that it especially
sucked since Caleb was also in that same class. I’d have to share Adrian with
him all the more.
“I’m
sure you’ll survive,” he said.
I bit
the inside of my bottom lip. Adrian was making apologizing extremely difficult,
and I didn’t want to go to school feeling angry.
“I’m just
trying to make conversation, Adrian. Why are you acting like this?”
“Like
what?”
“Like .
. . this ,” I said, waving my hand in his direction. “Answering with as
few words as possible.”
“I’m
sorry you feel I’m not conversationally stimulating today.”
Adrian rolled
to a stop at the crosswalk to let a few students pass and I opened the door. He
looked sharply over at me, surprise on his face. “What are you doing?”
“I’ll
walk the rest of the way.”
“The
school is across the street. We’re almost there. Don’t be a drama queen.”
But I’d
already gotten out. “I’m not being a drama queen,” I said through my teeth, slamming
the door.
Adrian
sped past me, tires squealing, and I walked as quickly as I could the rest of
the way, keeping my head down. People were looking. I didn’t care, though. Let
them stare.
Priscilla
met me at my locker after homeroom. We quickly compared schedules again, but
nothing had magically changed in the past twenty-four hours since we’d last
compared notes.
“So you
really couldn’t switch these two classes? I can’t believe lunch is the only
period we have together,” I said. I didn’t mention my fight with Adrian on the
way to school, if only because I was afraid I’d burst into tears if I talked
about it at all. The apology hadn’t exactly gone according to plan.
“Lunch
is the most important part of the day,” Priscilla said, unconcerned. “Don’t
worry about it. It’s not like we don’t ever see each other anyway. I’m
scheduled to work this afternoon, so I’ll bum a ride with you and Adrian after
school.”
“We’re
walking today.”
Priscilla
made a face. “Walking? Since when do we walk anymore?”
“We
just are.”
“ Okaaay ,”
she said, at last getting that I was upset.
The
bell rang and I gave her a sheepish grin. “See you later?”
“You
know I’ll get to the bottom of whatever you’re not telling me,” she said before
she turned on her heel and walked away.
My first
class of the day turned out to be gym. Whoever thought having gym that early in
the morning was a complete nimrod. At least Shyla would be suffering alongside
me. She was already in the dressing room when I walked in, and I snagged the
locker next to hers.
She groaned
when she saw me. “Is this lame, or what? At my last school I had gym at the end
of the day, which was perfect. We don’t even have time to take a shower. Do
they really expect us to break a sweat and then go the rest of the day smelling
like cattle?”
I
smiled. “Just watch out for Coach Wally. He’ll call you out in front of
everyone if you don’t take his class as seriously as he does.”
She bent
to lace up her sneakers. “Fantastic. Hey, did you see who’s in this period?”
I yanked
off my jeans and then tugged on a pair of shorts. Shyla didn’t know anyone at
this school yet, and Priscilla, Adrian, and Caleb weren’t in this class. That
could only mean she was talking about one person. “Oh, please don’t tell me . .
.”
She
nodded. “Jasmine.”
As if
speaking her name conjured the devil herself, a toilet flushed and Jasmine emerged
from a stall. We made eye contact briefly before each of us looked away.
I
finished changing clothes. Thinking about my argument
We’d
received our final schedules a few days ago in the mail. Just for something to
do, I pulled mine from the front pocket of my bag and looked it over, even
though I had already memorized the location of all my classes. The short drive
to school felt more like an eternity.
“I
can’t believe we have only one class together.” I didn’t add that it especially
sucked since Caleb was also in that same class. I’d have to share Adrian with
him all the more.
“I’m
sure you’ll survive,” he said.
I bit
the inside of my bottom lip. Adrian was making apologizing extremely difficult,
and I didn’t want to go to school feeling angry.
“I’m just
trying to make conversation, Adrian. Why are you acting like this?”
“Like
what?”
“Like .
. . this ,” I said, waving my hand in his direction. “Answering with as
few words as possible.”
“I’m
sorry you feel I’m not conversationally stimulating today.”
Adrian rolled
to a stop at the crosswalk to let a few students pass and I opened the door. He
looked sharply over at me, surprise on his face. “What are you doing?”
“I’ll
walk the rest of the way.”
“The
school is across the street. We’re almost there. Don’t be a drama queen.”
But I’d
already gotten out. “I’m not being a drama queen,” I said through my teeth, slamming
the door.
Adrian
sped past me, tires squealing, and I walked as quickly as I could the rest of
the way, keeping my head down. People were looking. I didn’t care, though. Let
them stare.
Priscilla
met me at my locker after homeroom. We quickly compared schedules again, but
nothing had magically changed in the past twenty-four hours since we’d last
compared notes.
“So you
really couldn’t switch these two classes? I can’t believe lunch is the only
period we have together,” I said. I didn’t mention my fight with Adrian on the
way to school, if only because I was afraid I’d burst into tears if I talked
about it at all. The apology hadn’t exactly gone according to plan.
“Lunch
is the most important part of the day,” Priscilla said, unconcerned. “Don’t
worry about it. It’s not like we don’t ever see each other anyway. I’m
scheduled to work this afternoon, so I’ll bum a ride with you and Adrian after
school.”
“We’re
walking today.”
Priscilla
made a face. “Walking? Since when do we walk anymore?”
“We
just are.”
“ Okaaay ,”
she said, at last getting that I was upset.
The
bell rang and I gave her a sheepish grin. “See you later?”
“You
know I’ll get to the bottom of whatever you’re not telling me,” she said before
she turned on her heel and walked away.
My first
class of the day turned out to be gym. Whoever thought having gym that early in
the morning was a complete nimrod. At least Shyla would be suffering alongside
me. She was already in the dressing room when I walked in, and I snagged the
locker next to hers.
She groaned
when she saw me. “Is this lame, or what? At my last school I had gym at the end
of the day, which was perfect. We don’t even have time to take a shower. Do
they really expect us to break a sweat and then go the rest of the day smelling
like cattle?”
I
smiled. “Just watch out for Coach Wally. He’ll call you out in front of
everyone if you don’t take his class as seriously as he does.”
She bent
to lace up her sneakers. “Fantastic. Hey, did you see who’s in this period?”
I yanked
off my jeans and then tugged on a pair of shorts. Shyla didn’t know anyone at
this school yet, and Priscilla, Adrian, and Caleb weren’t in this class. That
could only mean she was talking about one person. “Oh, please don’t tell me . .
.”
She
nodded. “Jasmine.”
As if
speaking her name conjured the devil herself, a toilet flushed and Jasmine emerged
from a stall. We made eye contact briefly before each of us looked away.
I
finished changing clothes. Thinking about my argument
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