unable to keep my voice from pitching up with barely contained excitement.
Priscilla gave me a playful shove. “And you didn’t accept? What’s wrong with you?”
I shoved back, trying to come up with a good excuse off the top of my head. “Well, I don’t really know him.”
She scoffed. “What, do you think he’s some ax-murderer?”
“No,” I said. At least I didn’t think so. “Besides, Meg and David said I wasn’t old enough to date. Remember?”
Priscilla burst out laughing. “It’s just a ride to school, Sarah. I can’t speak from personal experience, but I highly doubt the backseat of his car is comfortable enough to—”
The warning bell for homeroom interrupted Priscilla’s train of thought, and I immediately picked up the pace. I didn’t want to start the week off on the wrong foot with yet another detention, and I still had to stop at my locker.
“Later!” Priscilla called, already heading off in the opposite direction.
First and second periods were a bore, and Mrs. Raines’s class was just as stimulating as ever, which wasn’t saying much. Katie was especially generous with the evil eye and catty remarks, though today they were more or less directed at Priscilla. As I suspected might happen, Katie was still holding a grudge for what had gone down at lunch this past Friday. I wasn’t worried for Priscilla, though. She could take care of herself.
I spent most of English doodling little hearts and squiggle lines and smiley faces around the edges of my composition book. I should have been working on the outline for my final paper of the year, but I just didn’t have the mental stamina for it. Now I’d be stuck doing it for homework, which was a total bummer, but I didn’t care. Lunch couldn’t come fast enough, as far as I was concerned, and I had little patience for anything else.
As Priscilla and I schlepped through the cafeteria doors fifty minutes later, I instantly spotted Adrian from my vantage point on the stairs. But my hopes of sitting with him vanished when I realized he was surrounded by a group of girls, all of them the school’s most elite brats.
“I hate to say it,” Priscilla said, “but you don’t stand a chance if bitchy is what he’s attracted to.”
“Come on,” I said, tugging Priscilla’s arm to get her to follow.
Yet as we started to pass Adrian’s table, he called out to us. I considered pretending like I hadn’t heard, but Priscilla was right; acting like a snob wasn’t exactly in my DNA. I was usually much too nice, even when I didn’t want to be.
I made sure I had the most charming smile plastered on my face, and then I turned around to face him. “I’m glad to see you’ve made some friends,” I said.
A look of guilt erased his smile. He knew how I felt about Katie, but apparently he didn’t care. “Uh, I guess,” he said.
I caught Katie eyeing me with the same expression one makes when she steps in a steaming pile of dog crap. “So I see you’ve met the class know-it-all,” she said to Adrian. “Sarah thinks she’s so smart, using all those big words all the time. She’ll probably be valedictorian next year. Lame-o .”
“Actually, Sarah and I are neighbors. And I happen to like smart girls,” he said, turning his back on Katie. He gave Priscilla a small wave. “What’s up?”
“Same old, same old,” she said. When Adrian looked down to fish a dollar from his bag, she made a face at Katie.
Katie crossed her arms over her chest and snorted. “I suppose it’s nice to see someone take pity on Sarah, considering she doesn’t have many friends around here.” She nudged Adrian to get his attention. “Sarah had problems fitting in from the very beginning . . . for obvious reasons.”
“Geez, Katie. Way to be subtle,” Priscilla said, her eyes darting to Adrian to see his reaction. “Are you too blind to notice he’s got the same color skin as Sarah?”
“Adrian’s different,” she said with an unapologetic
Priscilla gave me a playful shove. “And you didn’t accept? What’s wrong with you?”
I shoved back, trying to come up with a good excuse off the top of my head. “Well, I don’t really know him.”
She scoffed. “What, do you think he’s some ax-murderer?”
“No,” I said. At least I didn’t think so. “Besides, Meg and David said I wasn’t old enough to date. Remember?”
Priscilla burst out laughing. “It’s just a ride to school, Sarah. I can’t speak from personal experience, but I highly doubt the backseat of his car is comfortable enough to—”
The warning bell for homeroom interrupted Priscilla’s train of thought, and I immediately picked up the pace. I didn’t want to start the week off on the wrong foot with yet another detention, and I still had to stop at my locker.
“Later!” Priscilla called, already heading off in the opposite direction.
First and second periods were a bore, and Mrs. Raines’s class was just as stimulating as ever, which wasn’t saying much. Katie was especially generous with the evil eye and catty remarks, though today they were more or less directed at Priscilla. As I suspected might happen, Katie was still holding a grudge for what had gone down at lunch this past Friday. I wasn’t worried for Priscilla, though. She could take care of herself.
I spent most of English doodling little hearts and squiggle lines and smiley faces around the edges of my composition book. I should have been working on the outline for my final paper of the year, but I just didn’t have the mental stamina for it. Now I’d be stuck doing it for homework, which was a total bummer, but I didn’t care. Lunch couldn’t come fast enough, as far as I was concerned, and I had little patience for anything else.
As Priscilla and I schlepped through the cafeteria doors fifty minutes later, I instantly spotted Adrian from my vantage point on the stairs. But my hopes of sitting with him vanished when I realized he was surrounded by a group of girls, all of them the school’s most elite brats.
“I hate to say it,” Priscilla said, “but you don’t stand a chance if bitchy is what he’s attracted to.”
“Come on,” I said, tugging Priscilla’s arm to get her to follow.
Yet as we started to pass Adrian’s table, he called out to us. I considered pretending like I hadn’t heard, but Priscilla was right; acting like a snob wasn’t exactly in my DNA. I was usually much too nice, even when I didn’t want to be.
I made sure I had the most charming smile plastered on my face, and then I turned around to face him. “I’m glad to see you’ve made some friends,” I said.
A look of guilt erased his smile. He knew how I felt about Katie, but apparently he didn’t care. “Uh, I guess,” he said.
I caught Katie eyeing me with the same expression one makes when she steps in a steaming pile of dog crap. “So I see you’ve met the class know-it-all,” she said to Adrian. “Sarah thinks she’s so smart, using all those big words all the time. She’ll probably be valedictorian next year. Lame-o .”
“Actually, Sarah and I are neighbors. And I happen to like smart girls,” he said, turning his back on Katie. He gave Priscilla a small wave. “What’s up?”
“Same old, same old,” she said. When Adrian looked down to fish a dollar from his bag, she made a face at Katie.
Katie crossed her arms over her chest and snorted. “I suppose it’s nice to see someone take pity on Sarah, considering she doesn’t have many friends around here.” She nudged Adrian to get his attention. “Sarah had problems fitting in from the very beginning . . . for obvious reasons.”
“Geez, Katie. Way to be subtle,” Priscilla said, her eyes darting to Adrian to see his reaction. “Are you too blind to notice he’s got the same color skin as Sarah?”
“Adrian’s different,” she said with an unapologetic
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