Page 45 of Drifting

I limp away, more pissed than before, and now, I’ll be late for another class.

As I leave, I hear Mav say, “Daammn.”

Thankfully, my next class isn’t too far away. I make it just before the bell.

“Shelby.” Luke waves me over, tapping an empty seat beside him.

From the corner of my eye, I spot Hannah in the next row over, giving me the evil eye.

I have a problem. If I sit by Luke, then he’ll think I want to be all buddy-buddy and blow my stay-away from them mindset. If I pick another seat, Hannah will assume she won.

I smile at Luke but shake my head.

He frowns as I find an empty seat a row over, choosing Hannah as the lesser of two evils.

The class goes by quickly. When the bell rings, Luke heads my way, but Hannah quickly steps in front of him.

Thank you, Hannah, for letting me sneak out. I don’t want to explain why I didn’t pick a seat beside him.

Out in the halls, girls seem to go out of their way to bump into me. I’m not certain at first, but when a girl comes from the other side of the hall to bump me into the lockers, that confirms it.

Two can play this game. The next time it happens, I bump them back, sending those skinny freaks bouncing across the halls.

When I step into Chemistry, the teacher smiles at me. “Right on time, you must be Miss. Winters. I’m your teacher, Mr. Turner. Find an empty seat. Whoever you sit next to will be your lab partner for the year, so pick wisely.”

I search the room for the smartest looking person and find Nick sitting by himself, smiling.

Yay! My heart jumps as I walk over to join him. Why didn’t someone sit with him? He’s super smart. Are they stupid? Thank you, thank you, science gods.

I lean over to Nick. “Happy to see you.”

“Oh, yeah? Having a marvelous day?”

I shake my head. “I’ll talk to you about it at home. Fair warning, you might not want to be my partner. I suck at science and will need lots of help.”

By the time the class ends, my mind is fried. I groan and lay my head on the table.

“Come on.” Nick rubs my back. “It’s lunchtime.”

I slowly get up and follow Nick toward the cafeteria. “No way will I ever pass this class. I didn’t understand a single word that came out of Mr. Turner’s mouth.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you. We’ll work on it this weekend.” He smiles as he opens the cafeteria door for me.

When I enter the cafeteria, two things hit me right away: a sound wave and the smell of whatever they’re cooking.

Nick leads me down a row created from tables on either side. At the end, it widens. Hot food is served on the right, and a small salad cart stands to the left. Straight ahead leads outside. Everywhere else, the space is filled with round tables that hold eight chairs each.

“I always bring my lunch; I sit over there.” Nick points to a table by the windows where Luke, the twins, and Cam already wait. “You can sit with us, or I can sit somewhere else with you?”

I pat him on the back. “Go sit with your friends. I’ll find somewhere to sit.”

Leaving him, I head over to see what they have cooking in the hot food area today. Nothing appears appetizing, so I grab a turkey sandwich, chips, and an iced tea.

As I search for a place to sit, I feel the guys’ eyeing me as I stroll past. The same girls from the party hang all over them, trying to get their attention.

Paige somehow landed an entire table to herself, and I stop next to her. “Would you mind if I sit here with you?”

She smiles. “Hi, Shelby, please take a seat.” She points to the empty seat beside her.“How were the rest of your classes? I’m in your first class. Sorry, you got stuck sitting by the funky, doobie twins. I got stuck sitting beside them once, and I choked the entire class. They smoke right before they head to class.”

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