Page 18 of Echoes of Us

Emmaline

I’ll definitely be ignoring Mom’s two texts about leaving that girl behind thismorning. It’s not my fault she wasn’t ready when I needed to leave. Sure, I usually don’t leave until 7:30. Last night I told EJ that we were leaving at 7:15 so I could meet with Coach. It wasn’t a total lie. I did go to her office when I got here to let her know I talked to Mr. Roberts. Since he refused to give me extra credit or tutor me, Coach said she’d talk to him. She doubts it will change anything. When she suggested the tutor once or twice a week was probably my best option, I walked out.

Now that I am annoyed for the day, I head to my locker and see Devan waiting for me.

“Where’s the new girl?” He asks as he looks over my shoulder, then around the hall.

“Don’t know, don’t care,” I reply coolly, opening my locker and not looking his way.

“Are you still pissed at me for last night? Look, I’m sorry I didn’t let you complain but it does get super old. Especially about this chick. She is all you talk about lately,” he says, annoyed.

“I am sorry that my life troubles inconvenience you,” I say angrily, slamming books into my locker.

“Look. I am not one of your friends you can bitch to about everything. I’m your boyfriend. It is so gay to always have to be part of your stupid girl talk. Do it with Mills. Not me,” he says angrily.

I don’t even answer. He begins telling me about his morning workout and how he hit his max in bench press. I start to zone out.

I finish unpacking my backpack and grab the books I need when Mills comes running up to us.

“I saw trash panda get out of your mom’s car just now. How did you get out of driving her?” Mills asks.

“I told EJ we had to leave early and left her.” I say smirking. Truthfully, I felt a little bad when EJ was asking me why Teagan wasn’t riding with us. He always seems to be the angel on my shoulder when I let the devil on the other make decisions. “Wait… what did you just call her?” Before she can repeat it, I lean over laughing hysterically. So much for the angel on my shoulder, but that is too funny not to laugh. C’mon, Emmaline. You are changing tactics. Remember? Focus. I need to make sure Mills isn’t going to do anything mean to that girl today. Not only am I going with a ‘she doesn’t exist’ strategy, but I also know if anything bad happens to that girl and it gets back to my parents; I will totally get blamed.

Before I have the chance to tell her, Gabe walks up and wraps his arms around her waist, lifting her into a big hug. He kisses her on the cheek, looks to me and says, “Has she told you the nickname yet? She was very proud of it last night on FaceTime.” He chuckles.

“Yeah, she did,” I reply. I turn back to her and say, “Speaking of her, Mills, I…”

“Oh helloooo you three!” My ears burn at the sound of that voice. I turn to find Grace Hoffman standing behind me. She smiles at Gabe, Devan and Mills, completely ignoring me. The three of them stare at Grace and then look at me cautiously, clearly waiting for my reaction. Grace is the captain of the soccer team and a total bitch. She has always competed with me for being the best athlete or the most liked student. She is tall and thin with straight black hair. The same color as her heart.

“What do you want, Hoffman?” I ask flatly.

Grace looks me up and down slowly, then smiles. “Oh I was just coming over to see how your new… guest is working out. I am her student escort and wanted to ask if I needed to keep my valuables on lockdown.”

If any of my friends would have made that comment, I would have laughed. There is something infuriating about Grace making fun of that girl. Before I can answer, I see Teagan coming around the corner with the headmaster. Grace looks surprised and straightens as they approach.

“Hello, Ms. Hoffman, Ms. Briggs, Ms. Wells, Mr. Freeman, and Mr. Phillips. Ms. Hoffman, I was expecting you to meet Teagan and I outside of my office five minutes ago.” He looks to Grace, his eyebrows raised.

“I am sorry, Headmaster McNeely. There was a freshman whose books fell out of their locker and all over the floor. They looked so embarrassed, so I just had to stop and help them clean it up,” Grace said with a sweet smile.

“Oh, you are always so kind to our younger students. Thank you for doing that, Grace,” Mr. McNeely says. I look at Mills, rolling my eyes. How does she get away with this shit?

“Well, Teagan. This is Grace Hoffman, and she will be your new student escort this week. Grace, here is Teagan’s schedule. You all better start heading to first period before the next bell! Study hard and learn harder!” He hands Grace the schedule and turns to walk away, waving over his shoulder.

Grace looks down at the schedule, her eyes widening as she reads over it. She looks up with her brows furrowed. “You’re in only AP classes? Or is this a mistake?” she asks.

“Definitely a mistake. There is no way you are in all AP classes.” Mills adds.

“Actually, she is. My mom and dad wouldn’t shut up about it all weekend,” I say.

Teagan looks annoyingly at me. She looks to Grace and says, “Just take me to the first class.”

Grace looks again at the schedule and shrugs, “Okay… AP Latin is this way.” Grace motions her arm wide toward the Language and Humanities Hall. She starts to walk that way without so much as another look in my direction. Grace scowls at me, then follows after her, running to catch up. She loops her arm through Teagan’s, smiling at me over her shoulder. I bristle.

Why did that make me irrationally angry?

Chapter 19

Teagan