Page 3 of Let's Pretend I'm Okay

I shrug again, hoping I’ll have a better excuse by then.

We pull into the school drop-off zone, and the car slows. I unbuckle and slide out, my skin immediately crawling from the loud students surrounding me like ants.

Olive is fast, rushing toward the school entrance. She’s a gullible freshman who hasn’t figured out high school is nothing but a prison for teenagers.

I close the door and walk away, dreading every step forward. I’m not ready to be around everyone, so I hide off to the side of the building. I lean against the brick wall and pull out my copy ofJourney to the Center of the Earthand a pen. I crack the book open to the middle and start writing in the margins. This is what I do when I’m stressed. I can write down whatever is on my mind and forget the world.

The entrance doors fly open, and a girl in bright orange overalls comes running out. She has short dark-brown hair that flies out of control as she looks over her shoulder every few seconds. She spots me with the biggest brown eyes I’ve ever seen, and charges forward.

“Hide me!” she yells. She grabs my arms, pulls me away from the wall, and cowers behind me.

A guy bursts through the door. “Margo, where are you?” His face is bright red and his hands are in fists.

She pushes me forward, using me as a human shield. “Don’t let him see me.”

If she didn’t want to be seen, she should’ve worn a different color. She’s practically a traffic cone. The guy spots her in seconds. He marches over to us. “You scammed me!”

“I did not!” she yells from behind me.

“The watch was a knockoff!”

“That’s not my fault. I didn’t know!”

“Just give me my money back!”

He reaches for her.

She dodges him by using me to block him.

“I don’t have it.”

The guy shoves me out of the way, knocking me to the ground. My book lies sprawled out, and just as I’m about to reach for it, he kicks it.

My heart races, and I jump up. “Hey!”

He smirks. “Got a problem?”

I shove him back. “What did I do to you?”

With only one push from me, he swings his fist straight into my jaw. The punch burns, and I stagger back moments before I use my full weight to tackle him to the ground, arms swinging.

CHAPTER TWO

MARGO

Earlier that morning

I jump onto Annie’s bed and pull off her covers. “It’s the first day of school!”

Annie winces, trying to steal the covers back. “No,” she groans.

I don’t budge, and when Annie lets go, I push the comforter off the bed. In reply, Annie shoves her head underneath her pillow.

“This is the first day of senior year,” I say, rushing to our closet. I want to wear something that’ll stand out, and I spot my orange overalls in the back. I have overalls in just about every color, but the orange ones are one of my favorites. They remind me of fall, and considering how it’s September first, I think it’s safe to say summer is over, even if the weather hasn’t caught on yet.

Annie stands, half asleep, and pulls a dark blue shirt out of the dresser in the corner of our room. She pulls it over her head and stuffs her legs into a pair of jeans before picking upher comforter off the ground. Then she curls up again on her bed. “Wake me up in ten.”

“Not so fast,” I say, grabbing a light blue shirt off the closet rack. I toss it onto the bed and it morphs over Annie. “You should wear this instead. It makes your glasses pop.”

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