Page 45 of Indiscretion

“My homeroom is down here, but I’ll walk you up.”

She looked over, and I got the feeling she was about to say I didn’t have to, so I raised my hands. “I know you’re not charity. My mom and I only moved here last year, and I was the new kid. My buddy Ben showed me around the first day. I’m just paying it forward.”

She stayed quiet as we climbed the steps. Midway down the hall on the second floor, I pointed to a door up on the left. “That’s Johnson’s room. I had him for English last year. Try to sit at least three rows back from his desk. He gets these nasty white spit balls in the corners of his mouth, and sometimes they fly off and hit whatever’s in their path.”

“Ugh. Gross.” She smiled. “But thanks for the tip.” Right before we got to her classroom, she stopped and looked down. “It’s not a bad haircut. I have alopecia. It’s an autoimmune disorder that causes your hair to fall out. Sometimes I don’t have any.”

That sucked. Especially since the girls in middle school seemed to spend half their day looking at themselves in the mirror and fixing their hair and makeup. I wasn’t sure what had happened between June and September last year, but they’d all seemed to discover curling irons and makeup. I shrugged. “At least you can wear cool hats and stuff. Gleason can’t do anything about his ugly face.”

Bailey’s smile widened. “Thank you for stepping in on the bus. My mom always says actions count more than words, so maybe you’re not an asshole after all.”

My brows jumped. “Not an asshole after all? That soundsalmostlike a compliment.” The warning bell buzzed overhead, so I had to go. I touched two fingers to my forehead in a salute. “Gotta run. If I’m late, I get detention, and if I get detention, Coach won’t let me practice. Good luck today.”

“What do you play?”

“Football.”

“Are you good at it?”

“I’m the best at everything.”

Bailey laughed, and it made me feel warm inside. It was a different kind of warm than the way I felt around Allie Papadopoulos, whom I planned to ask to the eighth-grade dance, but a good feeling stayed with me all day.

At least until I got home and talked to my mom…

***

“How was your day, honey?”

“Fine.” I tossed my bookbag on the kitchen island and made a beeline for the pantry, grabbing an unopened package of Oreos. “Where’s Sarah?”

“She went down for her nap late, so she’s still sleeping.” Mom took the milk out and reached for a glass. “Don’t eat too many cookies. Dinner will be ready in an hour. And don’t forget to feed Sheldon. I bought more sprouts at the market today and some tofu.”

“He doesn’t like tofu.”

“How do you know? He eats it.”

I tore open the package and shoved a cookie into my mouth. “Because no one likes that crap.” I pointed to the milk in Mom’s hands. “You’re not going to give me that, are you?”

Mom opened the fridge and swapped the whole milk carton for coconut milk. “God forbid.” She walked around to the other side of the counter and poured me a tall glass. “Tell me about your first day of school.”

“They added chicken fingers to the menu for lunch. Much better than the chewy nuggets they had last year.”

“That’s good. What about your actual classes?”

I shrugged. “Okay. I guess.”

“Make any new friends?”

“No.” I shrugged again and knocked back half the glass of coconut milk. “Wait. Actually, I did. There was a new girl at the bus stop.”

“Oh? What’s her name?”

“Bailey.”

Mom’s face fell.

“What?”

---