Page 15 of It's in the Contract
I blush. I’ve revealed a piece of myself that hardly anyone knows about. I can’t be seen as being too dumb, but I can’t be seen as being too smart, either. It’s ridiculous.
“Have you thought about joining the mathletes?” Zeke says. “They could use you. I’ve seen those posters all over school. They’re recruiting for a big contest or something.”
I quickly shake my head. “No. I couldn’t do that.”
“Why not?”
I pause. All my reasons sound frivolous and silly, even in my own head. It’s not that Iwantto care about social standing so much, it’s just that high school has given me no other choice. I was thrust into the spotlight, and now everything I do is scrutinized.
“Again, people would talk. They have an image of me in their heads, who I’m supposed to be and what I’m supposed to do. The mathletes are . . .”Part of the nerd crowd,I want to say. But I don’t want to offend Zeke. “Different than me,” I finish lamely.
“I get that. Being in the spotlight is no joke,” Zeke says. “Believe it or not, I’m partially famous myself.”
“You are?”
Zeke opens YouTube on his phone. He taps on a clip of what looks like a video game walk-through. I’ve watched Noah play a few video games, though they were shoot ‘em up, kill-all-the-aliens type of games, and this looks different. The character wearing blue with blonde hair looks familiar. Then Zeke’s voice starts playing in the video, welcoming his viewers.
“Is this your channel?” I ask.
Zeke smiles, but his shoulders hunch towards his ears, like he’s embarrassed. “I’ve always loved playing video games, and my brothers kept asking me how to do certain things or solve the puzzles, so this was my way of sharing it with them. People liked it, and the channel took off.” Zeke runs a hand through his curls, and one flops onto his forehead. “Now, occasionally random people off the street hear my voice and know who I am. It doesn’t happen super often, but it’s still weird. There’s a surprising amount of people at this school who are into Zelda games.”
I look at the video stats. “You have 406K subscribers? Ummm, what?”
Zeke smiles shyly. “Yeah.”
“That’s impressive.”
“Thanks,” he says. “Should we move on to American history, then?”
I want to ask more questions, but he seems self-conscious, so I don’t push it. “Yes, please.”
Five
We’ve got a surprise coming your way, Monte Ville High.
TikTok caption by @CassidyandBrianMVH.
“Good morning, Monte Ville High!”Cassidy, one of our school announcers, exclaims from a TV screen mounted to the cafeteria wall. The screen shows Cassidy and her co-host, Brian, at a desk with pages of notes scattered between them and a big photo of the Monte Ville cougar mascot on the wall behind. Cassidy’s hands are clasped in front of her, dozens of bangles jangling on both forearms, and her blonde ponytail is kept out of her face with a yellow wrap.
I shift my attention from my lunch to the screen. Normally Cassidy and Brian are mostly ignored while they’re giving the daily news, but with Homecoming approaching, people are paying closer attention and the chatter in the lunchroom quiets down. Most of the students turn to watch the screens.
It’s a relief, honestly, to have their stares directed at something other than me. I’ve walked through the hallways today, waving, saying hi, and trying to be my normal positiveself, but people have been staring, whispering, and giggling together behind their fingers.
I blink my bleary eyes to try to clear my head. We’re only a week into school, and the pressure and gossip and early morning workouts are already wearing on me. This morning after Mom put me through a rigorous back and bicep workout, I had to put on under-eye concealer to cover up tired purple bags above my cheeks. My day-old nail polish is already chipping at the corners—a lime green that worked perfectly with my outfit yesterday but looks horrible with my high-waisted jeans and fitted sky blue top. I was so tired this morning I didn’t even notice. I barely had time to choose a perfume. (Clary sage, for vitality. It’s clearly not working.)
Suzy sits next to me with a packed bento box style lunch. She’s eating sticky rice, kimchi, a yummy looking chicken dish, and I notice with a smile that one of my cookies is tucked into a bento compartment. She also has a sandwich baggie of air-popped popcorn, an addition from her dad.
Cassidy puts on her signature bright smile. “What are we talking about today, Brian?”
Suzy sets down her chopsticks. “Are they announcing who’s running today?”
“Homecoming, bae!” Brian beams, adjusting a red bowtie that clashes with his burnt orange checkered shirt. “It’s less than a month away.”
“Yes, it is,” Cassidy’s smile becomes rigid and forced. “And I’m not your bae.”
Kayla and Dana, squeezed in on the bench across from us, giggle. Dana resumes staring at her phone while she eats taco salad, and I hear what sounds like a hair tutorial playing. Chelsea rolls her eyes, still not thrilled about knocking elbows with Kayla while she eats. Nicole, whose white converse shoesare still spotless despite the drizzling rain and mud outside, sits next to me and stares at the TV screen on the wall.
“We have our runners,” Cassidy says.
