Page 24 of It's in the Contract
Zeke gives me a sad smile and zips up my backpack. “We’re moving again at the end of the semester, so I won’t even get to finish a whole school year here. There’s just no point.”
I feel like I’ve pried too much, uncovered too many deep feelings. “I’m so sorry, Zeke. I shouldn’t have?—”
“Callie,” Zeke says earnestly. “It’s okay. I’ve accepted that deep friendships just aren’t a thing I will have in my life.”
“That’s . . . that’s so sad.”
“Yeah,” he says. “But it’s better this way. I promise.”
Zeke carries my heavy backpack and we make our way through the living room. I spy Zeke’s mama and Mia through the window, jumping on their trampoline in their backyard holding hands, Mia laughing hysterically. It does something to me, awakens some pang of longing.
“Can I give you a ride home?” Zeke asks.
I feel bad imposing, but the alternative is to call my mom and explain where I’ve been. Though she’d approve of the tutoring, she’d wonder why we came here instead of home.
“That would be great. Thanks.”
We walk to Zeke’s car through their quaint front yard. It was nice to distract myself with someone else’s problems for a while, but just like that, I’m filled with worry again. Unlike Zeke, I don’t have the luxury of not caring about what people think.
Eight
No flipping way. Did you see what happened in French class? The drama going down is NUTS. And I know drama.
Text message from Nicole Becks to Chelsea Connors.
I closemy locker with a click, chemistry equations going through my head along with a certain brown-skinned boy who makes me laugh and helps me be myself in a way that very few can. I give my head a shake. We are so not right for each other, and I am so not going there. He doesn’t even want to make friends, let alone a girlfriend. I’d be crazy to go after him.
Suzy walks through the hallway towards me, and her head is down, posture slumped. Her hair is tied halfway up with a red ribbon that matches her striped shirt. Suzy twists the latch on her locker, trying to get the numbers right, but it’s not working, and she slams her fist against it.
“Suzy! What’s wrong?” Gently, I remove Suzy’s hand from the lock and twist it to the right numbers. I get it open, and Suzy stares inside. She doesn’t move to grab anything or dig past the messiness that is Suzy’s locker. Honestly, it stresses me out just looking at the mess.
There are posters of the members of our favorite band, BTS, alongside post-it notes with jokes we wrote to each other over the years sticking to the walls. A cute burgundy jacket I bought for her birthday last year hangs from a hook, books are haphazardly stacked in a pile, and an emergency stash of peanut butter M&Ms sits on the top shelf.
I grab the bag of M&Ms, open it, and offer one to her. Suzy shakes her head.
“What happened?” I ask, replacing the candy before my fingers turn blue.
Suzy’s black eyes are completely dejected. “I can’t run for Homecoming Queen.”
I pause. “What? Why not? They already announced your name.”
Students flow around us. The hallway is crowded, the chatter loud. We’re in between classes, and everyone is rushing not to be late.
Suzy rests her forehead against the open locker door. “Principal Melrose just saw me in her office. Apparently someone told her that I was cheating on a test. They even had a photo of me pulling out my phone during the test to prove it.”
I hesitate. “But that’s not true, right?”
Suzy sighs and runs a hand down her face. “Of course not. The pic is obviously doctored. I think I remember the incident, too. It was a hard test in French class. But I was grabbing chapstick out of my backpack, not my phone.” Suzy squeezes her eyes shut. “And now I can’t run. According to Principal Melrose, the Homecoming Queen needs to be an exemplary student with model behavior. She wouldn’t change her mind no matter what I said.”
My stomach sinks. “But, but . . . there’s got to be something we can do. This means so much to you. We’ll fight it.” I put a hand on her back, wanting to help so badly.
“There’s nothing to fight. Principal Melrose already told Cassidy and Brian to take my name out of the running.” Suzy closes her eyes. “It’s not that big of a deal. It’s just Homecoming Queen.”
“It is a big deal. It’s important to you,” I say. “One of us was going to beat Brielle.”And I would prefer it to be you,I don’t add.
Suzy looks up, the sadness in her eyes turning to fire. She takes the bag of M&Ms from me and pops an orange one in her mouth. She chews furiously for a second. “I know who gave that picture to Principal Melrose. It was Brielle. Of course. I’m such an idiot.”
“We don’t know for sure . . .” I trail off, even though I think Suzy’s right.
