Page 33 of It's in the Contract
“Hi, Zeke.” Suzy looks from him to me with a confused expression.
“He’s cool,” I say. “He’s in my . . . organic chemistry class.” Not strictly true, but none of them are in o-chem, and I can’t tell anyone besides Suzy that I’m being tutored. I just can’t.
I sit and motion for Zeke to do the same, and he sits in the last open chair at our circular table, next to me. Zeke’s smile wavers.
“He’s my friend, and I wanted him to meet you all.” I don’t know where my burst of courage comes from. Maybe it’s seeing Zeke nervous. I have this weird desire to protect him, to show him that maybe,maybeit’s worth it to make a real friend before he leaves at the end of the semester.
“Zeke, this is Suzy,” I say, pointing. Suzy nods.
“This is Dana,” I point to Dana, and she waves. Zeke waves back. “And Kayla.” Kayla crosses her arms and glares. You know, I don’t actually like her that much.
“That’s Chelsea, Nicole, and Arjun,” I say, pointing at each in turn. Arjun must’ve joined our table while I was gone. He grunts and flips a swoosh of dark hair out of his eyes.
“Nice to meet you all,” Zeke says, picking up his slice of pizza. “And thanks for letting me sit with you guys. I was getting pretty lonely eating by myself every day.”
My heart goes out to him at the same time I’m a little embarrassed for him for admitting that.
“Dude, is that a Star Trek shirt?” Nicole asks. I don’t know very much about her other than we had English together last year and somehow she keeps her white converse shoes pristine.
“Yes?”
“Oh man, I’m such a Trekkie! Who’s your favorite character?”
Nicole and Zeke immediately launch into a discussion, and I smile behind a bite of sandwich. Kayla stares at Nicole like she’s never seen her before.
Suzy gives me a questioning glance.
“He’s cool, right?” I whisper to her.
She nods slowly. “Yeah.” She glances from me to Zeke. “He’s cool.”
I let out a breath of relief. The hardest part is over. I quickly take in the reactions of people around the lunchroom, paying close attention to the groups of people who’ve been labeled, for better or worse, nerds. Some of them are still watching, including the girl with the black pigtails. Good.
Noah frowns at me like he’s trying to figure out what’s going on, and I smile innocently back.
Thirteen
Callie Carter is hanging out withhim?! Seriously?! Why didn’t she invitemeto sit at her table?
Text message from Tom Sheppard to Yuanyun Li.
I laythe dress on my bed and admire it, smoothing out a wrinkle in the deep blue fabric. It’s perfect. If only I wasn’t going to Homecoming with my best friend instead of . . . not Noah . . . but maybe a boy I liked.
I hang up the dress in its crinkly clear casing in my closet and give it one more pat.
“This is it,” I say. “This is the year I beat Brielle.” Butter barks from the floor behind me. She agrees. But actually, it’s more likely that she needs to go on a walk.
“C’mon, girl,” I say. I head down the stairs, leash in hand, Butter waddling close behind. My phone vibrates, and I check it. I’m getting a call from Zeke.
“Who calls on the phone anymore?” I answer.
“Me. I call on the phone.”
“Nerd,” I say.
Zeke laughs. “We’ve already established that.”
“You and Nicole seemed to hit it off today.” I grab my hot pink rain jacket since it’s drizzly out and clip the leash to Butter’s collar.
