Page 25 of The Players

Tina’s voice cut through my thoughts. “Oh, God. She’s coming this way.”

Alarm bells went off in my head, but I didn’t have time to process them because, at that moment, Savannah Hill slid into one of the chairs at our table and made eye contact with me.

Shit.

“Hello, orphan,” Savannah drawled. Her cherry-colored lips formed the words deliberately. She flicked a long lock of blond hair over her shoulder. “How’s the pizza? I didn’t touch mine. We’re getting sushi ordered in.”

I ignored her question and the sushi. Gripping the table to steady myself, I met her gaze head-on. “What do you want, Savannah?”

She laughed and twirled a strand of hair around one manicured fingernail. “What do I want? Nothing, silly. Just to get to know some of my classmates better.” She glanced around the table. Her voice was pouty and sing-song at the same time, a trick I was sure she learned watching porn. “And who are you?”

Julian seemed to have been shocked into silence, but Naomi and Tina introduced themselves. Savannah used a smile that didn’t meet her eyes as they repeated their names. She didn’t even bother to let Julian answer. “How cute. Your friends are so… eclectic, orphan. A little rag-tag group of misfits. How fun!” She made a cute baby face and smiled as if she hadn’t insulted all of us in two sentences.

Naomi, Tina, and Julian seemed stunned by her banter, but I was used to it and her manipulating ways. “No one wants you here, Savannah. Why don’t you go back to giving blow jobs to carrots at your table? Tyler seems to be enjoying the show, but we’re kind of over carrot fellatio here.”

She blinked a few times before regaining her smile. “Funny. You’re funny, orphan. No wonder those losers lost their minds for you.” She nodded to where Lowell, Hector, and Mills sat.

Only… Mills was nowhere to be found.

My heart skipped a beat, and suddenly I didn’t care about Savannah and her insults. Where was Mills? How had I missed that he wasn’t at lunch? I hadn’t heard from him all weekend, but I figured he was cooling down and would be okay by Monday morning. It seemed that wasn’t the case.

I scanned the cafeteria but didn’t see any sign of him. Did he skip school? He did that sometimes, but not often. I hadn’t heard from him the whole weekend, and now he wasn’t at school. Every worry antenna in my body began to tingle.

“Are you looking for Mills?” Savannah said, drawing out the words. “Was he mad at you for picking him last?” Her lipsticked mouth curled up in a nasty, self-satisfied sneer.

“We aren’t supposed to talk about that at school,” I hissed.

But Savannah wouldn’t be deterred. “I bet he’s sick.” She cupped her hand over her mouth and gave a fake cough before laughing. “There’s no way he’s staying home because he’s finally done with you.”

“Shut up,” I said, my hand itching toward my phone. I needed to text him, see if he was okay, and reassure him that he had just as much value to me as Hector and Lowell. He had to understand that, right?

Savannah stood up but leaned forward, her hands on the table, giving Julian the full cleavage shot. “I’ve gotta go, my sushi’s here. But don’t forget, orphan, we have class later together. Can’t wait!” She whirled around, her skirt flying up, before flouncing away.

The clock dragged by with painful slowness as the school day crept on. Glancing at it over and over wasn’t helping, but I had nothing else to do. Sure, there was the whole “pay attention and learn Spanish” thing that I was supposed to be doing, but I couldn’t focus.

Mills had to be upset about the game, but was he upset with me? I’d tried texting him but received no response. I’d also asked Hector and Lowell, but they hadn’t heard from him either. None of this made me feel better. Neither did the fact that Savannah sat near me in Spanish class.

It was like she was a rain cloud darkening every moment of my day, or a disease I couldn’t shake. With my head down and my gaze on the Spanish book, I could feel her eyes boring holes into my flesh. She didn’t give a shit about conjugating Spanish verbs. She was purely here to torture me.

And it was working.

Was there any way to be rid of her? Nothing came to mind, short of murder, and I wasn’t willing to go that far. If I went to the principal about my concerns, she’d likely remind me that I was the one on academic probation. After being expelled and then reinstated, I was on shaky ground as it was (even though we all knew I didn’t do anything wrong).

So I was stuck with Savannah. That meant figuring out how to live with the situation until she got bored and decided to fly to Bora Bora or somewhere else douchey and rich.

Señora Gibson was still droning on about verb endings, but then I heard my name.

Oh shit.

My head popped. “Sí, Señora Gibson?”

“¿Sabes cuál es la tarea?” she asked.

My brain spun. She was asking about the homework. “¿La tarea?”

“Sí. No me hagas repetirme.” She frowned and took a sip from her coffee mug.

Oh geez. I was not doing well here. Señora Gibson’s complexion was growing redder and redder, and Savannah’s smile was growing wider and wider.

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