Chapter Twelve
Kassidy
#6—Make new friends
First period is almost filled up when I enter, trailing Ella. There are only a couple of desks available and, of course, they’re right up front.
“Ella! Over here!” A girl calls out, waving frantically.
She freezes, turning her head toward me. Then with a pained expression she says, “It doesn’t look like there’s an extra seat for you over here.”
“It’s fine,” I say. It’s not like Ella and I will ever be good friends. That’s obvious. Her cold shoulder is dangerously close to turning me into a block of ice.
“You sure?” She hesitates, conflicted.
It would be sweet if I didn’t know it has everything to do with Archer and nothing to do with me. He’d made her promise to watch over me in this class. As kind as it was, I don’t need a babysitter.
“Yep.” I flash her a smile and then head to one of the seats in the front. A few boys in the back eye me with expressions of open curiosity, causing my skin to crawl. Fighting off the shudder that threatens to ripple through my body, I blow out a breath.
I slide into the desk the minute the bell rings. There’s no teacher up front.
“Mr. Williams is always late,” the girl to the left of me says. Her voice is raspy and low. She wears ripped jeans and a black T-shirt, and dark red lipstick. It’s a stark contrast to her pale skin and bright red hair. “There’s all sorts of rumors floating around about why.” She curls her nose in disgust at the word “rumors.” “But the real reason is that he and his wife share a car and he has to drop her off at work first. Sometimes he gets stuck in traffic. He’s explained this to all of his first period classes a million times, but it’s not juicy enough for the rest of the school I guess.”
“You’ve had him for first period before?”
“No. My older sisters have. I’m the youngest of three.”
I nod. “Wow. Two sisters. I only have one, and that’s enough for me.”
She shrugs. “They’re not that bad.”
“I’m Kassidy, by the way.”
“Miranda,” she responds. “Did you just move here or something?”
“No. I went to Hamilton before.”
An amused expression cloaks Miranda’s face. “Private school, huh?”
I nod.
“You get kicked out or what?”
It’s a valid question. Biting my lip, I shake my head. “Just wanted a change, I guess.”
The chatter of the students swell around me. A few of the boys in the back toss out catcalls.
Miranda rolls her eyes. “Don’t pay attention to them. They’re idiots. Most guys at this school are.”
The classroom door flies open, and a man with brown hair, wearing a flannel shirt and khakis, sweeps into the room. “Sorry I’m late, folks. I trust you found plenty to do in my absence.” The smile he flashes is kind and endearing. Already I like him. At Hamilton, the teachers were stuffy and serious, rarely friendly. “James, get your feet off the desk,” Mr. Williams says as he sets his bag down. “Surely you didn’t forget all the rules over summer break.” His mouth curls at the corners as he yanks out a disheveled stack of papers. “Time to go over course expectations.” The entire class groans, and he sticks up his index finger. “Hey, now. The faster we get through this, the faster you can get back to your personal conversations.” With deliberate steps, he makes his way to the first row and starts passing out the papers. “I see I have your attention now. How nice.”
I giggle, and a few students glance over at me, brows furrowed. Slinking down in my seat, I duck my head. Hair tickles my cheek.
I zone out as Mr. Williams goes over the course expectations. It’s not like it’s anything new. It’s English. Read a bunch of books and write essays. Got it. Besides, it appears Hamilton was ahead of Oakhollow High. I’ve already read half the books on this list. I still have the essays and book reports saved on my computer. This year might end up being even easier than I thought.
Someone sneezes from over my shoulder, another sniffles to my left. My body goes rigid, fear prickling along my skin. Taking a deep breath, I stare down at the course expectation sheet. But the words swim on the page. My skin is hot, my pulse thrumming beneath my flesh. All I see are germs. Germs on my desk, germs in the air, germs on the paper I’m holding.
Familiar panic rises inside of me, and I try my hardest to shove it down. I use all the coping mechanisms in my arsenal, starting with breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth. When that doesn’t work, I try to force myself to listen to Mr. Williams, but his words are just white noise at this point. I think about something else. Anything else.
Of course, my mind travels to Archer. I knew it would. My body cools, my pulse returning to its normal cadence. Still, I reach into my backpack and yank out my antibacterial lotion. After applying it liberally all over my palms, I rub it in. The sterile scent calms me further.
By the time I toss the antibacterial lotion back into my bag, Mr. Williams has finished going over the expectations. He sits at his desk drinking coffee while all the other students resume talking. Glancing at the clock, I internally count down how many minutes are left in class.
“What lunch do you have?” Miranda asks.
“A lunch,” I respond.
“Oh. I have B lunch.” She frowns, which surprises me. “But if you go to the quad near the library, that’s where all my friends sit. I can tell a couple of them to look for you. The kids that sit over there are much more welcoming than the popular kids who sit in the cafeteria, trust me.”
“That’s okay. I actually have someone to sit with at lunch.” Does Archer eat in the quad? Or in the cafeteria?
“Who?” She asks curiously.
“Archer.”
Miranda’s eyebrows raise. “You know Archer Devlin?”
“Well, we just met a couple of weeks ago, but yeah. He’s kinda showing me around and stuff.” Why am I rambling?
“Archer’s cool. His brother’s another story.” She wrinkles her nose in disgust. “But Archer hangs with my group in the quad, so you’ll probably end up meeting my friends anyway.”
“But Ross doesn’t…or didn’t…hang with your group?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “I guess sometimes he did. He and Archer are pretty close, I think. Ross’s just always had a big ego…getting famous didn’t help. I bet he’s super annoying now.”
Glancing behind me, I point in Ella’s direction. Her head is bent as she and her friends giggle and chat. “What about Ella? Is she in your group?”
Miranda frowns. “She used to be. Now she thinks she’s popular.”
“But she’s not?” I’m confused.
Shrugging, Miranda says, “I don’t know. Kinda, I guess.”
“Archer tried to get her to be nice to me,” I confess. “You can see how well that worked.”
She snorts. “That doesn’t surprise me. Archer’s a good guy. But, you’re better off without her. Trust me.”
The bell rings, and students burst into a flurry of activity all around me, shoving papers into backpacks, leaping out of desks and hurrying toward the door. A few bump me on the way out.
“Want me to help you find your next class?” Miranda flings her backpack over her shoulders, then tucks her thumbs under the straps.
“Archer’s walking me there.”
Miranda cocks her head to the side. “Sounds like you and Archer are pretty close.”
I shift uncomfortably under the scrutiny of her gaze. “Like I said we just met. He…um…has second period with me. That’s why.”
She flashes me an amused smile before slipping past. “Well, you two have fun. See ya later.”
“Yeah, see ya,” I mumble under my breath.
Archer is waiting for me in the hallway, standing against the wall with one leg bent, one hand in his pocket. He looks like one of those guys in a teen movie. When he pushes off the wall with a smile on his face, my insides get all fluttery and my hands fill with sweat. I can’t stop a grin from spreading across my face, though. Sophie would die if she could see me now.
“How was first period?” Archer asks.
“Not bad.”
“Yeah. Mr. Williams is cool,” he says. “If only I could say the same thing for Mr. Spencer.”
“Our chemistry teacher?”
Archer nods. “He’s a hard ass.”
I honestly don’t care what our chemistry teacher is like. It doesn’t matter. It will be my favorite class because Archer is in it.
“Hey, you wanna sit with me?” Archer asks when we enter the chemistry classroom.
“Sure,” I answer, keeping my tone as nonchalant as possible, despite the fact that my heart is flipping in my chest.
“I hear Mr. Spencer partners you up with the person sitting next to you.” With a smile, he leans in a little closer. Warm breath feathers over my skin. Goosebumps rise on my flesh. “Think you’ll be okay with being my lab partner for the year?”
I swallow hard, his proximity making me heady. “Um…yeah. That would be…um…fine.” Fine? What is wrong with me?
Archer’s lips curl upward into a bemused smile.
As we sit down at the table near the window, I rack my brain for something to say to make up for my use of the word “fine,” but I have no idea what that would be. It doesn’t matter anyway, because Tiffany breezes in and immediately marches up to where we’re seated.
“Hey, Archer.” She smiles, her lip gloss shimmering in the sunlight that spills in through the large windows. She’s even prettier in here than in the parking lot. Her ivory skin is smooth, her eyes bright. Tugging on the bottom of my top, I feel like a hag. It doesn’t matter how hard I try, I’ll never look like her. “Want to be lab partners?”
“I already have a lab partner,” Archer responds.
Pursing her lips, she glances over at me. “Oh.” Seriously? Had she not noticed me before. “Her? That’s your lab partner?”
Ouch.
“Her name is Kassidy, and yes, she’s my lab partner,” Archer answers firmly.
I wither in my seat. I’d hide under the table if I could. But I don’t. I force myself to sit up straight and hold my head high. Cowering is not a good way to start a new school.
“Whatever.” Whirling around, Tiffany huffs off.
“What was that about?” I ask Archer once she’s gone.
He shakes his head. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you another time.”
Smiling, I latch on to the phrase “another time.” I like knowing that there will be other times. Many, many other times, I hope.