by Kieran Scott
“Let her go!” a girl’s voice shouted.
Time seemed to stop. Through the haze of tears I saw vomit girl storming toward us, her blue eyes on fire. True. Right. Charlie had said her name was True. She dropped her tray of food on our table, stepped on the bench next to Gen, walked right over the tabletop, and jumped down next to me, her sneakers slamming heavily into the packed dirt and grass. She was wearing overalls that were a size too big and had her long hair woven into two braids down her back.
“Who the hell are you?” Ty asked, looking at her like she was a crazy person. “Super Lesbian?”
A couple of guys laughed. My jaw dropped and my face burned even hotter. Had he really just said that?
“Very original,” True said, unfazed by my boyfriend’s total bigotry. “Let go of her.”
Ty shot me a look like, Is she serious? I had no idea what to say or do. My arm throbbed inside his grasp.
“Make me,” Ty said finally.
True shrugged. “Okay.”
She lifted her elbow and brought it down in the center of his forearm with a crack. “Ow! Sonofa—”
He let go. My skin was marked with the white stamps of his fingers. But True wasn’t done. She grabbed his arm and twisted it against his back, getting behind him and bending him forward. Ty’s face contorted with pain. A few kids lifted their phones, recording the whole thing.
“Let him go!” I cried. “He didn’t mean anything.”
“You won’t be grabbing her again, right?” True said to Ty.
He grunted, turning his head to spit on the ground near my feet.
“Right?”
Apparently True twisted even harder, because Ty let out a screech.
“No! Fine! I won’t!” he muttered.
True let him go and he flung himself away. “You’re a psychotic bitch!”
“That seems to be the consensus today,” she replied.
Finally, two of the school security guards came jogging over in their white shirts, gray pants, and cheesy silver badges. The whole incident had taken about thirty seconds, but I was exhausted. Exhausted and hurt and humiliated.
“What’s going on here?” the skinny one asked.
“Are you a student?” the chubby one demanded of Ty, heaving for breath.
“Lucky me, no,” Ty replied, already backing off.
“If you’re not a student here, you can’t be on campus without a pass from the office,” skinny guy said.
Ty raised his hands. “I’m already gone.”
He shot me a disgusted look, then jogged down the stairs. With one dramatic rev of the engine and another loud peel-out, he was gone. I bit my lip, hoping I was wrong about the alcohol, or if I wasn’t, that he would drive home instead of to the shore—that he wouldn’t put anyone, including himself, in danger.
Meanwhile, every single pair of eyes in the courtyard was now focused on me. The security guards hovered at my sides like I was tonight’s lead story on TMZ and they were protecting me from the paparazzi.
“Are you okay?” True asked, her startling blue eyes wide with concern.
I ducked my head, wondering if it was possible to die of embarrassment.
“You should’ve just gone with him,” Raine muttered under her breath.
It took everything within me to hold back a flood of tears.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” I muttered, shoving past the security guards. That was when I saw Charlie standing in the doorway to the cafeteria, holding his tray between his hands. He’d clearly seen everything, and his pity was written all over his face.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Charlie
I felt sick. I felt like I wanted to punch something. Preferably the asshole who was currently wheeling his way to the beach. But mostly I wanted to follow Katrina and see if she was okay. I wanted to tell her that she didn’t deserve to be treated like that. She had to see that, right? If she didn’t, I had to make her see it.
But who the hell was I? I’d talked to her exactly three times, for two seconds each time. Her friends were the ones who should have been running after her, but they were too busy whispering to each other. The door to the hallway swung closed behind Katrina. Screw it. I dropped my tray on the nearest table.
“Charlie! Wait!”
True jogged to catch up with me. I waited for her, but my toes were bouncing beneath me. Katrina was probably on her way to a bathroom somewhere. A bathroom I wouldn’t be allowed inside of. One I probably couldn’t even find, since I hadn’t figured out the maze of hallways yet. I saw that girl from my first day, Zadie, dash into the hall, and hoped that at least she was going to check on Katrina.
“Hey,” I said to True. “Are you okay?”
Her brow knit. “What? Me?” Then she seemed to realize what I was talking about. “Oh, yeah. That was nothing. I’m fine. But there’s someone I want you to meet.”
I was already looking past her at the door, as if Katrina was about to reappear.
“I’m sorry. What?”
True took my arm and started dragging me toward a small table in the shaded area of the courtyard. One where a girl sat alone, her curls nearly covering her face. I saw that her nails were painted black, the polish chipped, and that she had earbud wires dangling toward her bag.
“Charlie, this is Marion. Marion, meet Charlie,” True said, with a completely confusing, proud smile on her face.
Marion’s eyes darted to my face. Her curls shivered. I think it was her way of saying hello. Or possibly, Go away. I stared at True.
“Is this . . . what I think it is?” I asked.
She turned her palms out. “What do you think it is?”
“Another setup?” I whispered, turning away from Marion’s huddled shoulders.
“Yes! You said you wanted to find love! I’m finding it for you!” True exclaimed.
“With a girl who doesn’t speak?”
“She’s into music, and she’s sweet!” True whispered, leaning toward my ear. “And she’s very reserved. There’s no way she’s going to send you two hundred seventeen texts in one night.”
“True, look at her,” I whispered. “She’s literally trying to fold herself into an accordion. Did you even ask her if she was interested in me, or did you tell her she was?”
“Huh. You make a decent point. But I’m sure she—”
Right then, Josh, Brian, and Trevor burst out of the cafeteria with their trays, a big wall of blue-and-white varsity jacket. A few people scurried out of their way, which seemed the best strategy. Somehow those guys took up more space than everyone else. Josh looked over at me and did a double take.
“Dude,” he said, joining us. “What’re you doing over here?”
“We were just talking,” I said.
“In no-man’s land? No,” Josh said, hooking his arm around my neck and dragging me toward his table in the sun. “We don’t hang out in no-man’s land.” I had that squirmy feeling in my gut. That feeling that I’d been caught doing something wrong, not knowing the ins and outs of this school yet. But whatever no-man’s land was, Josh wasn’t harping on it. He straddled a chair and sat. “You coming to the first football game Friday night?”
I glanced over my shoulder at True. She just stood there. Glowering. Marion, however, seemed relieved. I knew I was right about her. She looked like the kind of girl who wanted to be left alone.
“Um, sure. I guess.” I’d never gone to a game by choice before. Only to support my brothers in big play-off games and stuff. I sat down in the seat where Josh basically deposited me. Veronica, Darla, and a few other girls were already eating their salads.
“You have to come,” Trevor said, taking a big bite of burger. “And bring your dad so he can see where the real talent in Lake Carmody is.”
“You know it.” The guys high-fived over the table.
Suddenly True dropped my tray in front of me with a clatter. My face burned. She looked pissed. And after what she’d just done to Katrina’s boyfriend, I didn�
��t like the idea of True pissed. I cleared my throat and pretended she wasn’t there. It wasn’t my fault she felt some need to find me a girlfriend. And it definitely wasn’t my fault that she kept choosing the wrong girls.
“You could sit with us at the game,” Darla said, smiling at me from across the table. The breeze tossed her dark hair forward so that it perfectly framed her face. “The student section is always packed, but I could save you a seat.”
I stared at her. So did True. Was Darla flirting with me? She was one of the hottest and most popular girls in school. The kind of girl who formerly would never have considered speaking to me. Even Josh raised his eyebrows in what looked like intrigued surprise.
“Um, sure,” I said, pressing my sweaty palms into my thighs. “That’d be cool.”
“Cool,” Darla replied.
“Are you gonna stand there the whole period?” Veronica asked True snottily, flicking a piece of lint off her tight short-sleeved sweater.
“I wasn’t planning on it,” True replied. “But I need to talk to Charlie.”
I glanced around the table. Josh pointedly turned his head toward Veronica and Trevor. Brian stared straight ahead as he shoveled fries into his mouth. Darla widened her eyes while picking at her salad. None of them wanted True here. These people were actually starting to accept me—they were even flirting with me!—but clearly, they were nowhere near accepting True.
“So talk,” I said through my teeth, feeling squirmy. True was cool. Outspoken, badass, and oddly chivalrous. And I didn’t want to be rude to her, but . . . I wished she would walk away. Just for right now.
“Are you just going to ignore Marion?” True asked me.
Darla and Veronica looked over at Marion’s table. She was sitting there, silent and still.
“I told you, I don’t think she’s interested,” I replied quietly.
“You just need to get to know her!” True protested. “Give her a chance.”
“Who? Marion the mouse-girl?” Veronica said with a laugh, flipping her thick blond hair over her shoulder. “She hasn’t talked to anyone since the second grade.”
“Why? What happened to her in the second grade?” True asked, her expression concerned.
Veronica made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat. She picked up a piece of lettuce between two fingers and bit into it like it was a chip. “Like I care.”
“Well, she talked to me this morning,” True shot back.
Veronica’s blue eyes flicked over True, her nose wrinkling. “Why am I not surprised?”
“True, can you just let it go?” I asked, avoiding eye contact.
“No! I cannot let it go!” True said. “You said you wanted to find love, and I’m going to find you love!”
The entire courtyard fell silent. Her words hung in the air around us. Everyone was staring at me, and something inside of me snapped. I got up and walked away from the table, knowing True would follow. Once I was halfway to the hall where Katrina had long since disappeared, I turned on her.
“What’s wrong with you?” she demanded.
“Why do you have to be so weird?” I hissed through my teeth.
She pulled her head back, shocked but not offended. “What do you mean?”
I sighed. “Look, I’m actually making friends here. For the first time in my entire life, I have people to hang out with at lunch. People who like me. People who want me to come to their parties and their games and be part of their teams. You can’t keep hanging around me and spouting weird stuff about love and the universe and all that crap. Please. Let it go.”
“I’m trying to help you,” True said flatly. “If you would come talk to Marion, I know you would—”
“Stop!” I shouted, bringing her up short. I felt bad for yelling at her, but there was no taking it back now. I wanted to get back to my table and hope everyone would forget about this. “Please, just leave me alone.”
I walked away, this time praying she wouldn’t follow me. As I took my seat, the two security guards who had stepped in on the fight walked up behind her.
“Are you True Olympia?” the skinny one asked.
“Yes,” she snapped.
“The vice principal wants to see you.”
Prayer answered.
“He’ll have to wait,” True replied, crossing her arms over her chest.
“She’ll see you now,” the chubby guard said in a pretty convincingly menacing voice. He hiked up his pants, but they fell right back to where they’d been.
True heaved a sigh and rolled her eyes. “Fine. Apparently I’m not wanted out here anyway.”
As she walked off in front of the security guards, the entire courtyard exploded in applause. True had definitely put on a show. I pushed my hands into my thighs again, drying the sweat that had pooled there, and glanced at the door to the hallway one last time. Still no sign of Katrina. I hoped she was okay. Wherever she was.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
True
The vice principal’s office was about the size of one of those phone booths that had anchored every street corner back in the last century. I’d once hidden inside one to watch the couple I’d just united make out under an awning in the rain. It had been one of my most uncomfortable half hours on Earth. Linz, Austria, Valentine’s Day, 1974. But the couple was still together today, and the woman had given birth to three children, all of whom were happily wed.
And they say I’m no good at my job.
“Miss Olympia, I’m Vice Principal Austin.” The vice principal had thick light-brown hair pulled back in a tight bun, and wore a brown suit and orange shirt. She did not look like a happy woman. “Have a seat.”
She gestured at a wooden chair as the security guard closed the door behind me. If I had to guess, I would have said we had about five hours’ worth of oxygen in the room before we both passed out. I sat down. The round white clock above the door loudly ticked off each passing second.
“What’s this about?” I asked. I wanted to get this meeting over with as quickly as possible so I could get back to Charlie and Marion. I could make something out of that pairing. I was certain of it.
Ms. Austin paused halfway into her seat, her hands under her butt as she smoothed her skirt. “It’s about your behavior today, Miss Olympia.”
I laced my fingers together in my lap. She stared at them. “My behavior?”
Ms. Austin hit a few buttons on her keyboard and glanced at her computer screen, which cast an unattractive green glow over her skin. In my mind’s eye I saw that red sand slipping through the hourglass on my desk. My skin felt prickly and warm, and I glanced at the one small window in the room. It was shut tight, locked. The clock continued its infernal ticking.
“Apparently this morning you destroyed the cell phone of one of your fellow students.”
“He took a picture of me without my consent,” I replied succinctly.
Ms. Austin blinked. She seemed confused by me, though I had no idea why. “Even if that is the case, it doesn’t warrant you destroying someone else’s property.”
“Well, he called me a bitch,” I replied. “Is that merited?”
Ms. Austin cleared her throat. I stared at the window lock, wishing I had my powers so that I could whip it open and get some air in here. Tick, tick, tick.
“I’ll have a chat with him about his use of language, but your infraction is still far greater,” Ms. Austin told me.
“Fine,” I said. “I’ll get him a new cell phone.”
Her lips flicked toward a smile, but didn’t exactly land there. “Precisely the solution I was going to propose. Except the boy would like the money necessary to buy his own new cell phone. It seems he’d like to pick it out himself.”
“Fine,” I said again, unclasping and reclasping my hands. My underarms were beginning to prickle, and my nostrils widened with each breath. “How much?”
“I’ll put you in touch with the student.” She tapped a few more keys on her keyboard, and I heard a ding. “
There. I’ve sent his e-mail address to your school-assigned e-mail address.”
“I don’t have a computer,” I told her. My eyes kept traveling to the window. My pulse was beginning to accelerate. What was my body doing now? I had thought I’d figured out its new, human peculiarities. I felt each tick of the clock at the top of my spine.
Ms. Austin’s face went slack. She leaned back in her leather chair, the springs squealing. “Is that a joke?”
“I don’t see what’s funny about it,” I replied, my nostrils widening farther as I breathed in. I resisted the urge to blow out through my mouth, though it was overwhelming. There was movement in the hallway, and I saw Katrina pass by with a tall man, his bushy eyebrows his most prominent feature. A door nearby closed, and I heard him talking in low tones in the next office.
“You don’t have a computer? No tablet, no cell phone?” she asked, incredulous.
I shook my head, growing impatient with this useless line of questioning. It was getting warmer by the second in this tiny cell of a room, and lunch was practically over. If I didn’t get out of here soon, my chances of getting Charlie and Marion to speak to each other were gone. Another day, wasted.
Tick, tick, tick.
“No means of retrieving an e-mail at all?” she said.
“No.” I angled my knees toward the door. “Can I go now?”
Slowly Ms. Austin looked me up and down. She sat forward again, resting her arms atop the desk blotter. “Miss Olympia, if you don’t mind my asking . . . do you have the means to pay this boy back?”
My jaw dropped. How insulting. “Of course I do! Just because I don’t choose to carry around one of those infuriating, soul-sucking devices doesn’t mean I’m destitute! How dare you imply such a thing?”
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Forgive me!” She raised her pink palms in the air. “You may use the computers in the computer lab or in the library to retrieve your school e-mail.”
“Fine.” I rose from the awful chair, flinching now with each tick of the clock. “Is that it?”
“No. It’s not,” she said, standing as well. “There’s the small matter of an assault you just perpetrated in the courtyard.”