“The janitor’s closet is closer if you were looking for a place to get some quick action in and still be on time to class,” she whispers.
I turn in my seat and sneer. “That’s information I don’t need nor want to know. Thanks.”
She shrugs. “You look like you need some help in that department.”
“If I did, you’re the last person I’d ask.”
“Suit yourself. But if you’re trying to hook up with someone like Austin, you might want to rethink that wardrobe.”
I turn back around. A headache is forming from her piddling perspective of me. Even if some of her comments might be true. Not that part where I need a hookup, whatever, but getting someone like Austin to notice me isn’t going to come wearing geeky t-shirts. That’s if I wanted to win over someone like Austin.
Last night after our kiss, I might have thought about it. Then he said he was sorry. That eliminated every possibility for me. He either wanted me, or he didn’t. I certainly didn’t need him apologizing for placing an earth-shattering kiss on my lips.
I rub my temples. I wish I had my bag with me. I’d take some Tylenol right this second. Why on earth I thought it was a better idea to leave it in my locker for the morning classes is beyond me. I do know I will never make that mistake again.
“Miss Frost, can you tell me the triggers that caused World War I and World War II?”
I blink at the blank notebook in front of me and then look up at Mrs. Dinger. I know this. I do. My mind, though, is not working. I lower my forehead to my desk and swallow. Think. Think. Think.
“Adaline?” she asks.
I raise my head and take a breath. “Yes. I’m sorry. I can’t remember.”
“Please listen to me instead of conversing with Miss Little from now on. I’m not up here because I need to know this information. Everything I’m talking about will be on your exam.”
Great. Now, she thinks I’m slacking in her class. I hope she doesn’t report this to Mrs. Martin and screw my chances to take college classes next year. There are only twenty of us who get that opportunity. As long as I get this project done, I’ll be one of them. My mom will flip her lid if I’m not.
I nod because there is nothing more I can say to Mrs. Dinger.
Mrs. Dinger shifts toward the board and begins writing more items down. I jot down what’s on the board until a piece of wadded-up paper lands right on my notebook. I look around the room. My eyes land on Austin. He scratches his head while looking down at his desk then darts a glance at me. He motions with his eyes toward the wadded paper on my desk.
I shake my head and move the paper to the corner. Part of me wants to unfold it and see what’s on it. I can’t. I need to pay attention. I’m already in enough trouble, and I can’t afford anymore.
I continue writing.
Another piece of paper lands on my desk.
I shove it aside. What the hell is his problem? Can he not see that I’m taking notes? He might not care about his grades, but I do.
It’s not until the fifth one that I lose my patience. I uncoil it and read, “These are going to keep coming until you open one.”
I glare at him then flip him the bird.
He snickers. Snickers. I’ve never wanted to hit someone so much in all my life. Why does he think this is funny?
I ignore him. That’s right; I don’t have to put up with this crap. Toss your papers at me. I hope you get in trouble.
Soon enough, another paper ball skidders across my desk.
“Oh my God, will you read those damn things! I can’t take notes if all I see is airplanes soaring past my face,” Katie Moss, the girl who sits between Austin and me snaps.
I want to correct her and say they’re paper balls not airplanes. I keep my comment to myself. “I’m sorry,” I say.
I unravel all the balls and read each one. One crumpled up piece says sorry about detention. Another asks if he can take me home. The rest is just telling me more of these things will come until I answer him.
I place my answer on the one paper and toss it back over to him. It misses his desk and lands on Trent Fuller’s.
Trent winks at me and opens up the paper. Oh gosh. I sink in my seat as my cheeks flame. I hear his high pitch chuckle and then Austin’s low grumble, “Give me that!”
“Bro, she sent it to me. Of course, I’ll give you a ride, baby,” Trent says.
I refuse to look over at the scene unfolding. If I ignore it, it’s not happening. Right?
Chapter Eighteen
Austin
I slap the note from Trent’s hand and snap. “That’s mine! She’s not going anywhere with you.”
“Chill, Reed, I was just messing. Frost, you know where to find me when you want a little something extra in your life.”
That does it. I push out of my desk at the same time Mrs. Dinger is screaming at us to control ourselves. I don’t. I grab Trent in a headlock and scream, “Apologize!”
Trent wiggles out of my lock and takes a swing. He lands a punch in my gut.
Suddenly arms lock around me, and I’m being pulled away. Trent is jerked back too. Mrs. Dinger stands in front of us yelling, “I don’t tolerate interruptions in my classroom of any kind. We’re going straight to the office all three of you.”
“Three?” I repeat.
“Miss Frost will be joining. Let’s go. Gather your things,” Mrs. Dinger says. “Daniel, you’re in charge until I get back.”
I look over at Adaline, and she’s more than ticked off. If looks could kill, I’d be on fire right this instant.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper to her for I swear has to be the millionth time. Her arms remain folded while her stare is straight ahead. Adaline won’t even look at me.
“Ads, please.”
She is like a trained mercenary. Stone cold, making no eye contact with me at all. All I want to do is hug her. Kiss her. Something to snap her out of this. I can’t stand the silent treatment.
“Miss Frost,” Mrs. Appleton says from her desk.
“Yes?” Adaline says.
“Principal Briggs will see you now.”
Adaline leaves, not even a glare in my direction. Nothing. It’s as if I’m invisible to her. I can’t believe how far in the hole I’ve gotten. I’m pretty certain she won’t let me take her home.
As she walks toward the door, Trent exits. God, I want to hit him. He grins my way and strolls past me, out of the office. I should chase him down and give him a proper beat-down for what he said to Adaline. I don’t care if he’s one the best distance runners in our school or not. He’s a freaking tool in my book.
“Hey, brah,” Ryder Jones says. He’s a sophomore and on the football team. Usually plays backup corner, but that’ll change next year ‘cause Quincy graduates, so the position will be Ryder’s. That’s if he sticks with football. A lot of kids don’t ‘cause they don’t like being second string their sophomore year.
I nod to Ryder. “S’up?”
“Dropping this crap off for Mrs. Ford.”
He has a box in hand that looks like it’s loaded with books, but I’m not sure. “What are you doing in here?”
“Defending some girl’s honor.”
Ryder shakes his head. “Yeah, I learned that lesson a while ago if it’s not your girl, leave it be.” He turns and walks over to Mrs. Appleton’s desk, drops off the box, and comes back over to me. “See you later, Reed.”
“Later, Jones.” All I think is, What the heck does he mean if it’s not your girl, leave it be? Shouldn’t everyone have the same type of respect? Don’t get me wrong, I’ve said some shit. Told Tyler to walk away from something if he wasn’t tapping it. Because that’s what guys do. They talk bullshit. May have said something similar to Jared, and he may have threatened to knock my teeth out.
Both of them were ready to beat me senseless, though, and both of those girls weren’t theirs yet. Call me crazy, but I kind of think Jones is wrong—it’s not if the girl’s yours or not, it’s if she’
s the right girl. Adaline is the right girl. I might not even win her over, but I’ll be damned if I listen to someone talk shit to her or degrade her around me.
“Mr. Reed? You’re up,” Mrs. Appleton says.
“Great.”
I’ve been in the office twice in my life. Once because they sent my schedule to the wrong address, and I had to update some forms. This will be the second time. I’ve never been in trouble. I have hardly been a fight. Three maybe, but all of those were at work or off school property.
So being here, well, this is new. I don’t think I like it.
Adaline slips out of the room and enters the office area. Her eyes find mine, and she narrows hers.
Crap. This is not good. Not good at all.
I enter Principal Briggs’s office and take a seat. Mrs. Dinger watches me for a moment then says, “Mr. Reed is usually a great student. No outbursts or disruptions, but today, as you know, he was physical with one of the students.”
“Mr. Reed, is there anything you’d like to say?” Principal Briggs says.
I should shake my head. I should just let this all blow over. I mean, how many facts can I put forth here. Two people already told their side of the story. If Adaline told them how I bugged her with flying paper balls, my defense will seem pointless. “I wanted to know if Adaline needed a ride home since I got her detention. She doesn’t have a license, and I don’t have any other classes with her.” I don’t mention that I see her in lunch because they don’t need to know that.
Principal Briggs nods. I continue, “Adaline was returning my message, but it landed on Trent’s desk. He said some lewd comment about Adaline. I wanted him to apologize.”
“We got most of the same facts from both parties. I’m not saying what he said was correct, but you can’t just take matters in your own hands. We have policies in place for things like this. Do I make myself clear?”
I nod.
“You all will have detention after school for the next three days.”
“All of us? Adaline didn’t do anything wrong. Please, don’t give her detention.”
He folds his arms and leans back in his seat. “Do you agree with this, Mrs. Dinger?”
I glance at Mrs. Dinger, and she sighs. “Very well, I will let Miss Frost know she only has detention for today.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Dinger. Thank you, Principal Briggs.” I rise from my seat. “This won’t happen again.”
“It better not. Next time I’ll bring both of your coaches in here, and they’ll figure out a punishment for you. Rumor has it Coach Black loves giving out laps while Coach Samson likes to hand out janitorial duties on top of detention,” Principal Briggs says.
I don’t mind laps, but I’ve seen the boy’s locker rooms in the basketball gym, weight room, and natatorium, and all of them are disgusting. Some worse than a gas station bathroom in the dirtiest city anyone can imagine. Like, whoever decided they can’t flush a toilet after dropping a load or missing a urinal completely and just peeing on the floor? That is what some of the guys in our school do. Don’t get me wrong, I belch and fart and do other disgusting things, but peeing on the floor or not flushing is not them.
I leave the office feeling a little bit better that I at least got Adaline out of a few detentions. Maybe it’ll be enough to sway her into letting me give her a ride home.
Chapter Nineteen
Adaline
I cannot believe I have detention. Not one but three because of that moron and his antics. He’s such bad news. My dumb heart doesn’t listen, though; nope, it hammers hard in my chest every time I’m around him.
As I head to lunch in a way fouler mood, I spot Chase rounding a corner. I miss him. I want to say something like “Hi,” or “Wait up,” but I can’t. My words are trapped in my chest, and I hate this.
I trail behind him a good ten feet or more. It’s not until we reach the stairwell and he looks up and notices me. He smirks then quickly changes his expression to a grim line. “Hey,” Austin pants beside me. I quickly move past him, putting more pep in my step, if you will.
I know it’s useless because well, he’s way quicker than I am. I positively loathe running, and that’s all Austin does is run. Football and basketball. He used to be in track, back in middle school, but he gave that up as soon as we entered high school.
“Ads wait,” he says. “Please. I have something to tell you.”
I whip around on the landing and glare. “What could you possibly say to me that you hadn’t already? I get you’re sorry, but I’m still mad. It’s like you have no regards to my feelings at all. And you know what? That’s fine because I guess little ice queens like me don’t have feelings. But I do, and you suck!”
His jaw unhinges, and he stammers, “I n-never said that.” I shoot him a look. “All right, back in middle school, but I didn’t mean it. I never meant it. You know that. This isn’t what I’ve come to tell you anyway. I came to say—”
“I don’t want to hear it. Just please, leave me alone. You’ve done enough. I just, I can’t take anymore.” I spin around and walk away. He doesn’t stop me either.
I take a seat at my usual lunch table, and I’m feeling on edge. Jared has joined our table. Not that I don’t mind this new development, but now I can’t talk to Juliet without Jared hearing everything. And that ticks me off.
I shouldn’t be upset. I should be happy for her. I am happy, but it feels like I’m losing my other best friend too. And that frankly blows. There are no more library nights. There are no more ice cream talks. Nope. Lately, Juliet has been spending a lot of time with Jared, or as much as she can with his schedule and hers. Now with them working on the junior project together, well, that really leaves us with no girl time whatsoever.
She looks over at me and smiles, “Hey. How was your morning so far?”
“It was the worst morning of my life.” I pull out my lunch from my backpack that I retrieved after my visit with the principal and dart my focus up to catch Austin strolling past our table. “All due to someone I’m not even naming right this second,” I say as my glare sets on Austin.
Juliet looks around the lunch room and then back at me. “Okay, what happened? Does it have to do with the end of the year project?”
“Nope.” I take a bite out of my turkey sandwich.
Jared pecks Juliet’s cheek. “Be right back. Do you two need anything at the vending machines?”
“I’m good, how about you, Addy? Want Jared to get you something?” Juliet asks.
I pull some money from my bag and slide it over to him. “Can you get me a Pepsi?”
“Sure.” He takes the money and walks away.
As soon as he’s out of earshot, I snap. “I can’t work with Austin. I can’t do it, Juliet. He got me four days worth of detention. He’s the most selfish dipwad to ever walk the face of this earth. God forbid him to ask me a question using a phone like a normal person or, better yet, wait until after class to ask me if I need a ride. No. That moron had to launch paper at me like a monkey!”
Juliet gives me a worried look. “I’m sorry. That really sucks, Addy. Do you need a ride after? I might be able to do that, depending on what time practice ends today. I think we’re going to be outside instead of in the gym. Weather is nicer today than last week.”
I shake my head. “I can’t keep being this friend either. The one who constantly needs a ride off of you or Chase. Well, not Chase anymore since he doesn’t talk to me.”
“He’ll come around. He’s adjusting. He’s heartbroken.”
I frown. “I know. So am I. I miss him.”
She gives me a half smile. “Be patient. Hey, maybe we can do something this weekend.”
“Just us?”
“Well, I mean Jared and I were planning on seeing a movie, but you can come with, and he can bring a friend.”
I sneer. “Are you trying to set me up?”
“No. Not at all. I’m just saying it’s an option, or maybe we can do something just you and m
e on Sunday. How about we have a sleepover? I’ll pick you up after the movie and we hang out, make pancakes?”
It sounds great. It also sounds like a pity party just for me. I don’t want a pity anything.
“Or not. I’m sorry, I’m a terrible friend right now. Jared and I are so new, and I have soccer, school, the end of the year project, and reading time at the library. What would you like me to do? Name it,” Juliet says.
This is the part I hate. The guilt. I shouldn’t try to mess up her new relationship because I’m so needy. If I’m honest with myself, I should really focus on my project. It’s not going to get finished by itself.
“Hey, Adaline,” one of the sophomores in Junior Elites says, interrupting my train of thought. I blink. I think her name is Hailey, but I can’t remember.
“I was told to see you about the next fundraiser and what the prom theme was this year? You’re in charge of that stuff, right? I’m class president of the sophomore class, and we’re supposed to help decorate.”
I nod. “Yeah. Um.” Shit! How could I forget about prom? It’s my only duty in Junior Elites; organize themes for the dances. “I still have to talk to Lacy Meyers about what they decided on.”
“Okay, here’s my number. Please call me with the details as soon as you get them. I have to get back to class.”
Some boy walks by and the girl practically swoons into my lap. “You okay?” I ask.
She flushes and says, “What? Yeah. I uh. I gotta go. Call me with those details.” She spins around and practically bolts from the lunch room.
Juliet laughs. “Aw, poor girl has it bad.”
“Has what bad?” I ask.
She smiles. “Did you see the way Kayleigh looked at that boy? She’s in love with him. That’s how Chase used to look—” her eyes widen. “Crap. I’m sorry Addy. Ugh.”
“It’s fine. I guess I’m blind to the look. Her name is Kayleigh, not Hailey?”
“Yeah. She runs track. I think. I see her on the field when we’re practicing and obviously at Junior Elites.”
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