Jacob jogged to the orange gym during lunch the next day, but was disappointed to find it empty. He heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Tani, Josh, and Gus.
“No basketball today,” Josh said. As usual, he looked immaculate—hair in place, expensive-looking clothes. His parents were really wealthy and liked Josh to dress nicely. Luckily, none of this ever went to his head—he didn’t care that he was richer than his friends. “The front office is having a meeting with all the admins instead, and since the admins ref the games, no game today.”
Disappointment flowed through Jacob. “How stupid is that?”
Tani flipped her hair. “Yeah, totally.”
“So, come eat with us,” Gus said. He was skinny and shorter than Jacob by nearly a foot, but one of the funniest people Jacob had ever known.
Lunch went quickly. The group of friends chattered around Jacob—Gus taking on a dare to eat as much ketchup as possible, with Tani and Josh cheering him on—but Jacob could only think about two topics: the Key in his backpack, and having missed basketball again.
The group split up after lunch was over, and Jacob followed Tani to their science class. They plopped down in the back.
The teacher, Mrs. Wiley—a plump woman in her sixties or so—wasn’t ready to start class, so the room filled with chatter.
A girl with long, blonde hair sat in front of Jacob and turned to talk to him. Her eyes were lined with electric blue makeup, and she had on a ton of bright pink lipstick. Jacob tried not to shudder when he thought about what it would be like to kiss her—he’d probably get glued to her mouth. If it weren’t for all the makeup, she’d actually be sort of cute.
“Hi, Jacob,” she said breathily. “You remember me, right? Shirley?” She batted her eyelashes at him.
Whoa. Did she really just pull that move? Jacob’s jaw dropped. He didn’t know girls did that in real life—in movies, yes, but in actual high school? He clamped his mouth shut when she giggled at him.
“Did you have a good summer? I hope so. I’ll bet you played a lot of basketball. You’re so good at basketball.” Shirley paused, her face lighting up. “Oh, you should come play at my house! My dad just put in a court.” She twirled her hair with her fingers, looking down, then glanced sidelong at him and batted her eyelashes again. “Then, maybe, we could go out and do something . . . after.”
Jacob stared at her, trying to figure out what to say.
She took his silence the wrong way and winked at him. “I’ll call you later.”
He blinked twice and turned to Tani, who had an incredulous expression on her face.
Tani shook her head quickly, as if to clear her thoughts. “Wow,” she whispered.
Jacob pulled a notepad and pencil out of his backpack, preparing to take notes once class started. He couldn’t believe how forward Shirley had been. He was in high school now, though. Maybe girls were different here.
Tani leaned forward. “So, you still haven’t told me about your summer,” she said. “Did you . . .” she paused for dramatic effect, “meet someone?”
Jacob froze in his seat, the hand with the pencil in it hovering above his notepad.
Tani laughed. “Oh, you did, didn’t you!”
Jacob shrugged, feeling his cheeks redden. He wasn’t sure how much—if anything—he wanted to tell Tani about Aloren. It wasn’t as if Aloren were interested in him. Sure, she was cute, but she hadn’t acted like she was attracted to him.
Shirley spun in her seat so fast, she almost fell out. “You met someone?” she said, a pout fighting with the irritation on her face. “Well, I hope she likes you.” Jacob raised his eyebrows in surprise at the venom in her words. She whipped around to face the front, jerked her arms across her chest, and slumped in her seat.
Jacob looked at Tani and whispered, “What the . . .? Who is she, anyway?”
Tani leaned over and quietly said, “Shirley Christensen. She’s had a crush on you since the third grade.”
“Why didn’t I ever know?”
“’Cause she only tells girls. Plus, you don’t notice much of that sort of thing, and I’ve kept it from you—best friends do that. I know how much she annoyed you two years ago when you worked on that project together.”
Jacob frowned in concentration. He couldn’t remember having had a project with Shirley.
Tani must have noticed his confusion. “Science? She lied about her side of the project? Got you both in trouble?”
Jacob nodded slowly, the memory coming back. “Oh, yeah, I remember.”
Finally, the teacher called the class to order. A groan spread through the room when she announced there would be alphabetical seating, by last name.
She went down the list. Andrus. Benson. Brown. Christensen—
Shirley grabbed her bag and dashed to her seat, her hair flipping at least two students as she passed.
“She’s pathetic,” Tani whispered.
Mrs. Wiley continued. Clark. The seat behind Shirley. Jacob moaned and picked up his bag. He practically dragged himself to his new seat. He was hoping he’d be able to find a way not to sit near her.
“Oh, Jake!” Shirley said, apparently having forgiven him already. “You get to sit behind me!” She put a hand on his arm and lowered her eyes. “Maybe Mrs. Wiley will give us a project to do together.”
Jacob pulled his arm away and looked around desperately for Tani. She ended up being on the opposite side of the room where she couldn’t offer moral support. Tani shot a withering glance at Shirley, then half-smiled at Jacob as if to apologize for his situation.
Mrs. Wiley handed out a reading assignment, then started class.
Kilenya Series Books 1, 2, and 3 Page 51