Read Online Battlefield by J. F. Jenkins - Free Book Online

what kind of a jerk he is, then? I’m glad, because it saves me a lot of time to explain.” This was a pleasant surprise. Still, he didn’t want to be presumptuous.
    Peyton led Orlando down to the first floor, then turned a corner and pointed. “Here you are. Don’t worry, Mrs. Henley is a sweetheart. She’ll be cool about you being late.”
    â€œThanks,” Orlando said. He gave Peyton a small wave and then grabbed ahold of the handle. As soon as the door opened, all eyes were on him. He gave a nervous smile and stood his ground.
    â€œOh, you must be the new student,” the teacher said in a soft voice. She was a gentle looking woman in her early forties. “Class, this is Orlando Holmes.” That immediately got the entire room’s attention. “Tait, could you please get him caught up while I continue?”
    He opened his mouth to point out that he had no idea who Tait was, but then noticed a wave from a girl with long, blond, curly hair who reminded him of every other stereotyped ditz on the planet he’d ever met. Complete with a cute cheerleading uniform that barely covered her midriff, and a bouncing high ponytail. He sat in the empty desk behind her and waited to hear what profound things this girl could possibly share with him.
    â€œShe teaches straight from the book. You can borrow mine if you want, but all you have to do is read and do the busywork and you should have an A. I mean, assuming you know how to do basic math,” she whispered.
    â€œOnly when I’m wearing sandals,” he mumbled as he pulled out a notebook and a pen from his backpack. She stared at him. “You see, that means I can only do math when I can—”
    â€œSee your toes, I followed,” she finished for him. “I was just trying to decide if it would be worth my time to laugh or ignore you.”
    â€œIgnoring would probably be wiser.”
    â€œOh, you’re one of those types, huh? Loner? Nobody understands me, and I just want to survive this one day at a time?” She pulled out her textbook and flipped it open to the chapter they were currently being lectured on. “Here.” She stared back towards the front.
    He rolled his eyes. “That’s rude, you know. You can’t just say something like that and end the conversation. I mean, if we went and based everything we know about each other simply by how we’re dressed, I’d make sure all my words had one syllable and accompanied them with a visual aid of a cute baby farm animal. Even then, you’d still have no idea what I was saying; and yet, look at you still following the conversation so well.”
    â€œPoint taken,” she said.
    He smirked and leaned back so he could doodle and daydream for the remainder of the hour. On occasion he would stare at the back of Tait’s head, knowing full well she could feel his eyes on her and loving how it made her tense up, as if in anticipation. The smirk faded however when he glanced up at Mrs. Henley and saw Alan standing behind her looking over her shoulder at her notes. He made eye contact with Orlando and shook his head.
    â€œThis woman is not doing this right,” Alan said.
    Orlando didn’t respond. What was he supposed to say? Acknowledging Alan’s presence would make him talk again. If the man spoke, he would expect Orlando to reply, and if nobody else could see him, Orlando would look like a lunatic in front of his new classmates. Seeing as how no one else was reacting to a strange man just appearing out of nowhere in the middle of class, he was sure he was the only one who could. He wanted to keep away from as many negative misconceptions as possible. It was too early for him to become a freak. What he did do was put his head down and go back to doodling. Mrs. Henley was definitely a sweet and kind-looking woman, but her class was as interesting as watching paint dry.
    At the end of class Tait collected her book.