know, the blowtorch incident isn’t true.”
Slowly I turn my head and stare at him, my eyes narrowing a little. “I’ve fallen for your fake stories twice now.”
There’s a smirk on his face, and he laughs at me. “I know. I’m very convincing.”
“Are you ever actually going to tell me the truth?”
“Nope.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s not half as cool as the other stories. Plus, it’s damn hilarious when someone believes it. Like you did.”
“Ha ha.”
But then I laugh too, and we only stop laughing when Miss Augustan suddenly appears behind us.
“Some may say that laughter is the music of the soul,” she tells us, “but it’s not helping your productivity.”
“Sorry,” I mumble, and she says, “Mm,” before wandering off to look at other people’s work.
Carter catches my eye, though, and I bite the insides of my cheeks hard. He snickers, and I concentrate on my sketch, trying not to laugh again. I don’t want to get into trouble on my first day. Face-planting on the steps in front of Bryce was bad enough
As I’m leaving class, someone cries out, “Madison!” and I whirl around to see Tiffany at the far end of the corridor, with a few other people. She waves me over with a smile, and I hesitate uncertainly, but then I head toward her.
I’m not entirely sure why I’m so nervous; Tiffany seemed friendly enough in homeroom. My palms turn sweaty, and my hands are trembling, but my chin is up and I put on a casual sort of smile, like I’m totally confident.
“Hey,” I say, mostly to Tiffany, since I don’t know any of the others. There’s a tall, lean guy with dark spiky hair, an arrogant look on his face. The other two guys have dark brown hair; one of them has an arm slung around a slim redheaded girl.
“Everyone, this is Madison,” Tiffany announces, waving one of her French-manicured hands in my direction. Seeing her pristine nails makes me very aware of my own bitten ones, and I curl my fingers up a little, self-conscious.
“Madison, this is Kyle, Adam, Marcus, and Summer.”
She points to each of them when she says their name. The redhead is Summer, and the guy with his arm around her is Marcus. Kyle is the one with black hair and the smirk, and Adam is the other guy. I now notice that Adam and Kyle are wearing identical letterman jackets—it tells me instantly that they’re football players or something for a school team.
“Hey,” they all say, in terrifying unison.
“Hi,” I reply, hitching my bag higher onto my shoulder.
I’m saved from an awkward pause when a voice that’s already all too familiar calls out, “Yo, guys, there you are! I’ve been looking all over for you.” Then, as he comes closer,he adds, “Aw, look at that, Mainstream—making friends already.”
Chapter 9
“Hey, Bryce,” Tiffany says, flipping her hair back.
“So you guys met Madison,” Bryce says, nodding at me.
“Yeah,” Summer says. “How’d you know her?”
“We met at the beach party,” he answers. “What’s up?”
Kyle says, “Nothing new.”
Tiffany says, “Ann-Marie Thompson totally hooked up with Jason Wills over the summer, even though she was still dating Sam. Like he was never gonna find out. They broke up,” she added, as an afterthought.
“I don’t suppose you guys know anyone else doing AP Physics?” I ask hopelessly, partly because I feel I should contribute to the conversation, and partly because I think it’d be nice to know
somebody
in the class.
Kyle and Tiffany laugh. “No way,” Kyle tells me. “Sorry, Madison, think you’re gonna be alone in a sea of nerds in that class.”
It’s the way he says “nerds” that makes me frown a little. Like it’s a bad thing. Like he means it in a derogatory way.
“The worst thing about being in a sea of nerds is that I’m definitely going to flounder,” I say, instead of asking him what’s so bad about being a nerd. In my mind, “nerd” always has always seemed synonymous
Slowly I turn my head and stare at him, my eyes narrowing a little. “I’ve fallen for your fake stories twice now.”
There’s a smirk on his face, and he laughs at me. “I know. I’m very convincing.”
“Are you ever actually going to tell me the truth?”
“Nope.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s not half as cool as the other stories. Plus, it’s damn hilarious when someone believes it. Like you did.”
“Ha ha.”
But then I laugh too, and we only stop laughing when Miss Augustan suddenly appears behind us.
“Some may say that laughter is the music of the soul,” she tells us, “but it’s not helping your productivity.”
“Sorry,” I mumble, and she says, “Mm,” before wandering off to look at other people’s work.
Carter catches my eye, though, and I bite the insides of my cheeks hard. He snickers, and I concentrate on my sketch, trying not to laugh again. I don’t want to get into trouble on my first day. Face-planting on the steps in front of Bryce was bad enough
As I’m leaving class, someone cries out, “Madison!” and I whirl around to see Tiffany at the far end of the corridor, with a few other people. She waves me over with a smile, and I hesitate uncertainly, but then I head toward her.
I’m not entirely sure why I’m so nervous; Tiffany seemed friendly enough in homeroom. My palms turn sweaty, and my hands are trembling, but my chin is up and I put on a casual sort of smile, like I’m totally confident.
“Hey,” I say, mostly to Tiffany, since I don’t know any of the others. There’s a tall, lean guy with dark spiky hair, an arrogant look on his face. The other two guys have dark brown hair; one of them has an arm slung around a slim redheaded girl.
“Everyone, this is Madison,” Tiffany announces, waving one of her French-manicured hands in my direction. Seeing her pristine nails makes me very aware of my own bitten ones, and I curl my fingers up a little, self-conscious.
“Madison, this is Kyle, Adam, Marcus, and Summer.”
She points to each of them when she says their name. The redhead is Summer, and the guy with his arm around her is Marcus. Kyle is the one with black hair and the smirk, and Adam is the other guy. I now notice that Adam and Kyle are wearing identical letterman jackets—it tells me instantly that they’re football players or something for a school team.
“Hey,” they all say, in terrifying unison.
“Hi,” I reply, hitching my bag higher onto my shoulder.
I’m saved from an awkward pause when a voice that’s already all too familiar calls out, “Yo, guys, there you are! I’ve been looking all over for you.” Then, as he comes closer,he adds, “Aw, look at that, Mainstream—making friends already.”
Chapter 9
“Hey, Bryce,” Tiffany says, flipping her hair back.
“So you guys met Madison,” Bryce says, nodding at me.
“Yeah,” Summer says. “How’d you know her?”
“We met at the beach party,” he answers. “What’s up?”
Kyle says, “Nothing new.”
Tiffany says, “Ann-Marie Thompson totally hooked up with Jason Wills over the summer, even though she was still dating Sam. Like he was never gonna find out. They broke up,” she added, as an afterthought.
“I don’t suppose you guys know anyone else doing AP Physics?” I ask hopelessly, partly because I feel I should contribute to the conversation, and partly because I think it’d be nice to know
somebody
in the class.
Kyle and Tiffany laugh. “No way,” Kyle tells me. “Sorry, Madison, think you’re gonna be alone in a sea of nerds in that class.”
It’s the way he says “nerds” that makes me frown a little. Like it’s a bad thing. Like he means it in a derogatory way.
“The worst thing about being in a sea of nerds is that I’m definitely going to flounder,” I say, instead of asking him what’s so bad about being a nerd. In my mind, “nerd” always has always seemed synonymous
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