know?”
Somehow, that didn’t make Nate feel any better. “Thanks.”
They collected their schedules and locker assignments, and Brian stepped close to compare them. They were almost a perfect match.
“Come on. I’ll show you where the lockers are before first period starts.”
Nate looked around for Cody. It took him a few seconds, but he finally spotted him against the far wall. Cody was chewing his lip, staring at his own slip of paper. Nate wondered how many classes they’d have together, or if their lockers were at least close.
Brian caught the direction of his gaze and laughed, throwing his arm over Nate’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about him. I don’t know how you got stuck giving that loser a ride, but he’ll leave you alone now that he knows you’re one of us.”
Nate had a feeling that was more true than even Brian knew. Cody looked up right then, his eyes meeting Nate’s for only a fraction of a second. One brief moment, with Nate trying to say, Don’t leave me.
He had a feeling what Cody was saying was Good-bye.
Nate hardly saw Cody the rest of the day. The passing periods were too crazy, with Nate trying to find his way around a brand-new school while Brian and Jennifer introduced him to the rest of their Orange Grove friends. He’d already met Brad, Michelle, and the other Jennifer, but there were nearly a dozen more, across all four grades, all of them in designer jeans and Members Only jackets. By lunchtime, Nate wished his mom had never bought his. He hid it in his locker and looked for Cody.
But Cody was nowhere to be seen. It pissed Nate off a bit. Cody could lay the blame on the Grove and the cliques all he wanted, but the way Nate saw it, Cody was the one abandoning him, not the other way around. It wasn’t until social studies, the very last class of the day, that he saw Cody again. Nate had been placed in the advance classes for every subject, and it seemed Cody hadn’t, but social studies was one of the few classes that wasn’t broken into levels. It was also one of the few classes where they were able to choose their own seats. Nate was sitting behind Brian, with Jennifer on his right and another of their Grove friends to his left. His heart skipped a beat when Cody walked in. He found himself smiling, willing Cody to catch his eye.
Cody scanned the desks quickly, his eyes wary. He stopped on Nate, pursing his lips. Nate waved, trying to beckon Cody to come over. The seat behind Nate was still empty, and he wanted nothing more than to have Cody there, at his back.
“What are you doing?” Jennifer whispered, pulling his hand down. “We don’t want him by us!”
Nate was about to protest, but it was too late. Cody had already chosen a desk on the far side, near the back of the room, right by the door. He stared resolutely at the desk in front of him, refusing to look Nate’s way. Once class ended, he was out the door again before Nate could even gather his things.
Nate cursed under his breath, although whether he was cursing himself or his new Grove friends or Cody, he didn’t know. He assumed he’d give Cody a ride home, and he waited at the car for fifteen minutes. Cody never appeared, and Nate finally admitted to himself that Cody’d chosen to walk rather than ride with him.
Wednesday was much the same. Nate went to the gas station at seven thirty to pick Cody up, but Cody wasn’t there. Nate waited a few minutes, fuming. He wanted to go to Cody’s house. To confront him. To tell him he was being a fool. If Cody’d just lighten up and trust him, he could make things work. He could bridge that gap between Cody and the preps. But he had no idea where Cody lived. He didn’t even know his phone number. It was a shocking realization. He felt like they’d been friends over the summer, but the truth was, unless Cody was at the gas station or in Jim’s field, Nate had no way of finding him.
He’d talk to Cody after social studies. He’d be ready as soon as the
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