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Kota shifted in front of me, twisting in his chair. I jumped, trying to tug my phone in my lap. He wouldn’t approve of texting in class.
Kota snagged my phone before I could get it over the desk. He snapped back around quickly in his chair and my phone disappeared with him.
I bit back a surprise noise in my throat. How’d he know?
A motion at the corner of my peripheral vision caught my attention. I glanced over to find a smug Gabriel, half leaning over his desk. His eyes were intent on my phone tucked between Kota’s hands.
Nosy! He must have tattled. There was little that I did that I could get away with when the boys were around. They seemed to notice everything.
I flicked my eyes toward the teacher, who was bent over her desk and reading papers. I hoped she would start paying attention and would stop them from fooling around.
Kota’s head bent down and from the angle I could tell he was checking my phone. That was good enough. It was Victor’s fault anyway for texting during class time.
Kota’s head twisted around, a puzzled look catching behind his black-rimmed glasses.
I raised an eyebrow at him, confused.
A thunderous siren erupted from the overhead speakers. My palms instinctively covered my ears and I ducked slightly.
“Fire alarm,” Ms. Johnson called. “Let’s go. Leave your things.”
This command was ignored as the entire classroom slapped their books shut, grabbed book bags and made a beeline for the exit. Maybe it would have been a safer to simply run if there was a fire, but no one wanted to leave their book bags unattended. Not in this school.
Kota was still twisted in his chair, looking back at me with my phone in his hands. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he shouted over the siren and the chatter of other students as they filed out of the classroom.
“Tell you what?” I asked, though probably not loud enough for him to hear.
“What’s going on?” Gabriel asked.
I was picking up my book bag when Luke’s hand shot out. He collected my bag, stuffing it over his shoulder with his own. “This isn’t another one of those Friday Fall things, right? It isn’t Friday, is it?”
Kota stuffed my phone into his pocket, pulling his things together. We were the last ones in the classroom. “Sang’s birthday is this week.”
Gabriel’s eyes bounced open. “Holy shit. Are you fucking kidding me?”
Luke paused halfway to the door. He turned to me. “What day?”
A contorted sigh escaped my lips. “Guys! Fire alarm? We’re supposed to go outside.”
“North is going to flip out,” Luke said. “I don’t think he knew.”
I groaned.
“Why didn’t anyone say anything?” Gabriel asked. “How am I supposed to ... god damn shit.” He kicked the door open as he stomped out of the classroom.
I followed the others, trailing behind them as they started talking amongst themselves. The morning air had a heady chill, with a thick overcast. October in the South might have been warmer than what I would have gotten back in Illinois, but South Carolina couldn't escape winter weather forever. I tucked my arms into my stomach to reserve a little body heat in the cold shadows of the buildings.
Streams of other students were heading out toward the parking lot. I followed along with the guys toward a strip of grass yard on the other side of the lot. It was strange to see the majority of the student population on this thin strip of land. Two thousand students huddled together, appearing relieved that class had been interrupted.
“Stay here,” Kota said, dropping his book bag on the ground. He nodded to Gabriel. “Keep an eye on her.”
A retort to his last comment teased my lips. I knew he meant well, but the way he said it made me feel like I was a toddler needing babysitting.
Gabriel hooked an arm around my neck. “What day is it?” he asked.
“Uh,” I said, looking out at the school. The alarm ceased but teachers marched along the gravel in the lot, directing students to stay on the grass. The students were eager to comply.
The school didn’t show signs of smoke. Maybe it was a drill.
Gabriel snapped his fingers near my face. “Trouble, I can’t get you anything for your birthday if you’re don’t tell me what day it is.”
“It’s on the sixth,” I said absently, still keeping an eye on the teachers, expecting them to release us back toward the school at any moment if it was a drill.
“The sixth? Holy fucking Christ.” He snapped his head around toward Luke. “Three days? Three fucking days?”
“Don’t worry. There’s time. We can do it,” Luke said.
Another siren started in the distance. The pitch was different, like a police car.
A second siren joined it, but the screech was longer, deeper in tone. Fire trucks.
It didn’t make any sense. Did they have to come out? There wasn’t any smoke. Maybe one of the other students pulled the alarm. Did they need to come out to make sure? And to possibly reset it?
“I can’t do this in three days,” Gabriel was nearly shouting at Luke. “I should say two and a half days. And we’ve got school.”
“Sang Baby,” a shout from a few feet away drew my attention. North approached alone, his hands spread out, his palms up. Locks of his dark hair slipped down over his forehead, almost hovering in the way of his intense, dark eyes. “What’s this I’m hearing about your birthday?”
The fire trucks pulled into the school lot. A couple of cop cars joined them. They stopped short of the front doors.
I answered North’s question by pointing to the commotion going on at the front of the school. “Are you watching this?”
He waved his hand at the air toward the direction, dismissive. He closed the distance between us and looked at his brother and Gabriel. “When is it?”
“Three days.” Gabriel held up three fingers. “On the sixth.”
“Holy shit,” North said. He turned those intense eyes on me again. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“Will you guys stop talking about that? Who cares? Is the school on fire?”
North’s mouth dropped open. “What do you mean who cares? I told you to tell me important shit.”
“North,” I bellowed at him. I jabbed my finger in the air toward the squadron of firemen and policemen collecting toward the entryway. “The school ...”
“I’m not talking about the school right now.”
“You said tell you important things! The school’s burning down or something.”
“I meant telling me important things about you. Like when your birthday is.”
I managed an eye roll that should have knocked me back on my butt at how much I meant it. “I can’t believe we’re talking about this right now.”
North grunted. “Where’s Kota? Does he know about this?”
Gabriel pointed in the direction. “He went that way looking for you guys. And yeah, he picked up her phone and found out.”
“Luke, stay here with her. Gabe, come with me. Text Silas. Did anyone tell him?”
My mouth hung open and my hands drifted up in disbelief as Gabriel and North stalked off after Kota, still talking.
Luke laughed. He dropped down to the grass, sitting cross legged. He tugged at my hand. “Sit down with me.”
I lowered myself carefully so I could sit on the grass without flashing too much since I was in a skirt. I kept my eyes on the commotion going on toward the school. It felt awkward as everyone around us was still standing. I felt closed in.
Luke continued to tug at my hand. “I meant in my lap,” he said. “I shouldn’t let you sit in the grass.”
“I got in trouble last time I sat in Kota’s lap at school.”
“Oh yeah,” he said. He brushed a couple of blond locks away from his face, shoving them behind his ear. “It’s just a lot of other students do it. Okay, so what do you want for your birthday?”
A collection of barks drew my attention. Policemen held on to
a team of German shepherds. My first thought was they were drug dogs. It didn’t make sense, though. Did they pull the fire alarm and get everyone out so they could comb the school for drugs? It seemed excessive. Not that I wouldn’t put it past Principal Hendricks. Maybe he found another way to kick bad kids out of his school.
“Sang,” Luke tugged. “What do you want?”
“Princess, why are you sitting on the ground?” Victor approached. The breeze picked up, tossing around his dark wavy hair. He removed his blazer, dropping it along with his book bag. He sat on top of his bag. He motioned to me with his fingers. “Come here.”
“I just told Luke I’d get into trouble ...”
“It was Mr. McCoy that gave you detention and he’s not here.” Victor curled his fingers at me again. “Get off the grass.”
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to sit in his lap, but I was worried about getting into trouble with another teacher or even Mr. Hendricks. He was probably right, though. I got up and let him tug me down again until I was parked in his lap sideways so I could face Luke.
Luke inched closer on the grass so he could collect one of my sandal-clad feet and hold it in his lap. “We need to figure out what to get her for her birthday.”
“Yeah,” Victor said. He stuffed his arms around my waist. His fire eyes sparked at me. “Why didn’t you text me back?”
“You sent a text to me during class. Gabriel saw me checking and Kota took my phone. You started them on this crazy frenzy. You shouldn’t text during class unless it is an emergency.”
