Page 28 of The Beta Test

“But what about⁠—”

“Truly, you are such an exemplary student, and I appreciate your concerns. I hope you feel there’s an open door and you can come to me with any issue.” She puts light pressure on my back as we begin to walk together toward the exit.

“Well, I⁠—”

“However, next time can you schedule something on my calendar with the office manager instead of dropping by? That would be so very helpful.”

She opens the office door and ushers me through. “Better hurry so you don’t miss the entire lunch period. Can’t maintain that high GPA without fuel, right?”

With one last forced smile she lets the door drop and turns on her heel.

Chapter Twelve

My phone buzzes inside my backpack as the office door clicks shut behind me. The hallway is too bright, too loud, like someone turned the volume up on the entire school. That was not how it was supposed to go. I walked into Principal Fisher’s office with a plan and a perfectly reasonable case to get Connection Services shut down, and I walked out with… nothing.

Instead of heading towards the cafeteria, I swing towards the lockers. Images of Analiese whispering about my problems with Braden flit through my mind, quickly followed by imagined scenes of my classmates playing telephone with my secrets behind their hands and casting judgmental glances.

Nope.

Going to the cafe and surviving that social humiliation is not something I can handle right now. Plus, there are only a few minutes left before the start of the next class period.

My fingers slip on the cold metal of my lock, so I swipe my sweaty palms down my skirt and try again. When I finally get it open, my hands move on autopilot, shuffling books and binders around more times than necessary. Remembering what I need for the last couple of classes of the day feels impossible with echoes of Analiese’s horrid voice reverberating through my bones. Maybe he’s as sick of you as the rest of us.

I’ve likely failed at putting the right books in my backpack, but the bell sounds, jolting me. I slam the locker closed and zip my backpack, no longer caring—the need to get out of the hallway before it’s flooded with students is now the priority. Already, a few students drift past and their gazes feel heavy. I bury my nose in my phone and hunch my shoulders.

There are several texts from Jenna.

Jenna: Woman, where are you?! There’s all kinds of drama going down today!

Jenna: !!!

Jenna: There’s rumors going around that Sarah L from the tennis team got paired with Mr. Daniels on Connection Services and things apparently got pretty uncomfortable before they realized who the other was.

Jenna: OMG. Principal Fisher just showed up and commanded the room in her power suit, as she does. Gah, I have such a girl crush on her.

Jenna: Oh man, she’s laying down the law about CS!

Jenna: Are you alive?!

A laugh almost slips out at Jenna’s dramatic spiral—of course she’s eating this up. Then my stomach drops. If the school’s looking for entertainment, I might be next. Would Jenna defend me if that happened, or would she laugh along with everyone else? We’ve been besties since kindergarten. That should count for something.

Me: Wow! Sounds like I missed out on a lot at lunch! Sorry I went MIA… had some work to finish up before my next class.

She responds immediately.

Jenna: My little school nerd *heart emoji*. Feels like I never see you lately! We need a day soon. When I don’t have practice or a game. Which is almost never. We’ll figure something out.

I thumbs up her text then toss my phone in my backpack. Guilt tightens my chest. Everything I’m keeping from Jenna stacks up—the issues between my mom and dad, the growing tension with Analiese, and the fact that Braden has practically ghosted me and might be dating someone else behind my back. It’s a lot. It’s not that Jenna isn’t trustworthy; it’s that I wish none of it were true and pretending things are fine makes me feel better. There’s a little voice inside me that’s afraid all my darkest fears will happen if I speak them out into the universe. It’s irrational. But… what if it’s true?

The candy in my backpack is calling my name. Maybe my problems can be solved with a little more sugar. It’s worth a shot.

AP History flies by, and soon enough I find myself in my favorite class: art. My eyelids fight to stay open as the teacher lectures about various styles and artists of the past who pioneered each technique—all very thrilling stuff if you like art, I’m sure.

A wadded-up ball of paper flies from the side and strikes me on the ear. When I turn, Jake’s dimpled smirk is there. Naturally. Who else would it be?

He juts his jaw towards the crumpled paper. I shake my head, confused about what he wants until he mimes picking the paper up with his hands and opening it.

A note? What are we, ten?