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“My parents brought me out for dinner.”
“Cute.”
“Yeah, so I’ll be going now,” I stuttered out, my cheeks flaming. “Enjoy your pizza.”
His eyes narrowed on me. A storm raged in their depths, and his lips parted as if to speak, but he obviously thought against it, scrubbing a hand down his rugged face instead. What was with that? The way he seemed so unsure around me, guarded, and most of the time, downright rude. He flicked his chin the way guys did when they were unsure of what else to say and started to walk away. Pressing a hand to the door of the restrooms, I was about to step inside when his voice stopped me in my tracks.
“Evan.”
“Huh?” I spun around, and he was just standing there, looking at me. His eyes burned into me with such intensity, Ifeltit all the way down to my stomach.
“It’s not math guy, it’s Evan.”
Evan.
“Got it,Evan.”
He shook his head with silent laughter. “See you around,math girl.”
Watching as Evan slipped back into the restaurant, I couldn’t have stopped the smile tugging at my lips even if I’d tried. I knew that I needed to stay away from someone like Evan, but I couldn’t help but think that if he was around maybe Credence wouldn’t be as bad as I’d first thought.
* * *
I was wrong.
Monday in math, Evan didn’t speak to me. It continued the same for the rest of the week. In the classes we shared, he didn’t acknowledge me—he didn’t even look at me. It was like I didn’t exist to him. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t sting a little. But aside from Evan’s icy cold shoulder, things were a little easier. The snickers died down, I avoided Kendall and her crew as much as possible, and a couple of people had actually smiled and said ‘hey’ to me in government, or at least, I’d thought they had.
But none of it stopped the nerves churning in my stomach as I entered English last period on Friday. There was nowhere to hide from Kendall now, and although she sat up front and I didn’t have to endure her scowl burning into the back of my head, I would have preferred not being in class with her at all.
To my surprise, it passed without incident. There were no more notes. No whispered insults.
Nothing.
When the bell rang, I almost dared to hope that my arrival in Credence was old news. But it slipped away as I watched the teacher hurry out of the room along with a stream of kids. One of Kendall’s friends remained behind, closing the door and gripping the handle tightly so that no one could enter from the outside. The room closed in around me as Kendall stalked forward. My eyes searched for someone—anyone—who might stick around and help me.
There was no one.
Just Kendall, her friend, and me.
“Hey, what’s going on in there?” a voice called followed by banging on the door.
A girl’s face pressed up against the glass as the door handle rattled. The brunette holding the handle stepped in front of her view, narrowing her eyes at me.
Kendall rounded the desk in front of me and leaned back against the edge casually. “I thought we should meet, officially.”
“I know who you are,” I croaked.
“Good, that’s good.” Her voice was eerily calm, unnerving me even more, if that was possible. With the way my heart was beating out of my chest, I figured it probably wasn’t.
The banging on the door intensified, echoing the pounding in my head… my chest… my ears. Kendall shot her friend an irritated look.
“Kendall!” The voice sounded pissed.
“What’s a girl gotta do to get some peace around here?” Kendall mused, completely unaffected by the whole situation. I, on the other hand, felt very affected. Terrified, in fact. And when the banging grew louder again, and she pushed off the desk, leaning in close, I stopped breathing.
“Consider yourself warned.” Her warm breath brushed my ear, and I shuddered, finally exhaling.
The door flew open, and my alarmed gaze landed on a slim girl with red braids wearing black jeans so skinny they look painted on. She looked familiar, but I had spent a whole week of lunch hours eating and observing my classmates, so it was possible I’d seen her from my spot under the tree.
