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“And look happy while doing it.”
“Happy?” I echo in disbelief.
“Yeah. You know…smile. Maybe even laugh. Look like I’m the best damn company you’ve ever had.”
A reluctant smile tugs at the corners of my lips as I nod toward our classmates. “That wouldn’t be a lie.”
His expression lightens, losing some of its severity. “There you go. Was that so difficult?”
I draw in a breath before releasing it. “No.” Then, I bring the sandwich to my lips again and force myself to take another bite.Once I’ve swallowed it down, the words tumble from my mouth before I can stop them. “Have you seen Austin this morning?”
“Nope. Heard he got suspended.”
My heart sinks like a bolder. “He did?”
“For three days. The guy’s lucky he didn’t get kicked out of school or off the team.”
Suspended. Not expelled.
My shoulders slump in relief. Football is everything to him.
Without it...
I don’t even want to think along those lines.
There’s a moment of silence before he adds in a serious tone, “I’m shocked that Pembroke didn’t pounce on this opportunity to get Austin out of here.”
He would have, if I hadn’t barged into his office this morning. But I keep that tidbit to myself.
“Guess he got lucky this time,” he muses, looking thoughtful.
“I wouldn’t go that far.” With a grimace, I swallow down another small bite before lowering the sandwich to the table. If I attempt to force down any more, there’s a good chance the masticated pieces will make an encore appearance.
His attention stays locked on me as he lifts his Gatorade and takes a swig. “Heard you were in Pembroke’s office before school started.”
I glance away and lie through my teeth, “I needed to speak with my mom.”
“Hmm.”
Before he can give me the third degree, the bell rings, signaling the end of lunch, and the cafeteria erupts into chaos. There are only two more periods left, and the last one is my TA hour with Ms. Pettijohn. After the day I’ve had, it’ll be a relief to hide away in her empty classroom and lose myself in test corrections.
DELILAH
By the time I walk into Ms. Pettijohn’s room, I’m on the verge of falling apart. There’s not much more I can take. Fifth hour was the worst of all of them. Jasper waited for me to show up and made sure to cause a scene. It was so embarrassing that I wanted to melt into the floor. A few of his friends dropped notes on my desk with lewd suggestions.
Even though Duke sat with me at lunch and I’m appreciative of that, I’ve never felt more alone. If I thought begging Mom to transfer to Hawthorne Public for the rest of senior year would do any good, I’d fall to my knees in front of her and plead my case. But there’s no way she’ll allow that to happen.
The woman cried actual tears of joy when she opened my acceptance letter during the spring of eighth grade. For some reason, Mom doesn’t see the kids at school for what they really are—spoiled brats who think they can do whatever they please without consequence.
And there’s zero point telling Pembroke about the bullying. After the way our conversation played out this morning, he’d probably be thrilled by the news.
So…I’m stuck.
Ms. Pettijohn glances up from her computer. “Good afternoon, Delilah.”
I force a smile. Even though I like the older teacher and she’s always been kind, there’s no way I can confide in her. In fact, there’s no one I can talk to about this. It only makes me feel more isolated than I already am.
“Hi. Should I finish up the test corrections from last week?”
