Chapter 3 #2
“Hmm.” His noncommittal noise didn’t really inspire confidence.
We strolled to school together, but about halfway there, he released my hand. Yep, now I can’t be with him that way. Now I’m just his friend. I knew I would hate it, and I did.
Pullman was on East 84th between Park and Madison Avenues, and only a fifteen-minute walk, when the weather allowed. Phoenix said we would be driven if it snowed.
Then again, if it snowed, he might just skip. I knew I wouldn’t be doing that, and I raised my chin primly at the thought.
On his own, he would ride his skateboard to school. Escorting me, he walked. Though I’d ridden on the back of his skateboard before, I didn’t think I could do it in my school uniform.
The building loomed ahead of us, a converted mansion in the middle of the city—the old Daven place. I didn’t know who the Davens were, but evidently an old money family who once lived on half the side of a street block. Their home towered old and beautiful looking.
And totally intimidating.
Kids milled around on the street, drinking coffee and calling out hellos. The twins were there somewhere, somewhere in the crowd after showering after practice.
I caught my breath, biting my lip. This is awful. The first days in new places always were the worst for me, though.
“On god, if you say you want to keep walking, I will gladly go with you.” Phoenix then shook his head. “I mean right the fuck now.”
I almost said yes, but I searched for courage. How bad can it be?
“Lent,” a voice shouted to him.
He turned around, a smile cracking his face. “Raz.”
I blew out a breath, ready to face the fire.
It helped that Phoenix and I shared Remedial Study Skills together for our first period so I didn’t get lost. He wasn’t in any hurry to get there, meandering along, so my nervous energy made me want to scream.
I wanted to be in my seat, looking down, and bothering no one when the bell rang.
Still, I forced my face serene and got myself into the zone to say nothing to anyone.
Instead, I watched their shoes and let myself sink into the invisible role I’d perfected before Julian spotted me outside his granny’s in June.
The halls were narrow, so everyone crowded their way through the space, the noise at ungodly levels.
Which was about all I could manage to process.
Inside the classroom, I followed Phoenix to a seat near the middle.
He liked to sit by the window, so I picked the desk to his left, shifting miserably in the uncomfortable seat.
The least they could do is make classrooms tolerable for the students, I thought grimly.
I slid my laptop, the only thing the school allowed us to carry, onto my desk.
The school sent some software about a week ago that I downloaded to be part of their system.
The security or “nanny” features would keep me out of my regular desktop during the day when I was in the zone of their Wi-Fi.
Phoenix added a VPN to mine, so I could get back to my own stuff if I wanted without the school knowing, so long as I didn’t get caught.
He leaned over to me when I pulled out the computer. “This teacher—Collins? She is the worst person on the planet.”
“What?” Why didn’t he mention that before?
He didn’t answer me, instead catching the eye of a girl next to me. “Oh, hey, Tiffany, this is Alatheia. She’s new. Alatheia, this is Tiffany Roth. She’s smart like you, and an artist. You two should get to know each other. Alatheia Winder. Tiffany Roth.”
Tiffany stopped and stared at me, and I regarded her back in silence. I wondered if she was as unsure how to proceed as I was. Her hair was blue, and the color completely worked for her, not that I would dare say as much out loud.
Another girl sat in front of Tiffany, but Phoenix didn’t bother to introduce me to her.
“Hi,” I finally managed, deciding I should say something.
“Hi,” she replied, then sunk in her seat. “Ah, sorry. Unexpected. I didn’t know Phoenix knew my name.”
For his part, he fiddled with something on his computer and wasn’t paying attention to us, or at least he pretended to be occupied.
I swallowed. I could be brave. I fingered the pearls, then I managed to ask, “Why wouldn’t he know you?”
“Because he hasn’t ever spoken to me in the ten years we’ve gone to school together. It’s still nice to meet you, Alatheia. He mentioned you’re an artist, too?”
I didn’t ever confess it, not to anyone but the Lents, so heat flooded my face. “I can sketch a little bit. I think he’s being kind.”
He tapped his pen on his desk sharply. “I’m not.”
Tiffany leaned forward. “Well, maybe at lunch we can see each other’s work.
Almost no one here draws, I swear. It’s too.
. .small for this crowd, but I love art.
So, yeah, let’s sketch together, if you’re available.
Um, sorry. This is such a Pullman thing to say, but I don’t recognize your last name. ”
I blinked then realized what she meant. “Yeah, that’s because I’m the Poor Relation. My aunt is Tricia Samuels.” Tiffany made a face, so I had to decide what her expression meant. I never talked about myself or said anything about my family. In this case, I admitted, “She’s such a bitch.”
Tiffany gave me a huge smile. “She really is. Sorry you have to live with her, but I love that stream, if you were referencing what I think. How do you feel about the guy they just introduced? Do you think he’s the Real Deal?”
Phoenix leaned forward, interrupting unabashedly. “He’s the Real Deal. I know it.”
They did love my newest character I’d added to my web novel, Poor Relation. He was also a Poor Relation, so each of the Lents thought it was based on some part of themselves. Personally, I knew it was just fiction, but they loved it.
A girl sat down in front of Phoenix, spinning in her seat to beam up at him. He rolled his eyes and went back to his computer.
“You.” She nodded at me. “You’re a new girl. Who are you?”
Tiffany sat back in her seat. “Fuck off with your attitude, Bethany. No one wants it here.”
The statement earned her a glare from the new girl and my unrelenting devotion. Do I have to answer her? Can I pretend I speak a different language? Probably not. Finally, I blurted, “I’m Alatheia Winder.”
“Oh…I heard about you. That’s right. We’re not Hamptons people, ourselves.
Why stay in the country, right?” She pulled out a lollipop and popped it in her mouth.
I wished she would just suck on it and shut the fuck up.
I stole a quick glance at her shoes. Yep, open-toed stilettos with her school uniform.
She wasn’t just rich, she was snotty, and her next question proved the shoe theory when she added, “Didn’t you try to seduce your uncle? ”
I took a long breath. There it is. I haven’t met these people yet and they already have opinions about me.
Phoenix jolted, but he never got a chance to answer because Marco Madison, who I had met at a party at his house this summer and who played water polo with the twins, slid into the seat next to her.
“Don’t you watch the news? That dude was arrested for rape. Seems like she might have just gotten lucky and got away from the creep. Support the victim or whatever.” He shrugged. “Leave the girl alone. Besides, Julian hits people who say shit about her.”
Bethany widened her eyes. “He does?”
“Don’t talk about my family.” Phoenix didn’t look at her or Marco, but he answered them nonetheless.
Tiffany frowned. “I’m sorry that happened to you. What a psycho he must be.”
“Dude.” Apparently, Marco really liked that word and didn’t just use it at parties. “I need to pass this year. I barely slid through last year. Not only is my old man suddenly up my ass about grades, but I’ve got to get my GPA up to stay on the water polo team.”
Phoenix shrugged. “Wrong Lent brother to talk with about that.”
“Yep.” Marco took out his computer. “Also, you don’t go to the Hamptons, Bethany, because your mother left your father for some Eurotrash. Turn around and stop being a bitch to Alatheia. She’s nice.”
Never, not in any of my previous schools, was anyone ever as nice to me as Marco and Tiffany were being. I blew out a breath, chalking it up to the Lents. They could add miracle workers to their list of qualifications, as far as I was concerned.
The teacher, Ms. Collins, entered then wearing very severe boots. She’d pulled her steely gray hair into a tight bun, without even a hair daring to escape, and her dress was as shapeless as a black sack.
The bell rang but no one spoke; the room had gone silent when the teacher arrived. Phoenix bent over to grab his large headphones out of his bag. Is he going to put them on in class?
“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.” My neck swiveled and I stared at the small speaker mounted above the whiteboard.
It must be the principal, and I noticed her tone seemed upbeat.
“I’m so happy to have you all back for another year at Pullman.
I expect great things of all of you. Before we start the pledge, we need to wish Toni Lovelace a happy birthday.
She is one of our new eighth graders. Happy Birthday, Toni. ”
Marco laughed. “Sucky day to have a birthday. First day of school? That blows.”
“Mr. Madison, language.” The teacher frowned at him.
He shook his head. “Which part bothers you, suck or blow?”
He really must have amused himself because he burst into laughter.
The look she shot him said she wasn’t amused.
More announcements followed from the speaker, about club fairs and a fall dance.
Afterward, she asked us to stand for the pledge of allegiance, which we did. Finally, we took our seats again.
The teacher stared at all of us from the front of the room, her pinched expression severe.
“I am Ms. Collins. I unfortunately know most of you, which I find disappointing. I thought some of you would be out of here by now. If you are here, you failed a class last year. Failure is not acceptable, and I find it atrocious that people have let you skate by without repercussions. I personally don’t care who your parents are.
In my day, the children of the rich had more expectations put upon them, not fewer.
” She walked up and down the aisles, and when she passed me, I could smell baby oil.
It tickled my nose and seemed strange coming from her.
She continued, her tone droning. “I have files on all of you, but I don’t trust files. I want to see your character for myself. When I call your name, you will rise at your desk then answer questions that I pose for you.”
Phoenix rolled his eyes dramatically, and I was glad Ms. Collins didn’t see it. She didn’t seem the type to have much of a sense of humor or a forgiving nature.
One by one, she called on people. The first boy had failed math, per her file, so she made him answer sums out loud like he was in elementary school.
He slumped down in his seat when it was over, muttering it was precalculus loud enough everyone could hear it.
This wasn’t her trying to judge us. She liked this.
She was getting some kind of…joy out of it.
Over and over, each student followed suit in their turn. Everyone was forced to do some menial task related to what they hadn’t been able to successfully accomplish the year before. Truthfully, I had no idea what Phoenix failed, but I waited for my turn with a sigh. I’d failed nearly everything.
When she reached Phoenix, who would go right before me, he rose.
“Mr. Lent, back again. My most frequent offender, returned again.”
He stared back at her, unimpressed by her censure. “Yep. I’m back.”
“Not a surprise. You would never be allowed to attend this school if your parents weren’t so important. Your brothers are honors students. Doesn’t it bother you that you are so dumb?”
I caught my breath. I never spoke out in class, I never bothered teachers, but I couldn’t tolerate her summation of him. Dumb? I jerked to my feet before I really thought it through.
“Are you crazy?” I shouted the question, and everyone, including Ms. Collins, stared at me.
My fury wasn’t done, though, so I added, “He’s not dumb.
He is probably the smartest person in this room.
In any room, actually. And if you don’t know that or can’t see it after so many years with him, then maybe there is something wrong with you. ”
She stared daggers at me but then turned back to Phoenix. His eyes were so wide, I was afraid they might fall out of his head. He even breathed a little heavily. Oh shit. Is he pissed at me for saying something?
My gaze darted around the room, and I noticed Tiffany smirked while Marco flung around in his seat to watch the show.
“Is that so? Are you the smartest person in any room? Let’s see, then. Mr. Lent, tell me, can you define mitochondria? Or is that too easy for you?”
He rolled his eyes. “It’s the powerhouse of the cell.”
She stared at him. In that moment, I realized she hadn’t expected him to know.
“Next.” He crossed his arms over his chest, arrogance oozing off him. “Keep going, Collins. Ask me anything you want. I’m here for it.”
She pointed at him. “I don’t like your attitude.”
He shrugged. “I don’t like your dress, but let’s keep going. Come on. Ask me whatever you think I am too stupid to know.”
I took a deep breath. What is going to happen now?