Chapter 2 #3
Mason was familiar with Snow Ridge High from a school tour but the compulsion to stick to him like glue was strong—though probably misguided. Dad had said to keep an eye on him, not smother him.
“I think we’ll be okay,” Mason said, Katie still at his side. “We both have Geography first period.”
“Oh...oh, okay,” I said. “Uh, maybe I’ll see you at lunch break?”
Mason nodded, like he was embarrassed I was hanging around and treating him like a little kid.
“Text me if you need to,” I said, tapping my pocket where my phone was.
He nodded again and he and Katie disappeared into the stream of kids, leaving me on my own. Okay, that was unexpected, but basically, I was redundant.
I pulled out my phone and messaged my friend group chat: Where are you guys?
I’d hung out with the same group of kids since freshman year.
It had been through a project in Digital Tech class where I’d met Darwin, Brayden, Elise and Sienna.
We’d had to write, act and film a seven minute video which meant spending a lot of time together.
In the end, we’d gotten an A for our work and we kind of stuck together.
Brayden replied that he was at his locker so I headed inside, meeting Elise along the way. She squealed and hugged me, having been away for the summer.
“Hey, how are you? Isn’t this exciting, our senior year?”
“Yeah, super exciting,” I said, somewhat dryly.
Elise bumped my shoulder. “This year will be so much fun,” she said. “How’s Mason settling in?”
“Better than me. Apparently he’s embarrassed to be seen with me,” I said.
Elise laughed. “Well, I don’t mind being seen with you,” she said, hooking her arm through mine.
“Yeah, thanks,” I said, happy for her to pull me along. “Hey, tell me about your music camp.”
We congregated outside Brayden’s locker, everyone talking all at once, about class schedules, teachers and parking spots. It’s like I was hearing everyone but not listening to anyone. I worried about Mason, whether a sophomore had already shoved him into a locker.
“I didn’t see your motorbike out the front,” Darwin said to me.
“I came on the bus,” I said, “with Mase.”
“Ahh yeah, that’s right,” Darwin said, “he okay?”
“I hope so. He met a friend on the bus. A girl.”
Darwin raised his eyebrows. “Wow! He’s already doing better than his big brother,” he joked, nudging my arm. “Guess we don’t need to worry about him after all.”
I could count on my friends to look out for Mason too, and with Darwin being a star player on the football team and not shy about flexing his muscles, he was a good guy to have on my side.
“How’s the ‘Stang coming along?” Brayden asked, throwing his arm around my shoulder. “Will it be ready to drive before graduation?”
“Ha, ha,” I said, flashing a sarcastic smile. I knew he was teasing me about how much time I’d spent on the car over summer.
“Miller will be the one having the last laugh one day,” Elise said, coming to my defense, But her attention suddenly diverted and she moved away from me. “Hey, hi, can I help you?”
“Um, hi, um, I think this is my locker?”
I spun around to see Quinn Devereaux pointing at a locker further along from us—one extremely close to mine.
Elise stepped forward and cast a glance at the sheet of paper Quinn was holding. “Two forty three. Are you new here?”
As that was happening, my heart thumped and my mind raced at a million miles an hour because Locker 243, the one beneath mine, belonged to Maisie Trundler and had for the past three years.
And that’s what I blurted out, sharper than was necessary. “Can’t be. That’s Maisie’s locker.” And I shifted along, protectively standing in front of it.
“You didn’t hear?” Elise, who’d been nice a few minutes ago, scowled at me, making it clear she didn’t appreciate my tone. “Her family moved to Costa Rica.”
It was news to me, though to be fair, I’d hardly spoken to Maisie. She carried her books in a hippie boho bag, a colorful one with beads and tassels on it and rarely used her locker. Which had made her the ideal locker partner.
Now I was breaking into a cold sweat at the thought of Quinn Devereaux using that locker. It was one thing to be neighbors in the same street, but locker neighbors?
Elise unapologetically shoved me to the side, giving Quinn full access to the locker.
“I’m Elise Nguyen,” she said, all smiles like she was part of the welcoming committee, which she probably was.
Elise was an honors student who involved herself in everything.
“And this is Brayden Sims, and,”—she paused and eyeballed me with a disingenuous smile—”your unfortunate locker buddy is Miller Trask.
” Elise tilted her head and grinned at Quinn. “Just ignore him.”
Quinn Devereaux did just that. She didn’t glance at me for even a microsecond. “Hi, I’m Quinn,” she said in a quiet voice, eyes focused on her locker door.
“Hey, is anyone showing you around? I can, if you like. Wow, I love your shoes.” Elise completely dominated, not waiting for Quinn to reply. She helped her with her combination, and as I slunk away—the only viable option—Elise was offering to chaperone her for the rest of the day.
And just like that, senior year got a whole lot more interesting.