Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Elsie walks into World Lit after Lake, and I take our seats.
Miss Conroy stands up behind her desk to get our attention.
“How long do you think it’ll take before she realizes I don’t belong in here?” Lake asks me out of the side of his mouth.
Ever the mischief still left inside of him and I’m actually really happy about it.
Miss Conroy starts her lecture and walks up and down the aisles as she does. When she starts toward me and Lake, she pauses for a moment and gives him a confused look.
He smiles widely at her and shrugs. She shakes her head, patting him on the shoulder with a chuckle as she continues on with the lesson.
Lake looks at me and wipes at his forehead feigning relief. I giggle quietly as I reach down for some spare supplies in my backpack.
I lean over and place a pencil and notebook on his desk.
“Alright, I think we’re ready for our presentations,” she announces ten minutes later.
Fuck, I forgot about that.
I quickly flip open my notebook to my essay and scribble Lake’s name next to mine.
“Who would like to start?” she asks as she goes back to lean on her desk.
Lake raises his hand.
“Did you have something ready, Lake?”
“Me and Gen worked really hard on this,” he tells her as he stands up.
“Fucker,” I mumble under my breath as we walk toward the teacher’s desk.
Lake ribs me and gives me a grin.
“Which one of you wants to read it out loud?” Miss C asks.
“I would let Genesis do it,” Elsie pipes up. “Who knows if he can even read?”
I stiffen in anger, but Lake props himself on the edge of the desk and smirks.
“That may be true, but at least I know how to lead instead of just follow,” he snaps back.
“That’s enough. Both of you,” she says, glaring at Elsie, then at Lake.
“Sorry,” Lake tells me with a grin, “Go for it, Gen.”
As soon as I open my mouth, Elsie grunts.
I give her a sharp look but when I see her put a hand on her stomach and double over slightly, I exchange a quick glance with Lake.
“You alright there?” he asks her.
“Miss C? I need the hall pass.”
Lake immediately pushes away from the desk and makes his way around, to retrieve the pass from the top drawer.
When Miss C holds out her hand to him, he shakes his head and shoves the pass into his back pocket.
“I think she should ask a little nicer than that. What do you think, Gen?” he asks.
“Manners are always useful,” I muse, killing time. “And Miss C is one of the nicest teachers in this school. I think a ‘please’ isn’t out of order.”
Elsie lunges for me and Lake swiftly pushes me to the side.
I tumble, but when I glance over at him in confusion, I see that he’s in a full stand-off with Elsie.
“Careful, Gen. I think she just shit herself,” he says, waving a hand in front of his face.
Elsie turns red as tears begin to roll hotly down her cheeks.
“Lake, please give me the hall pass. I don’t want to write you up over something like this,” Miss C says in a stern tone.
He lets out a loud sigh and begins to retrieve the hall pass from his back pocket, but I’m faster than he is. I move quickly to swipe it out of his hand before he has a chance to hand it to her.
“Sorry,” I tell Elsie evenly, “it’s in use.”
“Genesis—”
“Come on, Lake. I know the way to Bowman’s office.”
With a laugh, he drapes an arm around my shoulder as we walk out of the classroom.