sonaboost

  The bell had already rung by the time I pushed open the cssroom door. No one looked surprised–I wasn’t exactly known for being on time–but a few people still turned their heads when I slipped inside. I mumbled a quick apology to Mr. Mell, but he didn’t seem particurly bothered. Actually, not much bothered the man, a devout Christian with a wispy crown of white hair like one might picture a stereotypical priest. He simply looked up from his ptop and waved me toward my assigned seat in the homeroom. Ducking my head, I moved over to my desk by the window, earbuds still half-tucked into my colr.

  I dropped my bag with a quiet thud and sank into the chair, grumbling when I hit my knee on the underside of the metal shelf. Outside, the clouds rolled low and gray. It had rained overnight, so the trees were still dripping, and the pavement sparkled with shimmering puddles under the lights outside the school building. October air crept in through the thin window frame, not cold, but just sharp enough to keep you alert.

  Slouching back while I rubbed at my throbbing knee, I let my gaze drift zily across the room. The atmosphere was weird today. Quiet, but not rexed. Like everyone had something on their minds but didn’t want to be the first to say it. Even the usual morning chatter was subdued to a whisper.

  Behind me, I caught the tail-end of a conversation.

  “You think he’ll come back?”

  “Why would he? He’s got to be much happier at Lakewood Academy than this hell hole.”

  The words weren’t meant for me, but that didn’t detract from my annoyance.

  Ethan.

  Of course it was about him. Even after four months, his name hadn’t really left the room. He transferred over the summer, but our homeroom still carried him like a phantom limb. I gnced over my shoulder, my eyes settled on his old desk, third from the back, next to the window. No one had cimed it. Not since school started. A couple of people had tried it the first week, then eventually moved elsewhere, like the seat was cursed or something.

  Mr. Mell was talking about morning announcements, but I wasn’t really listening. Instead, I turned my attention over to Amber. The girl sat two rows over, long bck hair hanging down in a curtain as she traced invisible patterns on her notebook. She had that elegant, proper look about her, like a porcein doll who someone had painted the smile over with a frown. Always dressed perfectly, always polite. But her eyes? They were pale blue, cold and distant. She had kept to herself much more than usual since Ethan left. They used to be close, although I wasn’t sure how far their retionship went exactly. It depended on which rumor you listened to, I guess.

  “He was probably just embarrassed. After what happened.”

  I didn’t turn around. I didn’t need to as Sara’s voice was unmistakable..

  She lounged in her seat, one leg crossed over the other, and skirt hiking up just a little past the dress code. Her blonde hair had been dyed slightly auburn at the tips–a new look she’d started rocking after summer break. She tapped her fingers against the desk with a slow rhythm, gold studs catching the light from the window. Everyone knew she was trouble, and the main reason this tired conversation repeated itself day in and day out.

  “Maybe he should’ve thought about that before pying everyone,” she added.

  The temperature in the room dropped by a few degrees. Mr. Mell didn’t respond, but I caught the way his hands paused over his keyboard. He might not say anything, but he definitely heard. From across the aisle, Mina’s pen spun out of her grip and smacked the edge of her desk with an audible click. No one said anything back to Sara, leaving the faint hum of the heater and the raindrops ticking against the gss to fill the silence.

  I sighed and leaned back, kicking my legs out under the desk.

  Different day, same old bullshit.

  No one had the full story. That was the truth. The rumors came and went in waves: Ethan was secretly going out with one of his many admirers and cheated on her, Ethan got dumped and couldn’t face it, or Ethan’s accidental harem went nuclear. Every version was messier than the st, and none of them felt quite right. Because none of them included Zach and his side of the story, which I could almost guarantee held the missing key to the puzzle.

  Regardless, I didn’t bme either of them for leaving. Honestly? If I had half the guts, I might’ve tried for a schorship like they had.

  Mr. Mell finally cleared his throat, like he was trying to physically cut through the tension. “Let’s be mindful of how we speak about others, especially those who aren’t here to defend themselves.”

  Sara didn’t even flinch. She just tilted her head and gave our teacher a cruel smirk.

  And that was that. The conversation died, and the bell chimed to signal our first css of the day.

  I leaned back in mine, letting my gaze wander to the ceiling. The tiles had a stain in the shape of a rabbit or maybe a melted shoe. I stared at it as though it was the most important thing in the room, wanting to avoid being sucked into this silly drama any further. All I wanted was to clock in at work ter, finish my homework before midnight, and avoid causing any undue stress for my step-mom and siblings.

  “Would you wake up already?”

  A sharp thud jolted my desk, making the whole thing rattle under my arms. I blinked groggily, my cheek still pressed against the warmth of my sleeve. Liam loomed over me, gripping the handle of his trombone case like he was ready to use it as a battering ram. He had about two inches on me in height, wiry limbs, and a permanently tousled mop of dirty blond hair that seemed to lose every battle with a comb.

  I straightened up with a grunt and rubbed the sleep from my face. “What are you doing?”

  “Time to move out,” he said. “School’s done, and you were sleeping like a damn rock. I was worried you might be dead.”

  I gnced up at the clock above Mr. Mell’s desk. 3:15. The cssroom was already half-empty, most of the desks abandoned, chairs either tucked in or crooked depending on who sat there. Mr. Mell had likewise vanished, probably to the staff room for his usual herbal tea and philosophical debates with the physics teacher.

  “Right,” I mumbled. “Thanks.”

  “Sure. You headed to work?”

  I nodded, pushing to my feet and grabbing my bag. “Yeah, I think my shift’s a little shorter today too.”

  “That’s good.” Liam said, slinging his case over his shoulder. “Try not to fall asleep mid-order this time.”

  “No promises,” I called after him as he disappeared out the door, whistling some off-key jazz riff.

  The hallways were noisy as usual, but I easily tuned them out by sticking my earbuds in and throwing on a random song from my pylist. I shuffled through them at a zy pace, backpack hanging off one shoulder. I cut through the courtyard on my way out, autumn light filtering down in long golden beams from the giant oak in the center of it. Fallen leaves rustled under my shoes, and the breeze carried the faint smell of roasted sweet potatoes from a nearby street cart. Those sweet potatoes were what put Asheville on the map and were also the reason most of us never had any money.

  It was a sick catch-22 of having to grab a quick snack after school.

  Ignoring the delicious scent, I instead noticed a girl standing on the pathway I was walking down, fiddling with the straps of a worn backpack. The sweatshirt she wore was a size too big, sleeves rolled up to the elbow. Her ptinum blonde hair was tied loosely back into a low ponytail, loose strand of it blowing around in the slight breeze. Her expression was pinched like she was bracing herself to say something and kept chickening out.

  I wouldn’t have given her a second-thought if she hadn’t stepped in front of me.

  “Um… sorry. Do you have a second?”

  I blinked, caught off guard. “Yeah?”

  “I heard you work at a café,” she said quickly, as if she’d rehearsed the line in her head a dozen times. “And I was wondering i-if you could help me get a job there.”

  I stared at her for a moment, trying to process the request. “Wait, how do you know that?”

  Her fingers tightened around her bag. “Someone mentioned it. In css. I’m new here, so I don’t really have any friends yet. I’ve just been… listening mostly.”

  She chuckled awkwardly, her eyes darting around like she was debating fleeing the scene; those eyes of her intrigued me, a light shade of red that I had never seen anything like before. I had heard a little about a strange new girl in our grade, but I hadn’t gone out of my way to find out who she was. I also couldn’t quite pce her name, or how long ago she had come to Asheville High. If I had to wager, I would have said it’d been about two weeks now.

  “You ever work in a café?” I asked.

  “No,” she admitted quickly, looking away again. “But I really need the money, and I learn fast.”

  I didn’t have a reason to go out of my way for her in the slightest. But something about her tone, and about the way she said it, gave me pause.

  “The owner was a friend of my dad. She mentioned wanting to hire more people. I can call and ask if she’d be up for meeting you,” I said. “Oh, and I get paid under the table. It’s not anything shady, I promise, but you would have to be cool with that too.”

  She nodded frantically, and for the first time, she smiled. Just a little. “That’d be no problem. Thank you.”

  I shrugged. “Don’t thank me yet. I can’t guarantee she’ll hire you.”

  Still, her small smile widened just a little further. “I’m Madison, by the way.”

  “Kasey.”

  And just like that, this strange day became even stranger with the newest weirdo I had temporarily taken under my wing.