“No, ma’am.”
“Very well. I’ll let Principal Flynn know. He wanted me to check in with all my students.”
He was smart to ask the art students. Maybe the guilty party was in my class. Maybe Train had an enemy he didn’t know about. As I left class, I also left the whole door-tagging thing behind. I needed to switch my brain from the creative side to the analytical side to learn algebra.
The library was teeming with students at tables, studying or playing on their phones. Ferris was whispering to none other than the girl who had threatened me to stay away from Train. Upon first glance, I thought he was tutoring Nina. But the table was devoid of books and notepads. He looked as if he was trying to pick her up. Or maybe she was moving on to other guys since she was tracing a finger over his lip.
I settled my stance at their table. “Maybe you two should get a room.”
Ferris reared back as though he was guilty of something. I didn’t know the black-spiked-haired boy that well. I’d only had one tutoring session with him earlier that week.
Nina kissed him on the lips. “Remember what we talked about.”
Ferris flicked his chin at her. Once she gathered her purse, she brushed past me on her way out.
I slid into a chair next to him, when a boy with a ball cap ponied up to the table.
“Are you Montana Smith?” he asked.
“Greer, get out of here,” Ferris said in his deep voice.
Greer checked on two other boys who were sitting at a table not far from us. Both boys looked to be holding in a smirk. “Rumor around school is your mom writes sex books.”
Ferris popped to his feet, about to chase off Greer, but I held out my hand. “I would like to hear more. Where did you get that info?”
“Everyone is talking about it.” His tone changed from cocky to polite. “Is it true that your mom is Casey Stewart?”
The boy had to be either in the ninth or tenth grade. “Did your friends dare you to ask me?”
He shrugged. “Yes. But my mom is a fan. She would like your mom to autograph her books.”
It seemed that my mom had a few fans among the moms. “I’ll let my mom know.” I wasn’t about to promise him anything.
“Get out of here,” Ferris said.
He scurried away, and his friends laughed.
I pulled out my algebra book. “So, you and Nina, huh?” I asked Ferris.
“Not really. Let’s get to work.” He opened the book and began sifting through the pages.
Odd.They had sure looked chummy, especially when Nina pecked him on the lips. What was even more odd was her desperate attempt to get Train back, yet she was smooching on Ferris. Maybe she wanted to make Train jealous to get him back. I didn’t have time to worry about it because algebra was calling my name.
For the next hour, Ferris explained algebraic equations, then I worked through problems. I was solving my last problem and ran out of room. So I flipped the page.
Ferris’s eyes grew wide. “Whoa! That’s a cool pic. What does it say?”
“Spunk without the u.” I flipped to a blank page then finished my math problem.
“So do you have a date for the ball?” Ferris asked.
I scrunched up my nose. “Are you asking me?”
Ferris was a good-looking guy but not as handsome as Train. “Maybe.”
“What about Nina?”
“Her and I are friends. She wants me to help her with a subject she’s having problems in.”
