“I don’t care about your excuses, but could you tell me why you even bothered showing up to class if you’re so disinterested in the lesson?”
“No, well . . .”
“Do you have a pass?”
“Not really, but I was . . .”
“Where were you, Miss White?”
The class sat in icy silence. The chemistry teacher wasn’t famous for his sympathy. In fact, he was known for being a big pain in the neck.
“It’s my fault, teach.” James’s voice cut the silence, leaving me speechless. “I made her late.”
Right then, I interpreted it as him trying to come to my rescue, but when I turned around, I saw the smirk on his face, indicating that he wanted to make me pay.
Brian whirled around to glower at me as Amelia shot me a less-than-reassuring look.
The teacher started to reprimand James, but I could only focus on listening to Amelia.
“Are you nuts?”
Her thin lips trembled and her pupils shrank like two pinheads. She seemed furious.
“It’s not what it sounds like.” I tried to justify my actions.
“No, June, you’re not taking the situation seriously. Come to my house this afternoon,” she said, grabbing her phone, hidden in her pencil case.
My phone vibrated. It was a message from the group chat.
Amelia:Everyone at my house today, squad meeting
>> <<
That afternoon, I had to fight a little harder. Normally, my mom would never object to an afternoon of studying with classmates, but due to recent events, she wasn’t buying it. Finally, I pulled theI’m new and I need helpcard, and she gave in.
She brought me to Amelia’s, and I had a knot in my stomach during the entire ride over. I didn’t like lying, and I’d lost count of the number of lies I’d told since I moved to Laguna Beach.
“I’ll come get you in two hours,” she warned me.
The Hoods’ house wasn’t a little town house like ours. It was a freestanding home with a wooden porch and a big backyard. It was surrounded by plants and framed by big trees with foliage resting on the perfectly plastered outside walls.
Amelia met me at the door. She wore dark leggings, a black crop top, and plush slippers. It was a casual outfit, but looked anything but on her. Her thin body was always perfect. Everything looked good on her. I didn’t notice as much of a difference when we were in our uniforms, but now, wearing my oversized T-shirt and equally baggy jeans, the comparison was brutal.
We passed a big living room. Through the windows, I noticed gardeners working outside as two women were sweating over the stove.
“My brother is gonna study at Blaze’s,” Amelia told me without much enthusiasm.
Brian and Amelia didn’t seem like they were particularly smiley; in fact, I’d be shocked if I found photos of them happy and carefree in the hallways. The house seemed like it didn’t have any family memories in it, which gave me a weird feeling.
Poppy and Ari were already there. Poppy hugged me while Ari offered me a cupcake from a tray. Being the foodie I was, the size of the cupcakes stood out immediately. They were too small. “Did you make them?” I asked, sitting cross-legged on the carpet.
Ari nodded with a vaguely disappointed look as I glanced around.
It was the first time I’d been in Amelia’s room, and it seemed like it belonged to a high schooler with Peter Pan syndrome. A big stuffed Rainbow Dash towered over the bed, the walls were covered with snapshots of special moments, and the bookshelf was studded with Disney stickers and many young adult books.
I felt a little jealous.
Her whole life was there. It just took one look to get a good idea of Amelia’s childhood. I compared myself to her again. I was reduced to bringing just a few pieces from my last year to the next place, and every time we moved I lost a little part of me. I hadn’t kept any of the stuffed animals I’d played with as a kid, and I couldn’t even remember the small bedroom that I’d had before my parents divorced.
