“Not exactly.” It wasn’t supposed to come out so terse.
Her expression changes into an open-mouthed grin, eager for a good story. I’m used to this.
She moves her sandwich to the side and plops her elbows on the table. “Tell me.”
With a forkful of chicken parm in my mouth, I mumble, “There’s nothing to tell.”
“Then why does your face do that weird thing when I say his name?” she asks.
“Hm?”
“Sawyer,” she says. “There!”
I put on a blank face and think detached thoughts. I am the epitome of unaffected.
“Sawyer,” Tess tries again, then giggles as I feel my face twist. “Sawyer. Sawyer. Sawyer!” She leans in more, nearly halfway over the table now, ready for me to spill the tea. “Did you guys date?”
“Oh my god, no. Definitely not.”
Sitting back, she eyes me. “I heard he was totally different in high school. Nash thought I was joking when I told him who the new principal was.”
“New?” I can’t help asking.
“Principal Brown retired at the end of last year.”
“PrincipalBrown?” I ask. “As inSadgeBrown?”
She grins. “The very same. Working for him really wasn’t all that different from being a student under him.”
I laugh imagining it.
“So . . .” she starts again. “Sawyer?”
My nails dig into my palms. If I don’t tell her something, she’ll probably just ask Nash. He was only a year older than us. What happened at prom probably got back to him through people he was still friends with after he left for college.
All she has to do is tell Nash I started working here. I’m sure the first thing out of his mouth would beAnd the place didn’t crumble into dust?
Tess must see something in my expression, because she holds up her hands. “Sorry! I just met you, I shouldn’t have asked. Everyone has a right to privacy.”
My phone pings with a reminder. Five minutes before I retrieve my class from the cafeteria.
I could tell hersomething. It’s not like Sawyer’s treatment of me is even a secret, how could it be in this town? A fresh start was never realistic for me here.
And it’s all temporary anyway. I’m out at the end of the semester. By then, schools will have hired for next year.
I take one more look at Tess. The way she looks at me is different than anyone from Everett Academy, the pack of hyenas that tried to rip me apart. Their questions were laced with vindictiveness, hungry for any drama they could get their hands on and regurgitate to others.
But Tess seems nice. Innocent, even. She has no idea who Sawyer was to me in school. She probably thinks she was merely asking a normal get-to-know-you question.
Softening, I say, “It’s okay, I just don’t like gossip. Sawyer wasn’t the nicest to me when we were younger.”
Tess’s eyebrows shoot together, eyes big. “Really?”
I shrug like it’s no big deal. “Mostly teasing. Loud-mouth stuff.”
For the first time, the smile disappears from Tess’s face as she presses her lips together and takes one of my hands in both of hers.
It surprises me, but it grounds me, too. Reminds me I’m in the here-and-now. School is way in the past.
