She just smiles and shoves a forkful of pasta into her mouth.“Charlie says he’s really off with him too,” she says in the end.“I’ll bet he’s got some dark secret.You could find it out and then he’ll fall madly in love with you.”
“Sheesh,” I say.
“No, seriously.How exciting.Do you know why he switched schools?”
“I couldn’t care less.”
“Oh, come on.Everyone’s dying to know.”
“Dying to know what?”asks Grace, sitting down beside us.
“Why Colin Fantino came to Dunbridge weeks into term,” Tori explains.
“Can’t you find out, Livy?”Grace glances conspiratorially at me as she starts to peel a banana.The only other things on her tray are two little mandarins.
Is that all you’re eating?The question’s on the tip of my tongue but I bite it back at the last second.I have just about enough empathy spare to understand that embarrassing Grace in front of everyone won’t make anything better.It’s out of order to comment on other people’s eating habits.Or their figures.But that doesn’t mean I’m not worried about her.
I notice Henry’s expression as he glances at us.He doesn’t speak, but I can tell he’s thinking something along the same lines.And I can see that he’s concerned.He and Grace were together for a long time, and I spent ages raging at him and especially Emma, his new girlfriend, for hurting Grace so badly.Since then, I’ve realized you can’t judge people for developing (or losing) feelings for someone.Not unless they intentionally harm a person by cheating on them.Which Henry didn’t.He split up with Grace first, as kindly as it’s possible to split up with someone,but sadly, that doesn’t stop the pain.Which has dug deep nicks out of Grace’s heart.
“You should ask him,” Tori says, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Fantino?”I laugh.“No way.I don’t want anything to do with him, OK?I don’t have time for that shite.I need you guys to give me your notes after class so I can keep up with you.”
Tori and Grace look up simultaneously.They exchange glances.
“Why?”Grace asks.
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Tori pauses.“Olive...”she begins quietly, but I shake my head.
“No, drop it.I’m going to cram up on your work at the same time as mine so that as soon as I’m eighteen, I can come back up with you.”
My best friend says nothing, and that hits me unexpectedly hard.
“Isn’t that what you want?”
“Of course we do.”Grace reaches for my arm.“But we’re worried, Livy.That’s a lot to take on.”
Something within me immediately shuts down.“I’ll manage.Can you just send me your stuff?”
They’re eyeing me skeptically, but in the end, they nod.Their reaction unsettles me more than it should.Do they think I can’t do it?Grace of all people should have a pretty good idea of whether I can cope with the upper sixth, seeing how much she helped me revise for the exams last summer.But I don’t care what she thinks.I’ve set my mind to it, so I’ll do it.That’s always worked out for me so far.
Colin
Beats me what VIP status Olive Garden has at this school, but apparently, it’s a big deal for her not to mix with the riffraff from the lower sixth at lunch and to sit with her cool friends from the year above.I’m surprised that none of the teachers say anything, seeing as she was sent down to our table last night.Pretty embarrassing for her.But it looks like those rules don’t apply at lunch.And to be honest, I’m kind of glad not to have Olive Garden at my table giving me the evil eye as I check my blood sugar on my phone and set the dosage via the insulin pump.She really didn’t get it in class yesterday.And my other new classmates don’t seem to have noticed what I’m doing.Lucky for me, the pumps and sensors have gotten less obvious in the last few years.Back when I was first diagnosed, I had to use an old-fashioned glucose meter and do a finger-prick test every single time, which screamed “Diabetic!”to everyone within a five-mile radius.I can’t say how sick I got of the looks.Nobody at Ainslee ever made a big deal out of it, but it still feels kind of nice to have a totally clean slate here at this school.
That’s the only good part, though.I’m not in the mood to chat, so I sit on my own.Besides, I didn’t see any familiar faces as I walked in.It takes a while for Kit and his buddies to come into the dining room, and I’m actually glad they join me.I don’t say much, but they accept me into their group.Kit asks me if I’m into tennis and want to try out a training session tomorrow.At first, I’d rather decline.Not because I can’t play.Anyone who’s anyone in a certain level of New York society wants to be seenhitting a ball around in a swanky tennis club.So obviously I took tennis lessons.Not to mention private coaching sessions during our vacations in the Hamptons.But then I think it might not be such a bad idea.Thrashing a little yellow ball around might be a better way of easing the pressure, might help me get through at least one day without my lighter.In the end, I remember that I’m meeting the school doc tomorrow, so I tell Kit that I’ll come the next time.
After lunch, he shows me the way to the physics classroom.Olive Garden’s apparently not in this class, and that makes me almost sad.It’s boring when I can’t bug her.Luckily, I meet her in the hallway after the last class of the day as she comes out of a classroom two doors down the hall.Her eyes meet mine, her steps slow.Then she sticks up her chin and turns away.She doesn’t get to leave, though, because that snooty school captain comes toward her.Henry Bennington.He’s with a blond girl who was sitting with him and Olive at the upper-sixth table earlier.Before I can make tracks, they come over.
“Hey, how’s it going?”he asks, and I deserve a medal for not rolling my eyes.
“Amaaazing,” I say.
“Are you done for the day?”
I nod.
