Giggles erupted as my fellow students salivated at the possibility of having Keith amuse them on a daily basis. However, Mrs. Lee was clearly not one of his admirers and resisted allowing him passage into her sanctuary.
“You’re not on my student list, Mr. McKallister.”
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Trust me. I check at the beginning of every semester.”
“Yeah, so, Mr. Friend said he didn’t have room and that I’d been transferred to you.”
“Oh, did he now?” Mrs. Lee asked, crossing her arms defiantly over her chest. “How convenient for Mr. Friend.”
Keith shrugged, not picking up on the diss at all. “I guess.”
“All right, well, go sit. We’ll get this straightened out later. Don’t get too attached to my classroom, because you’re going right on back to Mr. Friend first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Dude, I don’t think so.” Keith shook his head. “He said something about having a doctor’s note excusing him from having me repeat his class another semester.”
Mrs. Lee sighed so loudly even Icould hear it all the way in the back of the classroom. “We’ll just see if that will be enough to save Mr. Friend. All right. I’ll get this all straightened out later, but for now you’re number thirty – last table left side. Move along,dude.”
Number thirty? Oh, no. I couldn’t be Keith’s partner. I sucked at science. I needed someone who could helpmeor, at the very least, someone who wouldn’t drag me down with him. Mr. Friend had to take him back, even if it meant my circulating a petition on Keith’s behalf.
With every step he took in my direction, I could sense my list of choice colleges shrinking. Panic rising, I sat transfixed in my seat as Keith confidently strolled through the classroom, high-fiving and hugging everyone along the way. I did notice, however, that he wisely sidestepped Nosebleed Nathan.
My brand spankin’ new lab partner stopped at table fifteen.
“Hey you,” he said, flashing me his most disarming smile. “Can I sit?”
Saliva dried in my throat, rendering me speechless.Say something. Anything.But I just sat there staring, fighting the horror of my predicament with a smile that flatlined before it ever formed.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, my body reacted in a similarly embarrassing fashion, heating up areas I’d prefer stayed frosty. Perspiration instantly squirted from my pores, flattening my hair to my forehead. Suddenly I wished I were Thad’s partner. I’d take the nickname V-Dicky any day over this.
Keith kept his eyes on me, a knowing smile settling onto his face. And even though I kept that weird killer clown smile on mine, I cringed inside as I waited for the nasty comments I was sure were about to befall me. I’d heard them all before, but the ones that hurt the worst were the ones hardest for me to change.
I wasn’t pretty or skinny or engaging, I knew that, but to constantly be reminded of my faults was like a dagger to my heart. And boys like Keith, ones who slayed with their tousled good looks, did not suffer fools easily, especially not sweaty, unshaven squinty-eyed ones. Sadly, mortification seemed the only realistic path forward.
“I like your necklace. That's an agate, right?”
I blinked in shock, trying to process his words and the friendly way in which they’d been spoken. Glancing down at the security blanket dangling around my neck, I blushed. Rubbing the stone in times of stress had become a habit of mine, one I wasn’t aware I was doing until someone pointed it out to me… someone like Keith. Keith McKallister. My lab partner. Lucky number thirty.Oh, god, I think I might pass out.
Somehow in the sea of sweat and stubble, I found my voice. “Yes, blue lace agate.”
Keith, his eyes bloodshot and rolling just slightly in their sockets, replied in a clear tone of voice. “I dig the triangular shape – it looks like a guitar pick. And those colors in yours, dude, they remind me of totally iridescent waves.”
Was I supposed to answer? Agree? Ask about the weather? Aside from the cool ocean patterns racing through the smooth stone surface, there was nothing outwardly special about the leather cord necklace I wore. Inwardly, however, well… that was a different story.
Gripping the stone tighter, I rubbed the hell out of it like the little freak I was. “Um… thank you.”
Taken aback by the compliment, I nonetheless steeled myself for the assault.Come on, skater boy, hit me with your best insult. Just get it over with. I’ve been through way worse than anything you could dream up.Deflecting a few rude comments from a stoner was all in a day’s work for me. Yet that affable, glazed-over expression of his never faded and, slowly but surely, the tension eased from my bones.
“Can I sit?” He repeated his earlier question as if he required my permission. This guy could do just about anything he wanted in this school with very little consequence. He was, after all, Keith McKallister, dope-dealer extraordinaire, and that made him about as close to a celebrity at Pearl Beach High School as one could get. Everybody knewofhim, but few actuallyknewhim. That’s not to say he was some complicated guy who kept the world at arm’s length. On the contrary, Keith was just high a lot of the time and a little difficult to have a conversation with.
“Um… yeah… sure.” I swallowed hard, observing him with broad, unblinking eyes as my chem partner slid onto the stool beside me. Surprisingly, the faint pong of weed clinging to his clothing took a backseat to the smell of salt and seaweed. As a rule, I hated the smell of seaweed… but not on him. The scent was a surprisingly pleasant one when it was clinging to his bronzed skin.
Unsure what to do with myself, I opened my notebook and stared at the blank page. I needed to do something, anything, but I was nearly paralyzed with indecision.
A silly giggle erupted from the boy beside me. “I had the weirdest dream last night,” he began.
My first instinct was to ignore him – not to be rude, mind you, but because I had no idea how to respond. Was he just musing, or was he looking for an in-depth analysis of his nocturnal adventures?
