She laughs off my awkwardness. “You didn’t want to go back to the academy when you moved back?” she asks conversationally, and my shoulders relax.
“It wasn’t really my choice, not that I’m upset or anything. Sun Valley High is great. Err, well, I hope it’ll be great. I guess I can’t really judge it after one day, but so far it seems fine.” I shrug. “Suncrest Academy doesn’t accept subpar credits in their program.” I make air quotes when I mention subpar credits and the brunette chuckles. “If I want to graduate on time, I had to come here.”
“Well, welcome.” Her smile widens. “I’m Alejandra, but everyone just calls me Allie. I transferred in last semester.”
I perk up at the mention that she’s a transfer student too. “Really? Where from?”
She nods. “Yeah, really. I moved from Richland. This is Kasey.” She indicates the girl beside her who offers me a halfhearted wave.
“Oh, I lived in Richland this past year in a half. Before moving back, I mean. It’s nice.” I am definitely ruining this first impression here. “So uh, are you both seniors?” Please let me have classes with one of these girls. I could seriously use someone who doesn’t look at me like I’m ruining their day.
“I am,” Allie says. “Kasey here is a freshy.”
“Do not call me that. It’s as bad as baby Henderson.”
Allie laughs. “Ignore her. She’s in a mood.”
Kasey rolls her eyes. “I’m not in a mood.” She folds her arms across her chest, and I fight back my laugh. She’s pouting like Luis. Bottom lip jutted out and brows furrowed into a scowl.
“Sure,” Allie drawls.
“Urgh. Whatever. Do your friendly chat thing with the new girl. I’m off to ruin Sarah’s day.” She turns on her heel and heads straight for the exit.
“And how exactly do you plan to do that?” Allie calls after her.
Kasey turns, walking backwards. “I caught Emilio making out with some random in the hallways after first period this morning. Sarah is going to lose it when she finds out.” Her eyes glitter with mischief.
“Please tell me he’s not still sleeping with that piranha?” Allie groans.
Kasey grins. “He’s a Devil with lots and lots of sins. You let him fool you with that smile of his, Allie. You should work on that. Emilio is a player through and through. He’ll sleep with anyone who has a rack and a nice pair of legs. Sarah knows it too.”
“Then why are you about to start drama?”
She chuckles. “I just want to give her a little reminder that just because she’s screwing a Devil, doesn’t mean she’s special.”
Allie mutters out a curse before turning back to me. “Sorry about that. Sarah and Kasey have some history. She sorta screwed over Kasey’s brother.”
I shrug, not really sure what she has to apologize for. “Don’t worry about it,” I tell her, though I’m adding Kasey to my be cautious of list because she sounded way too excited to go and mess with whoever this Sarah girl is. “I’m not really following, anyway. Is this Emilio guy a friend or boyfriend or something?” I hope he’s not her boyfriend. She seems nice and it would be really screwed up if he was hooking up with a bunch of other girls on the side while seeing her.
Allie laughs. “Just a friend. I don’t think Emilio has a single boyfriend bone in his body. Monogamy and him don’t mix. But that’s probably a story for another day.”
“I’ve got time,” I say and I do. The bell won’t ring for another ten minutes, and I like her. She’s friendly and has this open and welcoming personality. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but she is totally friend material. Monique would love her.
She waves me toward one of the tables. “Come on, I should probably give you the lowdown on the Devils, anyway. If you don’t get it from me, you’ll get it from someone else and it’s probably better you get it from me.”
We take our seats and I pull out a small package ofPresuntinho—Piraque crackers. Allie tosses her bag on the floor and I wave the package toward her. “Want one?” I ask.
She purses her lips before shrugging. “Why not.” I hand over a cracker and she takes a bite. She chews slowly, her brows furrow before she swallows. “That’s….interesting,” she says, but takes another bite.
I nibble on my own and grin. “I take if you’re new to ham-flavored crackers?”
“Yeah. You could say that. They’re sort of weird but also kind of—”
“Addicting,” I finish for her, leaning across the table to hand her another.
She nods and takes it. “They are. Anyway, what was I saying?”
“The Devils,” I prompt, because any information about the guys who rule this school is sure to be useful.
