Chapter 15

Nate's head is buried into his iPad and his headphones are in their usual place, wedged into his ears. I stop about a three feet away from the little circle that they had formed around the large tree in the center of campus.

Trent smiles up at me when he sees me standing in front of him and the rest of his friends. His braces catch the sunlight as he does and I have to squint my eyes.

"Hello Trent," I politely say returning his smile. My eyes scan to Gavin who has frozen with his sandwich brought halfway to his mouth. Nate's body goes rigid when he hears my voice but his face lifts up towards the sun. "Gavin," I add my eyes narrowing with humor. Then I manage to smile at Molly. "Hey," I say to her before I add, "mind if I sit?" My voice is off, more timid than usual but I am hoping they don't notice.

They look around their little circle, eyes speaking for them. I shuffle my feet against the dirt, my lunch tray in hand, waiting to be accepted. My focus is mainly on the boy leaning ag