Chapter 7

Emery

I had imagined sitting at the popular table more times than I would ever admit, and apparently my imagination had gotten one important detail wrong.

It was louder.

Everyone talked over everyone else. Parker was complaining about a teacher. Knox was arguing with Sienna about Friday’s party. Bree was scrolling through pictures on her phone while half listening to both conversations, and Rhett sat across from me with his government worksheet between us.

I was actually here.

Not walking past.

Not looking for an empty table with Piper.

Here.

“Your hair looks cute today,” Bree said suddenly.

I touched my ponytail.

It was the same ponytail I wore at least twice a week.

“Thanks.”

“You should wear it down sometime.”

My heart did something embarrassingly happy.

“I do sometimes.”

“Really?”

Bree looked genuinely surprised.

Then she smiled. “You should do it more.”

“Okay.”

I immediately wondered if I should wear it down tomorrow.

Across the table, Sienna glanced up.

“Bree, are you still coming over before the game Friday?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. My mom ordered food. Knox ate everything last time.”

“I had three slices of pizza,” Knox said.

“You ate an entire tray of those little sandwiches.”

“They were little.”

Everyone laughed.

I did too, although I hadn’t been there and had no idea what they were talking about.

That didn’t matter.

Maybe eventually I would.

Maybe a month from now, they’d be talking about something that happened when I was there.

Rhett tapped his pencil against my binder.

“Am I interrupting your social hour?”

I looked at him. “You’re the one failing.”

“Struggling.”

“You have a sixty-three.”

“Why do you keep saying it like that?”

“Because sixty-three is failing.”

Parker laughed.

Rhett pointed his pencil at me. “I’m starting to regret asking you.”

“No, you’re not.”

Something flashed across his face before he grinned.

“No. I’m really not.”

My cheeks warmed.

Sienna’s gaze moved between us.

“So, Emery,” she said, and I almost looked around because I wasn’t used to Sienna Blake saying my name, “are you going to Sadie Hawkins?”

My stomach flipped.

“Maybe.”

“With who?”

“Nobody yet.”

Knox leaned back. “Plenty of time.”

“Exactly,” Bree said. “You should come either way.”

I stared at her.

“Really?”

There was a tiny pause.

Barely anything.

Then Bree smiled. “Of course.”

Sienna reached for her drink. “Sure. Why not?”

That wasn’t exactly enthusiastic, but she hadn’t said don’t come.

Progress.

“We’re probably doing something before,” Bree added.

Sienna looked at her.

Bree looked back.

Something passed between them that I didn’t understand.

“Yeah,” Sienna said finally. “We’ll figure it out.”

My heart practically exploded.

Before.

We.

I was being included in a we.

“Cool,” I said, trying to sound like people invited me places all the time.

Under the table, my sneaker bounced so hard my knee hit the underside.

Rhett looked up.

“You okay?”

“Fine.”

“Did you just attack the table?”

“No.”

Knox laughed. “She’s weird.”

My stomach tightened.

Then Rhett shrugged.

“I’ve noticed.”

He smiled when he said it.

I smiled back.

Weird wasn’t necessarily bad.

At least I didn’t think it was.

“Can we please stop flirting with the tutor and get your grade up?” Knox asked. “Some of us would like our quarterback Friday.”

My entire face caught fire.

“We’re not flirting,” I said quickly.

Rhett looked at Knox. “Shut up.”

Sienna wasn’t smiling anymore.

I dropped my eyes to the worksheet.

“Okay. Federal versus state powers.”

“Sexy,” Rhett muttered.

I laughed.

“Focus.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

For the next fifteen minutes, I explained federalism while Rhett attempted to convince me that certain answers deserved partial credit because they were “conceptually adjacent to correct.”

They did not.

Every few minutes, somebody interrupted.

Bree asked if I still had the chemistry review sheet.

Sienna wanted to know if I was good at calculus too.

Parker asked if I understood Shakespeare.

Apparently sitting at this table was going to turn me into the Northbridge academic emergency department.

Oddly, I didn’t mind.

They were talking to me.

By the time the bell rang, I’d promised Bree another copy of my chemistry notes, told Parker I’d look at his English essay, and scheduled an actual study session with Rhett after school tomorrow.

“Sit with us again tomorrow,” Knox said as he stood.

I blinked.

“Really?”

He shrugged. “Why not?”

“Yeah,” Bree added. “Obviously.”

Obviously.

Nobody had ever said obviously about me sitting anywhere.

I gathered my books before anyone could see how ridiculously happy that one word made me.

Across the cafeteria, Piper was standing beside our usual table.

She was looking straight at me.

I smiled and gave her a tiny wave.

She waved back.

But she wasn’t smiling.

For once, I refused to let that ruin this.

Maybe Piper was wrong.

Maybe she’d gotten so used to hating the popular crowd that she couldn’t imagine any of them actually being nice.

And maybe I’d finally done something right.

⸻

By the time I got home, I had replayed lunch approximately four hundred times.

Bree liked my hair.

Sienna had asked whether I was going to Sadie Hawkins.

Knox told me to sit with them again.

Rhett wanted to study with me.

Tomorrow.

Alone.

Possibly.

I fell backward onto my bed and grinned at the ceiling.

“This is pathetic,” I whispered.

I didn’t care.

My phone buzzed.

For one ridiculous second, I hoped it was Bree.

It wasn’t.

UNKNOWN: You alive?

My smile stayed.

ME: Barely.

UNKNOWN: Rough day?

I rolled onto my stomach and kicked off my shoes.

ME: Actually, kind of the opposite.

UNKNOWN: You won the lottery?

ME: Better. I think I made some new friends today.

There was a short pause.

UNKNOWN: That’s better than winning money?

ME: Maybe not actual lottery money. Let’s not get carried away.

UNKNOWN: Good. I was starting to question your judgment.

I smiled at my phone.

ME: It’s definitely a positive thing.

I hesitated before adding anything else. I still didn’t know this guy. For all I knew, he lived halfway across the country and collected human teeth in his basement.

Maybe I’d been watching too many crime shows.

Still, names and details could wait.

ME: I think they actually enjoyed having me around today. Enough that we’re doing it again tomorrow.

The three dots appeared.

UNKNOWN: Sounds like a good day then.

ME: It was.

I thought about lunch again. Bree complimenting my hair. Sienna including me in the Sadie Hawkins conversation. Knox telling me to come back. Rhett laughing at something I’d said.

For once, I’d walked away from people without wondering whether I’d embarrassed myself.

Okay, that was a lie.

I’d only wondered about it three or four times instead of fifty.

Progress.

ME: What about you? How was your day? Anything exciting?

His answer took a little longer.

UNKNOWN: Not as exciting as yours.

UNKNOWN: I had to endure someone who apparently never shuts up.

I laughed.

ME: That bad?

UNKNOWN: She spent fifteen minutes telling me everything I was doing wrong.

I frowned at the word she.

Interesting.

ME: Maybe you were doing everything wrong.

UNKNOWN: Whose side are you on?

ME: Hers so far.

UNKNOWN: Traitor.

I grinned.

ME: What was she annoying you about?

There was a pause.

UNKNOWN: School.

ME: Oh no. Was she trying to make you learn something?

UNKNOWN: Constantly. It was exhausting.

ME: She sounds horrible.

UNKNOWN: Finally. Some support.

ME: I was being sarcastic.

UNKNOWN: Taking back everything nice I’ve ever said about you.

I laughed into my pillow.

ME: All three things? Devastating.

His answer came almost immediately.

UNKNOWN: Four. Don’t sell yourself short.

My fingers stopped over the screen.

There it was again.

That strange little feeling I kept getting with him.

One second we were joking about some annoying girl he’d dealt with today, and the next he’d say something that made me smile for no good reason.

ME: Maybe she wasn’t that bad.

UNKNOWN: Didn’t say she was bad.

Another message appeared.

UNKNOWN: Just annoying.

Then:

UNKNOWN: Kinda funny though.

I smiled.

ME: Sounds like you liked her.

The three dots appeared.

Stopped.

Appeared again.

UNKNOWN: Let’s not get crazy.

I laughed and dropped my face into my pillow.

ME: Poor girl.

UNKNOWN: Poor me.

I was still smiling when I set my phone beside me.

Today had been a good day.

Maybe tomorrow would be even better.