Page 7 of Something Rad
“It wasn’t a request, gentleman. Now, sit.”
“You know, it was a valid question, Ms. Cage,” I say, shrugging my shoulders as Jesse and Paul take two seats to the left of where we’re standing, grumbling the whole way.
“I’m not required to answer your questions, Mr. Summers,” Ms. Cage says, her back straightening. “But, considering you all managed to be late on the very first day of class…” she pauses, exhaling through her nose as she stares intently at me. “I just figured I should keep an extra close eye on you.”
I slowly look her up and down, my tongue pushing into my bottom lip. I wonder how old she must be. Twenty-seven? Thirty-two, tops. I stare back at her until I feel the class starting to settle around me.
“Well, why didn’t you just say so?” I finally say, smirking at her before stepping back to take the closest seat to the right of Jesse and Paul.
I maintain eye contact with Ms. Cage, who is caught somewhere between blushing and fuming, when my back brushes into someone behind me. I notice books and a notebook of some sort on the desk in front of me as I slide into the chair, but I refuse to forfeit the intense staring match I’m currently involved in with Ms. Cage, my grin only growing wider.
“Um,excuse me?” An unfamiliar voice sounds from behind me. “You just literally stole my seat out from under me. Do you mind?”
I flick my head in the direction of the female voice behind me.
“Hey, I’m sorry, baby. Just following orders. You heard Ms. Cage. She needs to keep an eye on me.”
“She meant onus, jackass,” Jesse whispers.
“Are you serious right now?” The voice huffs from behind me.
“Oh, I know exactly what she meant,” I whisper back out of the corner of my mouth to Jesse, continuing to stare forward.
“Ms. Cooper, please take your seat so we can begin,” I vaguely register Ms. Cage saying.
“You’re both idiots,” Paul whispers, leaning forward to shake his head at us.
“Unbelievable,” the voice behind me mutters. Books are swiped out from in front of me as I glance away from Paul and I hear the squeak of a chair against the ground somewhere in the background.
“Now, if we couldfinallyget started,” Ms. Cage begins, turning her back to us and strolling to the chalkboard at the front of the room.
She writes her name neatly on the board and starts to go over introductory items. I bring my elbow to the top of the table resting my fist just to the side of my mouth. As she turns back to us to speak, she seems to make an effort to look all around the room, but I notice her eyes flicking back to me far more often than the other students. She seems annoyed every time her gaze finds me, almost immediately forcing it away every time. It’s like her eyes are magnets and my presence has created the perfect electromagnetic field, constantly drawing them back to me.
Jesse lets out a scoff. “You can’t win ‘em all, Summers. One of these days…”
“But not today, I guess,” I say, grinning.
Jesse chuckles, shaking his head while Paul eyes me, his brows knitted.
“Did I mention I love the first day of school?”
three
SARA
My teeth clench down on the end of my pencil, leaving an indentation in the wood. My knee continues to bob anxiously as I glance back up at the clock, watching the second hand intently. I’m convinced this is the longest minute of my life.
I’ve got this. I can do this.
Tick, tick, tick.
You’ll never know if you don’t ask.
Tick, tick, tick.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease. That’s what Mom always says.
Tick, tick, tick.
