Page 11 of Faux Real
“Fine!” Oliver rolls his eyes and stands up begrudgingly. “I’m Oliver Knight. I’m from England and uh—” His lip twitches as if speaking hurts. “An interesting fact about myself is that I’m ambidextrous.” He collapses back into his seat.
“Ambidextrous?” A girl from the middle row asks. “Is that like British for bi?”
Oh, Lord...My friends and I exchange a look of pure disbelief before Leon laughs and corrects our ditzy classmate. “No, Marcie, that has nothing to do with sexual orientation. It means he doesn’t have a dominant hand.”
“Oh...” Marcie’s eyebrows knit together as she turns around and faces Oliver. “So, like you can write with both hands?”
Oliver smirks at Marcie, then his eyes briefly find mine. “I can doeverythingwith both hands."
I roll my eyes. Gross.
Mrs. Patella claps her meaty hands to get our attention. “Alright, thank you for that, Oliver. On behalf of everyone here, I’d like to officially welcome you to Hilton.”
Oliver doesn’t say anything, just nods. Mrs. Patella doesn’t seem to mind his silence because she continues without missing a beat. “The last item on the agenda today is introducing this year’s Student Liaison Officer. Kennedy, would you like to come up and say a few words before I dismiss you all?” Mrs. Patella retreats to her desk and begins typing on her computer.
I take a breath to steady myself. I wasn’t nervous until Oliver stumbled into the class. Straightening out my shoulders, I get up and make my way to the front of the class. Based on everyone’s scowling expressions, I’m not expecting an applause afterward.
“Hi everyone, as you probably already know, I’m Kennedy Carmichael and I’ll be the SLO this year for our class—”
“Snitch!” A voice calls out and my eyes dart to Ezekiel who’s sitting beside Sawyer and Corrine. Really? Zeek was a good friend of mine when Sawyer and I were dating but I guess lines have been drawn and he’s on Team Sawyer.
Mrs. Patella peers up from her computer to say something but I shake my head. “It’s fine,” I assure her.
Glowering at Ezekial, I clear my throat. “Despite what you all mightthink, my primary duty isnotto be asnitch, as Zeek soeloquentlyput it, but to ensure that my peers have access to the resources they need to be successful this year. And yes, I do have the authority to hand out blue slips if I deem that your behavior or actions violate our school rules, but with that said, I’m confident that asSeniorswe will try our hardest to abide by the standards set forth by the Academy. Right?”
I scan the room, trying to make eye contact with all my peers in an attempt to gain their respect and boost my confidence. I know they must hate me, but I honestly don’t give a shit. My future is far more important than their opinions. When my eyes land on Oliver, a rolled-up piece of paper ricochets off my temple and lands on the floor. Dread washes over my body. Oliver’s mouth opens slightly, his eyes bright with amusement as he turns to face the culprit.
Corrine.
“Oops! I was aiming for the recycling bin,” she smirks, batting her fake eyelashes. She turns to face Sawyer. “Maybe you can give me a few lessons in throwing, baby?”
Sawyer tenses, his eyes flickering between me and his new girlfriend. “Not cool, Corrine,” he says flatly.
Corrine slumps back into her seat, crossing her arms. “It was an accident,” she mutters.
“Well, you’d know all aboutaccidents, wouldn’t you, Corrine?” Max pipes up, her tone saltier than the Atlantic Ocean.
“Shut up, Maxine!” Corrine sneers, her face turning pink. “You’re such a freak.”
Maxine laughs, completely unaffected. “It’s actually quite funny if you think about it. My family had like a 0.01% chance of winning the lottery and your daddy’s condom had the same odds of breaking.” She bites her lip and blinks. “It’s justsuper sadhow my family got money and your family gotyou.”
Corrine’s face turns crimson, her jaw tightening. “Go fuck yourself, Max.”
Maxine fakes a frown. “Aw, are you mad?”
Oh, dear Lord! Why am I still standing up here and why the hell isn’t Mrs. Patella intervening? Even though Max is probably going to get detention, I can’t help but grin at my best friend. Corrine should know better than to fuck with Max. I can’tbelievewe used to be friends.
“Miss Chen! Miss Davis!” Mrs. Patella stands up from her desk, glaring at the two girls with disapproval.Finally!“Corrine, you should be ashamed of your abhorrent language.”
“See?” Maxine says, smirking at Corrine. “Even Mrs. Patella thinks you’re a whore.”
I slam my hand over my mouth. Either she’s trying to be funny, or she literally misheard Mrs. Patella.
“Maxine Chen,” Mrs. Patella says through her teeth. “Headmaster’s office now.”
Max rolls her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”
Corrine grins smugly at Max, who collects her notebook and heads out of the class. “Miss Davis, you may join her,” our teacher adds. “Everyone else, you are dismissed.” Mrs. Patella turns to me. “Miss Carmichael, please stay behind.” Her eyes dart to Oliver. “You too Mr. Knight.”
