Page 18 of Stealing for Keeps
“Thank you.” Her tone is begrudging gratitude.
We used to be close. She’s only a grade younger than me, and back in Arizona, we even had a lot of the same friends. “Actually, can I come with you? I need to get a few things too.”
“We can’t leave Wyatt here by himself.”
“He can come too. We’ll hit up the arcade while you shop.”
A hint of a smile appears, but she masks it quickly. “Sure. Whatever.”
Chapter Six
Claire
The first day of school arrives before I’m ready. When I get downstairs, Mom is dressed for work, drinking coffee as she stands in the kitchen. Ruby is eating breakfast at the island.
“Excited for fifth grade?” I ask my little sister.
She shrugs one shoulder but then grins. “Layla and I got the same teacher again this year.”
I smile. I miss the days when having my best friend in my homeroom was all it took to make me excited for a new year.
Everything about this year feels different. No boyfriend to hold hands with between passing periods, no rushing to skate practice right after school and then cramming homework and studying in before bed. At least I still have Lacey. Maybe a great best friend is all I need.
“I bookmarked some colleges for you to consider.” Mom tips her head toward her laptop on the counter. “And we need to talk about your schedule this year. You’re going to need much better grades if you’re going to get into a top college. Is it too late to add a couple of AP classes?”
It’s her new dream for me: attend a good college, get a fabulous job, and forget that I spent the past ten years putting all my effort into figure skating.
“I have to go. Lacey is waiting,” I say, ignoring all her questions, and swipe a granola bar from the pantry.
Lacey grins from behind the wheel of her new Bronco Sport. It was a guilt gift from her dad after he forgot her seventeenth birthday. It’s decorated in blue-and-white window paint with things likeJuniors,FLHS, and, of course,Cheer Captain.
My stomach is in knots as she pulls into a parking spot, and it only intensifies as we walk into the chaos. This year feels exciting and terrifying. I knew who I was as a sophomore, or at least I thought I did, and now all that has changed.
The halls are already packed with students. People stand in front of their lockers, talking and catching up after the summer break. Glittery signs hang on every wall, catching the light and temporarily making me smile. The smell of new perfume and unrealistic expectations hangs in the air.
At our lockers, I stand with my back against the cool metal, watching the excited faces of my peers and trying to summon some of it for myself.
“I can’t believe we don’t have a single class together this semester.” Lacey frowns at my schedule.
I swipe my phone back. “That’s what happens when you’re an academic overachiever.”
She grins. Lacey is supersmart and in all AP classes. My mother would be so proud of her schedule.
“Well, here’s hoping I don’t regret that by the end of the week. I heard the new AP Calculus teacher is really hard.”
“How could anyone possibly know that yet?”
She shrugs. “I guess someone heard from a student at his last school.”
“You’ll be fine,” I reassure her.
The first bell rings.
“I better go.” Lacey clutches her laptop and notebook to her chest with a nervous, excited grin. She is perhaps the most hopeful of anyone today, and I don’t want to take that from her, so I smile back.
“See you at lunch,” I promise.
The morning goes by in a blur of welcome speeches from teachers and seating arrangements. My class schedule isn’t that strenuous since, until a couple of months ago, school was not the biggest priority in my life. I don’t see the point in changing that now. I’m not a brainiac like Lacey, and I’m not even sure I want to go to college yet. It was never my plan, but now I don’t know what I’ll do after high school ends.
