Page 40 of We Shouldn't Be Together
Kai throws his hands up and then winces as he fumbles with the books hiked under his arm. “Easy solution,” he says, easing out of his gritted teeth. “Separate us.”
“I can’t do that,” she replies.
“Why not?” we protest in unison.
“I’m not uprooting the class again. It’ll cause upheaval to the other students.”
Kai gestures at me. “Ma’am, you already did that. This is a recipe for disaster.”
“Kai, when you’re in the real world, you’ll deal with people you don’t like,” Mrs. Field says, gathering papers on her desk. “For instance, if you work in an office, you might deal with many clashing personalities. It’s the resilience you build from an early age that prepares you for those encounters.”
“I won’t work in an office,” he replies bluntly. “My career will be on the soccer field. I’m already dealing with big personalities on my team.”
Mrs. Field looks down her nose at him. “Not all kids have a sports team to work out their issues with teammates.”
“That’s not my problem. Everyone should play a team sport. If we’re all forced to learn the crap they teach in the classroom, it should be mandatory for everyone to join a team.”
I suck in a breath. If I used the wordcrapin front of Mrs. Field, I’d get one heck of a lecture.
“The only thing mandatory in my classroom,” Mrs. Field replies, “is lab partners working together as assigned.”
“You want me to learn resilience,” Kai doubles down. “Well, this is one heck of a lesson, ma’am, because there’s no personality on my soccer team as demonic as Tabitha’s.”
“Excuse me,“ I spit.
Mrs. Field lifts a hand to silence us. “That’s enough. I don’t want you two bickering and name-calling any longer. You will show me you can pull together and finish your assignment. You will leave hallway politics outside the classroom. Do you understand me?”
“Not in the slightest,” Kai says bluntly.
Mrs. Field narrows her stare at me.
I look up and off to the side, slouching as I sigh. “Fine. Whatever.”
“You two can go,” she says, gesturing to the door. “I don’t want you to be late for the next class.”
I push past Kai, muttering as I leave the lab, “That’ll be a first.”
When I get into the hallway, Cammy’s nowhere in sight. Part of her good girl routine. Wouldn’t want to be caught loitering in the hall and lose cred with Mrs. Field.
Kai moves out of the doorway behind me, and before he can make a crass comment, I march my way to health class. There’s a stain on my tongue from even thinking about the word health. It’s the grossest class imaginable. Sitting with a bunch of girls as we discuss our bodies, boys’ bodies, and the possible dangers of us mingling together.
Somehow, the idea of going to the gym and chucking a basketball around actually sounds fun. Heck, I’d even run laps to get out of hearing Coach Oliver lecture about STIs.
I drag myself to the classroom and find Cammy and Yvie whispering behind cupped hands. The desks next to them are already taken. When they notice me entering the room, they nudge each other with laughter.
I look around the classroom for an empty desk and then I’m nudged from behind.
“Take a seat, Jones,” Coach Oliver orders, removing her hand from my back.
I trip over my feet from her force and stumble into a vacant chair. My friends’ laughter hits me like a tidal wave, and I brace myself as I take my seat. A bead of sweat rolls down my back, and clings my blouse to my skin. My blazer stiffens, conducting heat by the second.
I didn’t expect to be longing for my gym T-shirt. But who wouldn’t be sweating bullets when Cammy and Yvie are staring at their back? The only safe place in this classroom is sitting next to Cammy. The fact she didn’t save me a seat is deliberate. I’m not sure why she wants me to suffer, but who can ever know Cammy’s reasoning?
When Coach Oliver gets class underway, I’m both tense from the lesson topic and the threat of a Cammy attack. When we’re instructed to look over a diagram of the human body, the class relaxes into small conversations. Behind me, Yvie laughs to herself about how well the diagram measures up to the body of her current crush, Zane.
“Oh my gosh,Rochelle.“ I squirm at the way Cammy over-pronounces Rochelle’s name. “I can’t believe you just said that.”
My spine springs into a dead-straight position. My jaw throbs in pain as I bite down hard on my molars. My clammy hands slide and stick together as I interlace my trembling fingers.
