Chapter Three {Part 1}

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Word Count: 2,183

Tuesday afternoon, I flop down at one of the tables in the Magnolia Grove High School cafeteria. "I take it back," I say, burying my head in my hands.

Christian is sitting next to me." Take what back?" he tilts his head, clearly confused. The other seats at the table are empty since our friends haven't gotten here yet.

"Anything good I ever said about school. It's not fun, it's horrible." I groan. Even thinking about all that happened—being late to class, forgetting my homework, failing my science test, and spilling water all over myself—makes my stomach hurt.

"What happened?" he asks.

"Where do we start?" I reply, my voice muffled. "On second thought, let's not start—I don't want to talk about it."

"That bad?" he asks sympathetically.

I heave a sigh. "Let's just say I've had better mornings."

"Aw, I'm sorry. What happened?" he asks.

"What didn't happen? First off, I failed the science test—not that I'm surprised by that. Then I guess I forgot my English report at home? Because I didn't have it, so that was an automatic zero. Then, a plastic water bottle exploded all over me. Oh, and—" I roll up the leg of my jeans, revealing a long, jagged gash. "I kind of cut myself on a locker."

Christian sucks in a breath. "Was it your locker?"

"Nah, just some random kid's," I answer. "I was walking, and the door just flew open."

"Does it hurt?" Christian asks, his eyebrows knit with worry.

"It's fine," I reassure him. Actually, my skin feels like it's on fire. But I didn't win an Oscar for nothing. Hiding my pain is as easy as getting out of bed in the morning—mostly easy, but sometimes not. It depends on the day, and what happened.

He studies my face. "You're lying."

"I'm definitely not," I say.

"You definitely are. You realize I can tell when you're lying, right?"

"Yeah, I know." My lips twitch, and Christian laughs.

"I'm sorry you had a bad day. Anything I can do to make it better?"

"You're helping by listening," I assure him.

Just then, Kennedy appears with Gray at her side. "You two are so cute," she teases as she sits down next to me.

"Adorable," Gray says, mimicking Kennedy's voice. He smirks at us, and I stick my tongue out in return.

"He was cheering me up," I explain.

Kennedy frowns. "Cheering you up? Did something happen?"

"I had a rough morning," I say, "that's all."

"Sorry Sav," she says, sticking out her bottom lip.

"It's fine." I chuckle. "I wonder what Dylan would say if he was here right now?"

"Sucks to suck, probably," Kennedy answers, shaking her head. "Hey, I just thought of something that might cheer you up."

"What?" I ask, slightly suspicious.

"Remember the other day, when we were talking about having a coffee date?"

Let's see . . . coffee date . . . "Oh yeah, I remember," I reply. "Let me guess—you think we should do that after school?"

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