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Chapter 39: Exile

Chapter 39: Exile

March

Well, it's been a crazy past few weeks. I don't know my ass from my elbow.

Peyton finally came back to school, but she'd barely even look at me. When she walked into Pickle's classroom, I was already there, sitting at our table.

She approached Ms. Pickle. "Can I change partners?" Even though she asked quietly, I could still hear her, mostly because I was eavesdropping.

"Why?"

She looked down at her perfect feet.

"Peyton?" Ms. Pickle was trying to look her in the eye, but Peyton just gazed at her torso, at the picture of a pickle standing next to the words "Dill With It."

"I can't just swap your partner. That would break up another pair in the class. It's not fair to the other students."

"Okay. Could you just maybe ask for volunteers? Maybe someone else wants to switch?"

Pickle sniffed, glanced over at me. "I'll see what I can do. We are starting a new unit. So maybe a shake-up is in order."

When class began, she made an announcement.

"Okay people. We're starting our textiles unit today. Maintenance, care, and cleaning. There's a whole world of laundry beyond separating lights from darks. And please choose a new fellow sojourner for your journey into the land of fabrics. If you can't find a suitable associate, let me know, and I'll pair you up."

Peyton wandered over to Toby.

"Hey, Tobster. Wanna be my partner?"

His big blue eyes lit up, and a smile spread across his freckled face. "Sure."

Of course he wants to be your partner. Who wouldn't?

Toby took Peyton's sister Emma to homecoming. She used him up and tossed him aside. Poor guy. They dated from October until January when Cash started showing interest in her again. Then she gave him the old heave ho.

I felt a little sorry for him. Those Thomas girls are hard to get over.

So, I got paired with Hillary, Bree's best gal-pal.

My gaze kept drifting over to Peyton though. I think she was pretending not to notice.

After an hour of learning various tactics for sewing buttons on a variety of textiles, we were dismissed. I tried to catch up to her in the hall, but Marshall was waiting for her already.

He hadn't left her side in days, always there for her between every class.

She was really starting to worry me. It was worse than the fall, after Cash attacked her. Worse than when she was the target of a smear campaign, falsely accused of inappropriate sexual relations with other players on the team and bullied relentlessly.

"Peyton!" I called. They both turned and watched me approach. Marshall looked annoyed. Peyton looked lost.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey," she whispered, casting her eyes to the ground.

"Can I talk to you?"

"Okay." She moved closer to me.

"Hey, Man," I said to Marshall. "Can you just give us a minute? We're trying to talk."

Peyton bristled, her demeanor shifting from sad to angry. "Aren't you afraid one of your fiancé's spies will see you alone with me?"