Chasing Sin

5

"I am impressed, Miss Walker. I've never seen a student catch up so thoroughly in only a day," Mrs. Hall says, her eyebrows still raised at my correct answer.

"Thank you. I wanted to be on task with the next assignments," I say, deciding that Mrs. Hall is my favorite teacher now.

"Wonderful. We have an exam next Wednesday, as well. I expect that you'll be prepared," she says, walking away from my desk now.

"Yes, ma'am."

"So..." Taylor turns around to face me. "Teacher's pet, huh?"

I roll my eyes. "Mrs. Hall is really nice. Plus, college recs always come in handy."

"She does really seem to like you. Maybe that'll rub off on me since we hang out," she says, looking hopefully at our teacher. "Anyways. Are you excited for your first Eve Hall High party?"

"Yeah, I guess. Most parties back in Charlotte, unless they were on the beach, just ended up being incredibly boring."

"Oh, not Eve Hall parties. We have a record number of fights, sex scandals, and arrests. You'd never believe it unless you saw it," Taylor says. "The last party was two weeks ago, at this girl Courtney's house, and a pair of girls from our rival school came to see Sin and Peyton, but when the guys weren't interested, they started breaking shit—beer bottles, furniture, anything they could get their hands on."

"Damn. That does sound more entertaining than any party I've been to."

"Yeah, you just got to watch out for the party crashers. They always ruin everything, and if you're not careful, you could easily get caught in the middle of the drama," Taylor warns me. I shrug, knowing I'm usually a professional at avoiding drama.

"I'm not really worried. Thanks for the warning, though, Tay. I was thinking we should have a girls day the next day, maybe. I'm in desperate need of new clothes," I suggest.

"That sounds perfect. We could even have a sleepover after the party on Friday!"

"Yes! That sounds perfect."

"By the way, I heard some people talking about you this morning," Taylor says in a slightly lower voice.

"Really? Why?"

"It was a guy and a girl, and they were arguing about whether or not you would stay in our group. Apparently you're the talk of the school lately."

"Oh yeah! Jenna said something like that to me earlier, too. She was saying that it's rare for someone to join your group, especially girls."

"It is. Most girls sleep their way through and leave. But as you said before, that's not your plan. So I was wondering if you were planning on sticking around? I mean, that couple made me think about whether or not you'd want to. Because we all really like you, and I know that-" Her words speed up into an almost nonunderstandable dialogue.

"Taylor, calm down. I really like hanging out with you guys too. I didn't know if I was always welcome, though. I just got here, you know?" I reason with her. I can tell she's getting herself worked up again, so I just stopped her before she got worse.

I really did feel intimidated by Taylor when I first met her in gym class, but despite her physical appearance, she seems quite insecure and anxious, always asking me for reassurance. I wonder why that is.