Incognito

Ch. 5 "Could I Bing You?"

Chapter 5

I've only gotten a detention one other time in my life and that wasn't even my fault. It was Trent's.

Last year, he got in the school somehow, probably passing for a student -but honestly what if he was a murderer?- and told me I needed to get home. So I rushed out of the building with Trent after he promised he had already called me out for a family emergency and get into his car only to be informed that we were going to an amusement park. And then he tells me he forgot to call me in.

So that was the first time I got a detention.

This is my second time and it's just as sucky as I remember. There's a bunch of delinquents and the occasional slip uppers like myself all in the same room and bored to death. Doing homework is one way to spend the time, but most people don't choose that. I did, however. And I'm already bored of memorizing the periodic table of elements.

A kicking on my chair caught my attention and I whip my head around to see Kyle. He waves just like earlier.

"Detention on the first day?" I ask.

"It happens," he says with a shrug. I nod and am about to turn in my seat when he adds, "how did you get in here?"

"I was on my phone in class," I answer. My eyes look down at the notebook he's scribbling in, which is covered in doodles of different things. "You draw?"

Kyle just shrugs and closes the notebook. Lifting his backpack off the floor, he opens it and pulls out various things: a phone, a bag of almonds, and a book. "So, I've been working on my lock and I've decided that it's just broken and impossible to open."

"I opened it," I remind him, watching as he puts an almond in his mouth.

He chews and then swallows before continuing, "but you're Cassidy Nelson."

"Ah, yes. I'm a legend when it comes to opening lockers," I joke.

"I hear that you're the person everyone goes to when their lockers are stuck," he adds with an amused glint in his eyes.

"When your locker won't open," I sing in the tune of Ghostbusters theme song, "who ya guna call? Cassie Nelson!"

Though I risked all the dignity I had left, it's worth it. Because, my dear friend, Kyle Blackburn laughs. Yes, he's laughing. A smile covers his face as he emits the graceful sound. It's nothing like a pig snort, it's something wonderful. And knowing that I'm the reason he's laughing is just satisfying.

"Hey! No talking!" The detention monitor looks up from his newspaper to snap at us.

I spin around in my chair and face the front of the room once again. I try to focus on my homework rather than Kyle's laugh. A satisfied smile stays on my face for a good five minutes as I do my best on my calculus work.

"Pssst," Kyle whispers when the teacher leaves the room, "what's the derivative of x^2?"

"2x," I answer.

"Thanks," he says as he writes that down on a piece of paper. "This math stuff isn't as easy as it looks. Sucks when you're at the level of a freshman."

"Weren't you homeschooled?"

"Nah," he sighs, "but Mr. Franklin wants me to be in all the senior classes." He pops another almond in his mouth and then sticks his arm out as an offer. "Want some?"

"No thanks. I'm allergic."

He raises his eyebrows briefly and then eats another almond, still looking at me. "All nuts?"