Amazon High

18. Where Credit's Due

 I poured the entire pot of coffee into an insulated mug and brought it with me.

I sat in history, one hand keeping my head up, the other holding the mug as I blew into it, the steam hitting my face and putting me to sleep. Of course Kendall wasn't there, so the seat next to me was empty. I scooched over and put my feet up on the empty chair as I sipped the coffee. I don't remember what we learned that day.

I finished the coffee off as quickly as possible and by 4th hour, I was no less tired but my legs were bouncing uncontrollably.

As I stood in line for lunch, I noticed a crowd growing in the cafeteria. I grabbed my food and checked it out. They were all centered around James, who was shaking hands and nodding humbly. I walked over to Austin.

"What's up?" I asked him, motioning to the crowd.

"Oh, you didn't hear?" he pulled out his phone and showed me a post James made on social media. It was a selfie of him next to Kendall in her hospital bed and it was followed by a long paragraph about the dangers of drugs and how this was a powerful experience for him and how he wants everyone to pray for her recovery.

I grabbed his phone and looked at it over and over. I hated everything about it. It felt like something a politician would post to boost his career. Disingenuous but still so good-hearted that you couldn't say anything bad about it without sounding like an asshole. It felt, ultimately, like something the James I used to know would post. And for some reason that really made me angry. It made me scared. And that, in turn, made me angry. Because it meant he didn't need me anymore. And it felt so good knowing that James took comfort in my presence for once, rather than the other way around.

I handed Austin his phone back and looked up at the crowd to see even Mike patting James on the back like he was the hero of the day. Mike, who knew the shit I did to save his sister's ass.

He noticed me as I glared at him, gritting my teeth. I stormed out of the cafeteria and off to the Mathletes session.

Chloe came in late and was in the same sour mood as me.

I waited at the field for after school cheer practice, and saw her walk up with Julie, who looked like she wanted a fight. I waited for her to say whatever she wanted to say but she just stood there with her arms crossed.

"What's up?" I stammered.

"What the fuck did you do last night?" Julie yelled at me with all the sass she could muster.

I sighed and took a deep breath, "I mean, okay, where do you want me to start?"

"My dad saw you drive up in his car."

"That was his car?"
"Yeah, it's like a family car. He lets me drive it to school."

"Well, shit, I didn't know that."

"Why would you do that?"

"Hey, he should be thanking me, I got you home safe, right?"

"Jesus, Alex, you're a crazy bitch!" She threw her hands in the air. "You should have just let me sleep at Will's."

"That was about to turn into a crime scene, I was getting you out of that mess."

"I mean, I'm, like, innocent. Nothing would have happened."

"Look, I was scared, okay? I didn't know what to do, I thought that was the right move."

"Why did you go back?" Chloe asked like she was trying to get me in trouble.

"I was going back for Julie!" I yelled, annoyed. "Look it worked, alright? I'm a good driver... I wouldn't have done it if I didn't know I could do it. Now look, there's a game on Friday. We gotta practice."