In Lakewood, a small town with a reputation of crime, gangs, outcasts and violence, Lana Takumi is an orphan and a gang member disguised in ripped jeans of her late mother and old flannels of her late father. She feels stuck in an endless cycle of b...
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L A N A
"IS HE ACTUALLY TAKING... notes?"
I glanced to my left where Carmen was seated next to me, eyebrows raised at Everett who sat on the front row by the window, taking notes as if the analysis of the poem the English teacher was making us sleep through, was actually going to be valuable to him throughout his entire life.
"Lana, maybe you should do that too if you want to get into college next year," she added, shoving her hands in the pockets of her green military pants and leaning back in her seat.
Yawning, I leaned down and rested my face on my notebook which caused Carmen to grin before she went back to texting on her phone again. English Lit and history weren't subjects I particularly enjoyed. Those subjects didn't always have a straight answer. There was more to it. More to write, more to wonder, and more to reflect on. I was more of a math and science girl. That area had one straight answer and there was a guide, usually a formula to solve the problems. You either got right or wrong. No between.
Suddenly, the slightly cranky but all too familiar voice of Miss Judy caused us both to jerk our heads up. "Carmen, you didn't send in your essay yesterday."
"You didn't finish grading my last essay yesterday."
Her brows furrowed. "I have many tests to grade."
"I have a lot of essays to send in."
She rolled her eyes. "Stop looking at memes at 3 AM."
"Stop reading historical romances at 3 AM," she retorted, lips forming a smirk as Miss Jude's pale-skinned and freckled face flared bright red and she blew an exasperated sigh before stalking back to her desk in her tight pencil skirt and her curly red hair pulled into a bun that made her seem two heads taller than her normal petite frame. Meanwhile, everyone laughed in their seats and I even caught Everett turned around to us, cackling as Miss Judy stormed past him towards the blackboard.
I looked at Carmen who grinned at me and I failed to hold back a small, amused smile.
After the bell rang and the students hurried out of the classroom causing total chaos outside in the hallway, Carmen and I lazily shoved our things in our backpacks. Moving from one classroom to another was the biggest downside of every school day apart from the horrific fact that nobody really thought about that we all showed up at school at 8:15 and left 14:15 and nobody seemed to wonder what the actual hell just happened.
"Hey." My head jerked up and I was met with a pair of soft brown eyes looking into my own. Everett wore dark blue jeans and a turquoise colored hoodie. His chocolate brown hair was patted down while the same chunk hung slightly over his eye right eye. He looked like a tall middle schooler with his hands clutching his backpack straps.
