Carolina Wren

Chapter 25

Wren's POV

By the time the bell rang to send us to class, Luke had me laughing and the others seemed to be relaxing. Gabriel had his art pad out, sketching away, though he hid his work from the others. Victor was next to me on our bench, hands braced behind him, head angled towards the sun as he hummed under his breath. North and Silas were speaking quietly together in Greek while Kota and Nathan discussed a project they had been assigned in history. It was comforting in a way that I wasn't used to experiencing. The melancholy feeling around my heart from music class had released, leaving me lightheaded but grateful.

I made it through history class with no incident but the moment the bell rang after I made it into Chemistry, the entire bottle of water North had monitored me drinking during lunch hit me. Had it been any other class, I would have immediately asked to be excused but I'm next to useless at chemistry. If I miss a minute of explanation, I won't know a single thing that's going on.

Vowing to tough it out until Mrs. Watson is done lecturing, I do my best to sit perfectly still and focus on what she's saying. Twenty minutes in, I'm squirming in my seat and regretting waiting. It's clear that she's going to lecture most of class today and it's only getting harder to understand the longer we go on. I would have had better luck if I'd just gone earlier.

With ten minutes left in class, she finally lets us switch over to classwork and with a whispered, single word explanation to a snickering Silas, I waddle my way up to her desk. "Mrs. Watson, could I please go to the restroom?" I all but plead.

She eyes me up and down, a slight frown pulling down her lips. "Class is almost over, can't it wait?" She must see my eyes go wide as I shift positions again, because she huffs and says, "Fine. Take the pass and make sure you bring it back. Leave your things here, and that includes your phone."

"Thank you," I nearly cry and swing by my desk to drop my phone in my backpack.

"Do you want me to go with you, Wren?" Silas whispers.

As tempting as that is with Gus still hanging around, I point my finger at him like he's a dog and say, "No. Stay. I can't take the time to explain why I need an escort, or you'll be escorting me home to change my pants. I'll be fine." Ignoring his frown, I scurry out of the room, down the hall, and around the corner to the bathroom.

It doesn't take me long to do my business and wash my hands. I had just stepped out into the hallway when I hear low voices and pause, holding the door ajar so it doesn't make noise while it shuts. "What the fuck is with these price changes?" a male voice I don't recognize hisses out.

"Everyone's prices went up this year," a female voice I also don't know responded, trying to sound uncaring and confident but I could hear the traces of worry in her tone. I swallow hard as my adrenaline skyrockets and I tuck myself into the corner by the door, still holding it open. If this is a drug deal, I don't want to be in the middle of it, but it might be able to tell the boys something useful.

The guy's voice went up slightly in volume, "I don't give a shit what everyone else's prices are! This is way too much for the B's and C's package I'm paying for. This is bullshit, I paid you on time all of last year. You know I'm good for this."

"Keep quiet!" the girl snaps. "This is how the system works. Our costs went up, and so did yours. I don't work for free and you have harder homework and tests than last year. Not to mention a few teachers that make things more difficult. I may be able to swing you a deal if you're alright with getting C's, but this is the best I've got for this package. You won't find better prices with anyone else, either."