Freaks of Greenfield High

Freaks of Greenfield High (Chapter 5)

Freaks of Greenfield High

By Maree Anderson

Chapter Five

All Tyler could think about was Jay. She was doing his head in. He stared at the lyrics he'd scrawled on his sheet music pad.

Thoughts of you glowing in my heart,

Thoughts of you shining in my soul,

Thoughts of you blazing in my mind,

Thoughts of you, burning.

Thoughts of you,

Burn.

Sheesh. It read like a sappy romance novel. He crumpled the page and tossed it at the trashcan. Then he stuck his guitar back in its case and dragged out his sketchbook. But instead of the graphics project he was supposed to be working on, he found himself sketching Jay's face.

Crap. He had it bad. Real bad.

He closed the sketchbook and grabbed his Bio textbook. And he was still lounging on his bed, pretending to study, when he heard the front door slam.

There was the usual delay while Caro grabbed a snack from the refrigerator, before Tyler heard her footsteps on the stairs. She was a stomach on legs but she never seemed to put on weight, and her freakish metabolism was the envy of her friends. He waited for her to explode through his bedroom door without so much as a knock, and stick him with some smartass comment. Like she always did.

Wait for it....

The door smacked into the wall with a sickening crunch. "Heard you puked all over the new girl in Bio. Way to go, bro!" Caro stuck her hand palm out, as if expecting to be high-fived.

"Yeah. Thanks." He ignored the gesture and changed the subject to the raw scrape decorating his sister's cheek. "Lemme guess, you tripped over your own two feet and fell on your face during practice?"

"Haha. Very funny. Ashlee clocked me with her heel. She's such a klutz. What's your excuse?" She stared pointedly at his scrapes and bruises. When he didn't rise to the bait she said, "So. Losing your breakfast in Bio. Bet that got her attention, huh?"

"Yeah. Riiight. Puking all over chicks works like a charm. They find it irresistible." He rolled onto his stomach and pretended to be absorbed in the textbook.

Caro snickered, and in a singsong voice said, "You've got it bad for her."

"Don't be daft."

"The way I heard it, she's got it bad for you, too. So bad—" big ole pause for effect "—she treated you to a striptease in the bathroom."

Unease iced Tyler's spine. He'd avoided the social minefield of the cafeteria by hiding out in the music room. Then he'd cut last period English and headed for the library. He'd hoped making himself scarce would dampen the gossip.

Obviously not.

He leveled what he hoped was a nonchalant look at his sister. "Jeezus. I loaned her my shirt so she had something clean to wear. What the hell's wrong with that? And who's doing the mouthing off?"

She gave him "Well, duh!" eyes. "The usual suspects. And you think that's bad, you should hear what else the squad are saying about you two."

Tyler gave up on the textbook and turned on his side to better observe his sister's face. "What are they saying?"

She popped the tab on her soda and chugged half the contents before slanting him a look that smacked of pity. "It's bad. Word is, you and Jay also got— How shall I put this? Intimate."