Queen of the track

II

Chapter 2.

Raven

When I stroll into my first-period, American Literature, the late bell rings, but the teacher barely even glances up from his seat at his desk. I take my regular seat near the back of the class as he starts to take roll.

"Where were you guys this morning?" A voice to my right asks me. I look over at Rissa, who's literally sitting on the edge of her seat to know about mine and AJ's absence. I quietly recite the morning's events, watching as her smokey, made-up eyes widen and narrow at the correct moments before she slumps back into her seat, satisfied with the information.

"What a jackass." She whispers once I've finished and Mr Graham stands to begin the lesson.

"Who?" I ask with a hint of a smirk. "Myers, the new kid, or my brother?"

"All three."

"Ms Mitchell." The sound of my name makes me look to the front of the class where Mr Graham stands looking extremely impatient. "Perhaps you could answer my question, if you even heard it. Or would you like Ms Jones to whisper it in your ear?"

A few people in the class inhale a sharp breath at his bluntness towards me, others whisper excitedly. I keep my face neutral as I watch Mr Graham slowly become smug, despite the glare I feel my eyes twitching to make.

"No need, sir." I say to him before answering his question he didn't think I had heard.

This time, Rissa is the one to snigger and look smug as Mr Graham narrows his eyes at my correct answer. If he wants to comment about me being a smart ass, he doesn't, and instead clicks onto the next screen on the smart board and continues on with the class.

"So, what do you think of that new kid?" Rissa asks me when we walk out of our English room and down the hallway to our next class.

"Well, he almost got pummelled to death by AJ, but he handled it pretty well," I say. "So he's either a complete idiot or he's used to getting into fights."

"I hope it's the latter, that'll definitely make him look hotter."

"You think he's hot?" I shake my head at her. "You don't even like guys."

Rissa laughs, turning her head to face me and causing some of her pink braids to fall over her shoulders. "So what?" She shrugs, "I can still appreciate a guy's looks. Are you trying to tell me you don't look at some girls and think they're hot?"

I shrug, admitting defeat. "Yeah, that's true."

"Hey, chicas."

Rissa and I turn our heads and smile when Connor steps into line beside me, just in time for us to walk into our AP Calculus classroom. Clearly he's just had Spanish class, but I'm pretty sure 'chicas' is one of the few words he actually knows, despite studying the language for the past eight years. Connor turns to me and raises an eyebrow quizzically as we head for our seats.

"So, I heard that this morning, AJ punched a hole in a locker and you had to give CPR to the new kid when he collapsed to the floor out of shock."

I blink at him and turn to face ahead of me. "I really fucking hate this school."

Rissa laughs from the seat behind me and fills Connor in on the actual events that took place, and when she's finished, he shakes his head in disappointment. "Man, this school seriously lacks in it's gossip department."

"Tell me about it," Rissa scoffs. "This one time, I heard that you and AJ are actually CIA lab rats who only joined the school to find a Russian spy."

"Hey, that sounds more believable than that alien theory from seventh-grade." I defend, the three of us laughing.