“Late pass, Mr. Addison,” says Mr. Wise. And maybe it’s just Leah getting into my head, but I can’t help but think it’s unfair that Abby didn’t have to get one.
Martin stretches his arms up against the frame of the doorway like he’s hanging from monkey bars, and the top of his uniform rides up even higher. Some of the girls giggle a little bit, and Martin grins and blushes. I swear to God, that kid will whore himself out completely for a cheap laugh. But I guess he’s kind of a genius for that, because I’ve never met a nerd so beloved by the popular kids. I mean, I’m not going to lie. They kind of live to tease him. But there’s no bite to it. It’s like he’s their mascot.
“Any day, Mr. Addison,” says Mr. Wise.
He tugs his top down, pushes his boobs back into position, and walks out of the room.
On Friday, the math and science hallway is covered in hay. It’s probably three inches thick under my feet, and a few strands of it jut out stiffly from the slats of my locker. Dust seems to rise off the ground, and even the light looks different.
The theme this year is music, and out of every genre in the world, the junior class picked country. Only in Georgia. Which is why I’m wearing a bandana and a cowboy hat. School freaking spirit.
Okay. So, homecoming sucks and country music is just embarrassing, but I’m in love with the hay. Even though it means Anna and Taylor Metternich and all the other asthmatics will have to skip science and math today. It just transforms everything. The hallway looks like another universe.
When I get to lunch, I seriously almost lose my shit. It’s the freshmen. They’re adorable and ridiculous, and oh my God. I can’t stop laughing at them. Their genre is emo, and it’s basically a sea of bangs and wristbands and tears. I begged Nora last night to show up in a black wig, eyeliner, and for the love of God, at least a My Chemical Romance shirt. She basically looked at me like I had suggested she show up naked.
I catch a glimpse of her now across the cafeteria, and her curly blond hair is really the opposite of emo. But it looks like she talked herself into the raccoon eyeliner, probably once she saw everyone else doing it. She’s a perfect chameleon.
It’s hard to believe this is the same person who once insisted on dressing up as a trash can.
Martin’s at the table right next to ours, and he’s wearing overalls. Seriously, he owns overalls. He tries to catch my eye, but I look away abruptly. Avoiding Martin is like a reflex for me at this point.
I take a seat between Leah and Garrett, who carry on arguing right over me.
“Who the hell is that?” asks Leah.
“You seriously haven’t heard of Jason Aldean?” says Garrett.
“I seriously haven’t.”
Garrett slaps his hands down on the table. So I slap my hands down to imitate him, and he shoots me a self-conscious smile.
“Hey,” says Nick, settling into the seat across from me and opening his lunch bag. “So, I have a thought,” he says. “I think we should go to the game tonight.”
“You’re kidding me,” says Leah.
Nick looks at her.
“What about WaHo?” she says. We always hang out at Waffle House during football games.
“What about it?” asks Nick.
Leah’s head is tilted down, so her eyes look kind of scary, and her lips are sucked into a straight line. Everyone is quiet for a moment.
And maybe my timing sucks here, but I guess I’m not really thinking about Leah.
“I’ll go to the game,” I say. Because I’m pretty sure Blue will be at the game. I like the idea of sitting in the same bleachers as Blue.
“Seriously?” Leah says. I feel her eyes on me, though I make a point to look straight ahead. “Et tu, Brute?”
“Holy overreaction, Batman—” Nick starts to say.
“You shut up.” Leah cuts him off.
Garrett laughs nervously.
“Did I miss something?” Abby arrives to find us caught in this thick, weird silence. She sits down next to Nick. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine.” Nick glances at her, and his cheeks look sort of pink.
“Okay,” she says, and grins. Abby isn’t wearing a cowboy hat. She’s wearing a full-on stack of cowboy hats. “So, are you guys psyched for the game tonight?”
Leah stands abruptly, pushes her chair in, and leaves without a word.
The game starts at seven, but there’s a parade at six. I walk over to Nick’s house after school, and we drive back to school together.
“So, we’re on Leah’s shit list,” I say as we turn onto the road leading to Creekwood. Already, cars are parallel parked on the street, which has to mean the parking lot is full. I guess a lot of people like football.
“She’ll get over it,” he says. “Is that a space?”
“No, it’s a hydrant.”
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Becky Albertalli's books
- Grounded (Up In The Air #3)
- In Flight (Up In The Air #1)
- Mile High (Up In The Air #2)
- THE BRONZE HORSEMAN
- The Summer Garden
- Bait: The Wake Series, Book One
- Into the Aether_Part One
- The Will
- Reparation (The Kane Trilogy Book 3)
- The Rosie Project
- The Shoemaker's Wife
- TMiracles and Massacres: True and Untold Stories of the Making of America
- The Death of Chaos
- The Paper Magician
- Bad Apple - the Baddest Chick
- The Meridians
- Lord John and the Hand of Devils
- The White Order
- Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade
- The Ripper's Wife
- The Wizardry Consulted
- The Boys in the Boat
- Killing Patton The Strange Death of World War II's Most Audacious General
- It Starts With Food: Discover the Whole30 and Change Your Life in Unexpected Ways
- The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry
- The Pecan Man
- The Orphan Master's Son
- The Light Between Oceans
- The Edge of the World
- All the Light We Cannot See- A Novel
- Daisies in the Canyon
- STEPBROTHER BILLIONAIRE
- The Bone Clocks: A Novel
- The Magician’s Land
- The Broken Eye
- The High Druid's Blade
- The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher
- All the Bright Places
- The Other Language
- The Secret Servant
- The Escape (John Puller Series)
- The Atopia Chronicles (Atopia series)
- The Warded Man
- Return of the Crimson Guard
- The Line
- The Source (Witching Savannah, Book 2)
- Return of the Crimson Guard
- The Fellowship of the Ring
- The Last Town (The Wayward Pines Trilogy 3)
- The Man In The High Castle
- The Fiery Cross
- The Merchant of Dreams: book#2 (Night's Masque)
- The Prince of Lies: Night's Masque - Book 3
- The Alchemist of Souls: Night's Masque, Volume 1
- The Space Between
- An Echo in the Bone
- A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows
- The Killing Moon (Dreamblood)
- The Crush
- IMMUNE(Book Two of The Rho Agenda)
- The Last Threshold
- The Second Ship
- The Rift
- Homeland (Book 1 of the Dark Elf trilogy)
- Exile (Book 2 of the Dark Elf trilogy)
- The Winter Sea
- The Girl on the Train
- The Escape
- The Forgotten
- The Burning Room
- The Golden Lily: A Bloodlines Novel
- The Whites: A Novel
- Be Careful What You Wish For: The Clifton Chronicles 4
- Clifton Chronicles 02 - The Sins of the Father
- Mightier Than the Sword
- The City of Fallen Angels (Mortal Instruments 4)
- The Blood of Olympus
- The Shadow Throne
- The Kiss of Deception
- Ruin and Rising (The Grisha Trilogy)
- The Nightingale
- The Darkest Part of the Forest
- The Buried Giant
- Fairest: The Lunar Chronicles: Levana's Story
- The Assassin and the Desert
- The Assassin and the Pirate Lord
- To All the Boys I've Loved Before
- The Deal
- The Conspiracy of Us
- The Glass Arrow
- The Orphan Queen
- The Winner's Crime
- The First Bad Man
- The Return
- Inside the O'Briens
- Demon Cycle 04 - The Skull Throne
- The Raven
- The Secret Wisdom of the Earth
- Rusty Nailed (The Cocktail Series)
- The Lies of Locke Lamora