“Took you long enough,” Connor laughed.
I brushed off his comment and worked on my hamburger wrapper, barely managing to unwrap it before they jumped in on my living situation. They all knew my dad was a drunk, so they weren't surprised that I'd moved out—they were just surprised by where I'd ended up.
“I can't believe you used to be friends with Lilah Calloway,” Connor blurted out after taking a massive bite of his burger. “She’s in my second period and she scares the hell out of me.”
Kimberly spoke up before I could. “She's actually really nice. We used to be on dance team together.”
Connor had moved to our town at the beginning of junior year, so he’d never known the pre-loner version of Lilah. Even the kids who’d grown up with her hardly remembered that version of her, which is why I was surprised Kimberly was sticking up for her.
“Well, I think she’s hotter now than she was before. She looks like a sexy vampire or something,” Brian added.
I threw my burger wrapper at his head.
“You’re full of shit.”
“I said a SEXY vampire!” he clarified, holding his hands up in surrender and looking to Connor for backup. None came.
I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering how many other guys at school had a thing for Lilah. Trent sure as hell did.
“Kim, do you know if Lilah and Trent are dating?” I asked, picking up a handful of fries.
Connor perked up like a dog begging for a bone. “Does the almighty Chase Matthews want to be an Edward to her Bella?”
I ignored him and glanced toward Kimberly.
She was fidgeting with something in her purse. “Oh, I’m not sure. Didn’t she just move back to town?”
“Yeah, on Saturday.”
She zipped up her purse with a forceful tug. “I can ask around if you want?”
I shrugged, trying to think of a good excuse for why I’d care about Lilah’s love life. “Yeah, I just hate that kid, so if he's going to be hanging around her house, I’d like to know.”
She nodded, still not meeting my eyes, and I wondered if I’d made a mistake. Kimberly and I had dated off and on the year before, but we'd been friends—just friends—for a while. Asking her for help with Lilah probably wasn’t the smartest move, but I needed to know.
…
AP Physics was my last class before baseball practice and the teacher, Mr. Jenkins, had a way of making the forty-five minute period stretch on for what felt like hours. I walked into the classroom and arced my empty water bottle into the recycling bin near his desk. It landed smoothly inside the bin, but Mr. Jenkins still glared at me over the top of his 80s-style reading glasses and pointed his finger at my desk.
“Find your seat, Mr. Matthews.”
Apparently he hadn’t found a personality over winter break, which meant the last semester of his class would be just as unbearable as the first.
I turned to join Connor at our table and then froze when I saw Lilah standing in the back of the room with her arms crossed and her eyes pinned on me. I hadn’t seen her all day, not in the morning assembly or in the hallways between classes. I smiled. She’d avoided me all day, but apparently she and I would be in the same sixth period for the next few months.
Our physics class was set up so that everyone worked in pairs. Each pair shared a small black table, which explained why Lilah was standing by herself: she didn’t have an assigned seat yet. I dropped my backpack on my chair and then glanced around the room. Mr. Jenkins had paired us up the semester before, so unless someone had dropped the course, Lilah would have to work alone or join a team of two.
“Edward, stop staring and sit,” Connor said.
I ignored him and headed back toward Mr. Jenkins’ desk. He pretended not to notice me at first, but I cleared my throat, and finally his gray hair tilted back and his annoyed stare met mine.
“How was your winter break, Mr. Jenkins?” I asked with a smile.
He narrowed his eyes. “Go back to your seat, Mr. Matthews.”
“Actually, I wanted to ask you if Lilah Calloway could join Connor and me at our table? Since there’s an odd number and all.”
Connor groaned and a few students laughed. I kept my focus on Mr. Jenkins as he leaned to the side to look at Lilah standing in the back of the class. It looked like he’d only just realized she was back there. He studied her and then glanced back at me, trying to work out my angle.
I widened my smile and shrugged.
“Lilah, pull a chair up to their table,” he said, returning his attention to the work on his desk. “You’ll work with Chase and Connor this semester.”
“Uh, actually, I can just work alone,” she protested with a calm, firm voice.
Mr. Jenkins sighed and shook his head. “No. We work in pairs in this class, or in your case, a trio.”
“But I was in AP Physics at my old school. I’m sure I can manage on my own.”
He closed his eyes, pulled the glasses from his face, and massaged the skin beside the bridge of his nose. “Please, just do as I ask.”