“Tomorrow will be the first day you can order your Crush soda for your special someone!” The girl announcer overacted her lines with a straight posture and tight grip on the paper on the table. “Each soda is one dollar a can. You may choose to write a message or keep it anonymous. All proceeds will go to charity.”

Everyone, the girls especially, we're already talking about who they wanted to buy a can for. Donovan's name was whispered about in the room. Probably the most annoying part was he didn't notice. Or at least he pretended not to. He'd probably break the record for getting the most soda in one day, nevermind the most soda for only being a student here for a few days.

I already knew I wasn't getting one.

“Alright!” The teacher clapped her hands together once the morning announcements were finished. “To start things off we're getting into our next unit. Geography and map reading.” The class groaned in a wave of annoyance. I was right there with them. Who used maps these days?

“Okay, settle down.” She continued, leaning over her desk for some packets which she passed down to each of the aisles. “You'll need to get into groups of four. Do your best to answer all of the questions using the links provided.”

I mentally cursed. Group work was the epitome of evil. It not only required actually communicating with my classmates but forcing my way into a pre-established group of friends who were, unfortunately, missing a fourth member. Or, in cases of odd numbers, that one unlucky group the teacher forced me into.

Before I could even get up, in preparation for making my way shamefully to the front to let her know I was without a group, someone tapped my shoulder. “Want to join me?” He asked. The day before he was smiling so much I thought his lips were going to fall off, but now he looked bored.

“Uh… sure.” Only because it made it easier joining a group that actually wanted me.

Donovan nodded. “Wow. Didn't think you'd say yes. Oh!” He waved at Kathy. “Rachel! Join us.”

Rachel?

She grinned from ear to ear and skipped over to us. “Sure, I'll join.”

“We just need one more person.”

Shit. Her name is Rachel.

“What about Henry?” Rachel pointed. “Henry, do you have a group?”

“No. Let me, partner, up!” He grabbed his bag and climbed over the desk chairs over to us. “Where should we sit?”

“By the window.” Rachel took Donovan by the hand. “You can see the city from this room.”

They made their way over to the opposite side of the classroom near the windows. I trailed slowly behind them.

“Should we split up the packet and go over it at the end?” Henry suggested, already getting his laptop out of his bag.

Donovan watched as I pulled my phone out of my dysfunctional backpack. “Do you have a laptop?”

“No.”

“Did you want to borrow mine?”

I frowned at him. “How am I going to borrow what you're using?”

“Oh, I have my own and one the school gave me. You can have the school one.” He reached into his bag for a smaller, tablet-sized laptop and set it in my desk. “Why don't you have a school-issued one?”

“Because it costs money and I can use my phone anyway.” I paused. “For most classes. With strict teachers, I just leave and study in the library.”

“Then why does Natalie have one?” Henry asked.

“Because she paid the fee on her own,” I said, typing in the first hyperlink for my set of questions.

“Who's Natalie?” Donovan asked.

“His sister,” Henry replied. “She's super hot, too.”

“She's a Junior, like us.” Rachel said. “They're twins.”

“You're a twin?”

“Yup.” I kept writing. It was usually at this point that people, despite us clearly being fraternal twins, would ask how similar we really were and if we could access our destined twin telepathy. Yet, he didn't say anything else.

About ten minutes had passed by when Henry set his pencil down and shut his laptop. “Donovan, have you seen the city?”

“No, not really.” He admitted.

“Oh!” Rachel clapped her hands together. “Let’s go to Smack Cow!”

Donovan made a face. “Smack Cow?”

“It's a frozen yogurt place,” Henry said, already pulling it up on his phone. “You can add toppings and mix flavors. It's pretty good.”

“Pretty good?” Rachel scoffed. “It's amazing! There was this one time in middle school when the milk machine explo-”

“Should we go after school, then?” Donovan asked.

Rachel bit her lip. “Uh… yeah.”

This situation right here reminded me of countless other things I'd been excluded from. Things like being one of the only people not allowed to try on reverse glasses and getting only the black jelly beans in a bag the class shared.

“Want to come along?” Donovan asked.

I shook my heads. “No thanks.”

“I still have to replace your backpack.”

“What?” Rachel ducked under her desk to look at my bag. “What happened to it?”

Donovan sighed. “It ripped apart.”

Both Henry and Rachel frowned. “How old was it?”

“A few years,” I admitted. “The bottom was already starting to unravel. It's really annoying that all my shit falls out of the bag. So, yeah, replace it.”

“I will. Is there a store near Smack Cow?”

“I'm not going to Smack Cow with you.”

“Why not?”

“I don't want to buy frozen yogurt.”

He looked unamused. “Well, I want frozen yogurt. Just come to the shop and sit there. Then we can go buy a new backpack.”

I wanted to argue with him more, but the bell rang. Not that it really mattered. He couldn't make me go to a place I didn't want to be.

The bell rang and I scooped all of my things into the bag. Replacing it on my own would be next to impossible. There wasn’t a chance in hell my father would give me any money these days and for some reason, my mother was never to be found, except for during the school day. I’d get stuck with this thing until senior year, or unless I managed to collect money from somewhere.

Like getting a job.

I shook my head of the thought. Fuck it. I'll go to Smack Cow.