Well this isn’t just totally awkward.

About five minutes into the drive, I decided to speak.

“So-”

“Just-”

“No, you go first.” Jason and I gesture towards each other at the same time. Out of the corner of my eye I notice him holding back some laughter. “No, you first.” I start laughing before attempting to speak again. “You talk first.”

“Oh my God.” Jason breaks into a fit of laughter right along with me. “Xael, you first.”

“No, you go first. I need to stop laughing.”

“Yeah, that’s why you’re going first! It’ll get you to stop laughing.”

“I promise it won’t, but okay. Did Conner leave you behind this morning?”

“Nah.” Jason flips on his turn signal and looks around for cars before turning right. “He doesn’t drive me to school. Amazingly, my truck stays intact despite everything.”

“That’s kinda lucky.”

“It’s not luck. He doesn’t want to drive me to school,” Jason explains. “Too much time near a lunatic isn’t good for your health, you know?”

“It’s a miracle that you’re as healthy as you are considering how often you’re near a lunatic.”

Jason snorts. I smile back at him, then look around and notice the lack of people out.

“No one-”

“They all got rides because they aren’t idiots who walk outside during winter wearing shorts and a hoodie.”

“Should I be insulted? That didn’t feel like an insult.”

“Well it was, now be insulted.”

“Oh no.” I press a hand to my chest and fake-gasp, keeping my voice as monotonous as possible. “You wound me with your words.”

“You’re a terrible actor.”

“I know!”

“That was an insult.”

“Was it?”

“I’m never gonna pick you up again.”

“Oh well that’s just plain-old mean.”

“You could at least pretend to be insulted.”

“Meh.”

“Now that’s mean.”

“You’ll live.”

“You were saying something before we decided to share a brain cell?”

“Oh yeah.” Jason drums his fingers on the steering wheel. “What was I gonna say?”

“I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking.”

“I’m talking to myself, but thank you for your help.”

“Bleh.” I stick my tongue out at Jason, who rolls his eyes in response.

“Are you helping Sadie today?” Jason asks. I nod, clutching my seat belt.

“I generally help out on Monday, Thursday, and Friday. On the other days I leave my schedule free in case she needs help then.”

Jason pulls into the school parking lot, nodding. “Makes sense, makes sense.”

Thank God we’re here, I was out of things to talk about.

“Do you want a ride home?”

“If it isn’t a bother, yeah.” I jump out of the truck and slam the door close. “I can walk tomorrow though-”

“Nope, you’re getting a ride. No arguments.”

“I want to walk tomorrow. It isn’t gonna be that cold!”

“Xael it’s gonna be like 20 degrees. You’re getting a ride.”

“Fine,” I groan. “I’ll just leave really early.”

“I’ll be at your house really really early.”

“I’ll leave really really really early.”

“My truck will be at your house really really really really early.”

“I’m gonna-”

“Accept the ride? Great! Have a good day of school!”

Jason runs away from me before I can protest. Piece of shit.

“Right, there’s a pre-test today.” I pull out my phone and open the Quizlet app, tapping on Chapter 9 vocab. “Might as well cram.”

Ah, good. Names. Many names. Names are hard.

“Good morning, Xael!”

“Morning, Mrs. Laney.” I wave at the teacher and then notice a new student. “Good morning.”

“Hi!” The kid springs to his feet and thrusts a hand towards me. “Crayton. Nice to meet you.”

“Xael.” I shake his hand quickly before turning back to my vocab, avoiding outstretched feet on my way to my seat.

“I wouldn’t talk to her unless you want to become an outcast.”

I sigh and glance up. One of Conner’s goons had drawn the attention of Crayton and Mrs. Laney wasn’t in the room anymore.

“What do you mean? Outcast?”

“Yeah.” Conner’s goon looks over at me and sneers before turning back to Crayton. “She’s a social reject. Doesn’t fit in anywhere. And she’s gay. It’s best to stay away.”

Where in the world did that rumor come from?

“Yeah.” Crayton nods and I shrug, returning to my vocab. This, kids, is what happens when you get your hopes up even a little bit. “It is best to stay away. I’ll see you some other time.”

A chair moves. Footsteps, followed by the chair next to me moving. I glance up and see Crayton grinning at me.

“You help out Sadie, right?” he asks quietly. My eyes widen and I nod.

“How did you know?”

“I’ve seen you around the area a few times. Didn’t you guys get kittens? They were born a few months ago, right?”

“Yeah, two litters.” My brain connects the dots between Crayton and Amanda. “You’re related to Amanda!”

“I’m her nephew, yeah. It’s nice to finally put a name to your face.”

The bell rings, interrupting my train of thought.

“It’s almost class time.”

“We have a quiz today, by the way!” Mrs. Laney exclaims. I show Crayton my phone screen quickly before turning my full attention on it.

“Do you mind if we put a pin in this conversation for a bit?”

“Go ahead! I should probably study too.”

A book drops onto my table. I flinch and continue to tap through the vocab.

When the tardy bell rings I slip my phone back into my pocket and pull out my computer.

“Please take out your computers and head to classroom,” Mrs. Laney instructs. “When you’re done with the quiz, check your score then close your laptops so I know when everyone’s done.”

It doesn’t take me that long to finish the quiz. Twenty-three terms with a drop-down menu full of the answers. Five minutes, tops.

I close my computer after only about three minutes. Missed two terms, which is about what I expected.

Crayton is the next one to close his computer, just a mere minute after I do.

“Did you know some of the terms?” he whispers. I feel his eyes on me as I pull out my notebook and textbook.

“Only missed two,” I answer. “What about you?”

“I missed six.”

I nearly slap my textbook off the table in surprise. Only six?

“Was it mainly review for you, too?”

“Yeah.” Crayton rubs the back of his neck, smiling. “I’m not that good with memorization. Names and dates get all jumbled up in my head. I’m good at math, though.”

“Good job to Xael and Crayton!” Mrs. Laney tosses a Lifesaver to both Crayton and I.

“Did she get one hundred?”

“Nerd!” someone hisses. One of the guys sitting behind me, probably Lake.

“No, but she got close.”

“I want candy too,” Lake whines quietly. “Xael.”

I sigh, looking down at the candy. It’s orange.

“You’re gonna get a fist in your face if you try to take her shit.” Crayton whips around, glaring at Lake. “Don’t fucking test me.”

Woah, temper does not match the appearance, temper doesn’t match appearance!

Avoid Crayton. If he turns on me, then I’m completely and utterly fucked.

“What flavor did you get?” Crayton turns back around and holds his candy piece out to me. “I got raspberry.”

“I got orange.”

“I love orange! Can we trade?” He claps his hands together, completely ignoring the teacher talking. “Please?”

“Sure.”

“Thank you!” Crayton grabs my candy from my hand and puts his candy in its place. “I like orange a lot better than raspberry.”

I open the Lifesaver and pop it into my mouth. Greatest candy flavor ever.

Wait, no. Second greatest. The absolute greatest is blue raspberry.

“Do you think you can show me to my classes today?” Crayton pulls out his schedule and offers it to me. “Just today. I can get around by myself tomorrow, I just need to know where everything is.”

Life hates me.

All of our classes are the same. He’s in advanced math with me- I guess he wasn’t bragging earlier when he said he was good at math.

“Sure.” I give in. “Just for today.”

I finally updated. Sorry for the wait!

Question of the chapter: thoughts on Crayton? Anything you think of him or what you think he's gonna do later on in the story.