Chapter Three—Cupcake

Lunch had been better than I’d expected. Rich kids got good food apparently. I didn’t see a single girl grab anything other than a salad, but I went for the massive burger that I almost drooled at. I got a side of fries, a soda and then went to find a seat.

The room was bigger than it needed to be, and it left a lot of open spaces. I easily found an empty table and sat myself down. I set my backpack on the table and dug my phone out of my shirt pocket. I fired up a game I had on my tablet too and started in on trying to knock out a bunny trying to steal my carrots.

I picked at my fries so that I could keep playing my game; it was a priority since the bunny decided to make this personal. The smile was what killed me.

When I ran out of lives I was forced to eat the rest of my lunch without the game. Thankfully I had a book that I borrowed from Patton—'The Screwtape Letters.' The bell rang and I was only five pages in.

My next class was Government and I was… ecstatic to get to it. At least it was right next to my locker. I walked into the class to find that the seats were all taken. All but one.

No way. No way am I sitting next to him.

“Posey Dae?” I heard a man speak and I looked to the voice. “I’m Mr. Mars.”

“Hi,” I said robotically.

“Class is about to begin. Can you take your seat? I’ll talk to you after I address the class.”

So that was it. I was just screwed. I started walking, keeping my head down as I scooted into the double desk that I was now sharing with Nickolas. I sure hope he had enough self-preservation to keep his mouth shut.

I set my backpack down on the table and pulled a notebook and a pen out. I opened it and readied myself to take notes and pretend to listen to this guy.

“Everyone settled?” he asked after the bell rang. There was a mumbled yes and then he went on. “Posey,” he said my name with a smile, and I shrank into my seat. Nickolas looked over at me but I stayed quiet. “Would you like to stand up and tell us a little about yourself?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I’m all good.”

“Oh, come on. Can you say a little something?”

“You wouldn’t like what I have to say. So how about I just keep my mouth shut?”

From behind me I heard, “I have something you can do with your mouth.”

I turned slowly to see who said it. The class was half laughing and half groaning. Split down the middle by gender.

“Really, Gary?” the teacher sighed as if this wasn’t new. “Can’t you be nice to the new kid for the day?”

He smiled at me. “I can be very nice to her for a day.”

I rolled my eyes and turned back around. I really miss pants. At least in my normal clothes I can give the illusion that I didn’t have a pin up body.

“That’s enough,” Mars said. “Posey, please tell us a few things about yourself.”

I scooted the chair back to stand and the sound of the metal scraping the tile was loud. I stood and put my hands on the table. “Okay. My name is Posey, as you know.” One fun fact down. “And I hate this school. I think it’s stupid that your mascot is a fucking pinecone. Is that supposed to rally the lemmings? A pinecone?”

“You can sit down,” the teacher said, clearly regretting his decision.

“Are you sure?” I smiled. “I’ve got loads of stuff I’m sure you guys would love to hear about. I’ve already spent the whole morning hearing what people think brought me here. Since I guess being rich doesn’t buy you a personality or a life that can fulfill you enough to not gossip about the shiny new toy.”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” was all he said.

I curtsied and took my damn seat.

I didn’t know Nickolas was leaning in to me until I heard him at my ear. “Quite the show. I didn’t peg you for someone who so desperately needs attention. I take it you’re your parents’ only child.”

I glared at him and I knew there was nothing but pain and hate in my eyes. “I’m no one’s child.”

I started listening to the teacher go on about something I didn’t actually listen to. Instead, I doodled on my notebook. I think it was a chicken or something. I gave him a cape and a logo on his chest. So at least he had a job.

After Super Chicken was done, all I did was tap on the paper in front of me. It was to the song Mona had been singing this morning. One line and she cursed me with an earworm.

A folder was dropped on my table and I looked up at the thing. It was bulging with papers. Then I heard Mr. Mars say, “I’ll give you a couple weeks to catch up. Wouldn’t want to fall behind.”

I picked up the file and started going through it. “So, I have two weeks to catch up on three weeks of work?”

He shrugged. “You’ll do fine.” He left me and I muttered some very unladylike words under my breath.

Nickolas decided he wanted to die. “You kiss your mother with that mouth?”

I didn’t answer.

The bell rang and I shoved all of my things in my backpack and left for my next class. I was a teacher’s assistant and I was wondering just what that meant.

“Oh, my god,” a dramatic and familiar voice said to me as I walked in. Mona skipped over from a long table at the side of the room. She took my hands. “You’re in this class? That means I get to boss you around. Maybe hit you with a ruler.”

“Doubtful.” I smiled. “I’m the TA. I’ll be separated from you guys.”

Her eyes lit up. “I’m a TA too! Come.” She dragged me over to the teacher’s desk and we stood in front of the woman that was sitting there, clearly nursing a hangover. “Mrs. Logan, this is Posey.”

She looked up at me and smiled through her pain before tossing her classes on the desk. Her short grey hair was a mess and her eyes were bloodshot. “Fabulous. How about you spend the class catching her up on gossip while I put a movie on?”

“Cool.” Mona sat me at her table and crossed her long legs. She was facing me and her hands rested gingerly on her lap. “Now that we’re dating.” I smiled and shook my head as she talked, “I should probably tell you a little about myself.”

The teacher forced herself to the DVD player on her file cabinet. I think she was putting on 'Raiders of the Lost Ark.' Good choice.

“Go for it,” I told Mona.

She tapped on her knee. “The basics. I’m a senior. Born and raised in this town. Mommy and Daddy spend all day making lots of money, so I’m pretty much on my own. My brothers are all older than me and they’ve long since moved out. I spend my days playing video games and wishing I were anywhere but here. And I got early acceptance to Stanford.”

“That is very impressive,” I said sincerely. “Wouldn’t have thought you were the brainy type. No offense.”

“None taken.” She waved her hand. “I know I’m a big ol’ balla goofy. But I wanna be something when I grow up. So it was either college or become a trophy wife. What about you? What are you doing after high school?”

I hated that question because I was terrified of it. I wasn’t worried before. I thought I was getting adopted and I was sure that even if I wasn’t, they wouldn’t kick me out until I could live on my own. But the Thunes were kind people. They might give me a few months before I was screwed.

“Well, I don’t have money for school, so not that. If the family I’m with doesn’t want me then I might be able to get into a transitional home until I can make enough to move out on my own.”

Her bright eyes turned miserable. “Is there a chance you could just get kicked out with nowhere to go?”

I nodded. “Maybe.”

She shook her head like she couldn’t believe it. “That’s horrible. Who came up with that?”

“The government.”

She looked pissed on my behalf. “Well, I’m not leaving for Cali ‘til the beginning of August. And my parents wouldn’t notice or care if I had a stowaway in the house, so I’d let you stay with me. When I move, you can come and live in my closet. Your rent will be paid in the form of cooking or sexual favors.” She punctuated her statement with a stunning smile.

I smiled back politely. “You don’t know me at all.”

“Don’t care.” She waved her hand. “You got a bunk hand in life and I kind of hit the jackpot. I find the lottery that life is, unfair. And I don’t think I need to know much more about you to trust you. I’m good with people. Plus, we have the rest of the year to get to know each other.”

I didn’t know what to do with the kindness I wasn’t used to. First it was the Thunes and now Mona. It was almost unsettling, the hot and cold I’d been getting from life.

“Thank you,” was what I settled on.

We watched the movie with the rest of the class and made our own commentary to go with it. It was actually pretty fun. I hadn’t had a friend since I was eleven and just after I got her, I was shipped off to a new home. I felt myself being tentative with her. Things like this didn’t just work out for me. I didn’t meet people that wanted to keep me.

My last class of the day was proof that public school kids had it easy. It was literally a class on gardening. The green house was on the far side of the school just past the football field.

I walked into the full house and cringed. Really? I had three classes with him? Did God hate me?

I stood just about at the door so that I could avoid him. I didn’t think he’d offer conversation but I didn’t want to risk it. He didn’t even look at me.

“I’m not late!” a short, round woman yelled as she ran inside the second the bell rang out. “I’M HERE!” She stood in the middle of the room and clasped her hands together. Then she looked at me. “New girl?”

I inhaled deeply before speaking. “Some call me Posey.”

She lit up. “Oh! A flower. Wonderful.”

The class laughed. Awesome.

She started going over what we were starting up next week. It was some find of tree thing she wanted us to do. I was only half paying attention. The rest of the day went by too quick to notice and before I knew it, I was in bed.

***

Friday. That meant that soon I would have two days to not be in school and I can be uncomfortable here instead of there. I dressed and rushed out before I could even get anything to eat.

I got to the bike rack and only had one guy heckling me this time. Truly, I was honored. Then I listened to what they were saying.

Oh no…

I looked up and took in what everyone around me wore. I saw jeans and t-shirts, hoodies and hats. Why the hell was everyone wearing normal clothes?

I hurried down to the gym, avoiding eye contact with the snickering people. The first thing I did was change into my gym clothes, that way I was at least dressed like everyone else. The second thing I did was find the coach.

She was in her office, yelling at a game on her phone. I knocked and when she looked up I said, “Um, so is there a reason no one was in their uniform today?”

She looked confused. “Casual Friday. Did no one tell you?”

I shook my head. “Nope.”

She stood up and patted my back on the way out. “Good luck, honey.”

I tried not thinking about the rest of the day as I met up with the class outside. It was freezing but no one seemed to care too much. We all walked out to the freaking tennis court cuz we had one of those apparently. She stopped and turned to us.

“Everyone pick a partner and go to a court. Play until I say stop,” she told us before pointing to the rackets and balls.

No way was I able to just go and pick a partner, so I grabbed a racket and a ball before going to the little court in the corner. From there, I could see the big open field full of those stupid pinecone trees. The ones that left needles and open cones all over this place.

I dropped the ball on the ground and started dribbling it with the racket as I heard all the kids that were friends go to their teams. I kept playing with the tennis ball.

Something tapped me lightly on my hip. “Looks like we’re partners, fella.”

Fuck no. I started up at Nickolas as he walked to his side of the court. “No we’re not.”

He smiled and pointed to the rest of the class with his racket. “With you, the class is even. Everyone else is partnered up. So I suggest you suck it up for an hour and play.”

“Have you always been a dick, or is that something that developed?”

Still grinning, he said, “It developed. I hear I was a nice kid.”

Sure. “I bet Mommy and Daddy Dearest are so proud of you.”

The smile faded. “Serve.”

Fine then. I dropped the ball and hit it over to him. He hit it back without effort, and we went on for a few minutes like that. Then he hit the ball hard enough to make it soar over my head, and fall into the out of bounds area.

“Well,” he said, lifting his eyebrows. “Go get it.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You hit it. You can go get it.”

“You missed. I think it’s your job to fetch.”

It took a few more minutes of bickering before I gave up and went to go get the ball. I was about to hit it over when I saw in the distance and army of approaching cheerleaders. Leading them was Mona in full pinecone, doing cartwheels. I think I was in love.

“Are you done staring?” Nickolas said with hostility. “I sure would like to get back to this game I’m kicking your ass in.”

My eyebrow went up. “Oh, you think you’re winning?”

“I’m the only one with a point.”

I’ll show you a point, you son of a bitch. I threw the ball up, and hit it with everything in me. It went right past him and stuck into the chain link fence that divided this area from the field.

Mona cartwheeled over and I walked past Nickolas to get to her. She pulled her head off and dropped it before putting her hands on the fence. “POSE! SAVE ME!”

I laughed. “The cheerleaders getting you down? That’s kinda the opposite of what they’re supposed to do.”

A groan from behind me. “We have things to do, New Girl.”

“Fuck off, Nick,” Mona said with a grin. “I’m talking to my lady here.”

“She’s not your lady right now, she’s my partner. So bugger off.”

She rolled her eyes and ignored him. “Are you coming to the game next weekend? I’m the start of the show and I would love you screaming for me in the stands.”

“Posey,” Nickolas said my name for the first time, and with annoyance and frustration. “Get your ass over here. I’m got getting detention because you wanna chat. I have stuff to do after school.”

I turned and smiled at him. “Oh, is the Third Reich missing you?”

“Ha,” he said. “No, I’ve got a guy for that.” He approached the fence and leaned sideways on it, making sure to face me. “Do you just like annoying me?”

“Yeah. I really do.”

“Anywho,” Mona sang. “Are you coming?”

I shook my head. “I’m sure you’re amazing to watch perform, but you’re the only person here that I like. Sitting in bleachers for two hours all alone sounds like torture.”

She shrugged. “Yeah it would be. Maybe we can have a sleepover instead.”

“I can’t tell if you’re kidding or not.”

She winked and Nickolas tapped me again. “She’s not.”

Mona nodded at me. “You ever been with an island chick? You’ll never be the same.”

I put my hand on my hip. “I don’t know if it counts if you weren’t actually raised on the island.”

She licked her lips and I laughed at her. “It does.”

I shrugged. “Sorry, pinecones don’t do it for me.”

“DAMMIT!” she shouted to the heavens. “Thwarted again by this costume. Nick, make her do stuff to me.”

“You think I have the power to make someone switch teams?” he asked, scratching his head with the racket.

“Maybe. Aren’t you supposed to be hot or something? I can’t tell. Dudes might as well be trees to me.”

I clicked my tongue. “Well, you’re a pinecone… that should do it for you.”

She looked like she was trying not to smile. “Touché. Straight to the heart with you, huh, baby?”

Nickolas scoffed. “Try a little harder to get into her pants why don’t you.”

She smiled. “I’m no quitter. Her and I are gonna make beautiful caramel colored babies together. Science can catch up. Or we can adopt.” The smile drained from her like she was shot. “I’m sorry,” she directed her sorrow at me. “Was that an insensitive thing to say?”

Nickolas looked confused, but I tried not to pay attention. “No,” I promised. “It’s fine. I have no right to be bitter.”

Her head tilted. “I’d adopt you if I could.”

“I bet you’d be a great mom.”

The smile trickled back. “I would be. I would let you stay up late and eat junk food.”

“MONA!” the coach shouted. “STOP DISTRACTING MY STUDENTS!”

She looked at Glover and stuck her tongue out. “As mascot, it’s my job to bring joy to the population!”

“GO AWAY!”

Her nose wrinkled. “Until next time, babe.” She turned sharply to Nickolas. “Be nice to my girlfriend or I’ll kick you in the junk.” She picked her head up and stormed off.

I pulled the tennis ball from the fence and started walking back to my spot.

“Orphan?” Nickolas asked.

I got to my side and faced him. “Yup.” I lobed the ball over.

He hit it. “Why?”

Why do you care? “Why do you think?”

“They dead?”

I but my lip as I hit the ball. “I wouldn’t know. Can we stop talking about this now? I’d rather the school keep up that rumor that I’m a porn star that needed to get out of the business. Better than an unwanted foster kid.”

We hit the ball for another ten minutes before class ended. Somehow, we ended up walking back almost together. We didn’t talk, but we were within five feet of each other. I fixed that when I left to change.

The best I could do with my uniform, was to take the tie off and unbutton the top a little. My hair went up in a ponytail and I left for my next class.

Because I had no luck, I ran into Nickolas again. He walked out of the locker room, and he looked at me to laugh. “Aww, you just keep on losing, don’t you, Cupcake?”