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Inside, awith dissatisfaction Who pulled the fire alar to me?

“On your way out, please send Donovan Pane in,” he instructs s into his desk I think he means to sound kind, but instead he comes off just as cold as his eyes

I rise fro My head spins as I leave the office Vann is still staring down at his boots like he hasn’t moved an inch since I left him He doesn’t even seem to breathe

“Vann,” I urative water “The … The principal wants to see you now”

Without even a glance of acknowledgement, Vann stands up and moves toward the door

I can’t stand it another second “Thank you,” I blurt out

He stops, grows still, then turns his glooether with questions, his face clouding over

I’ up for me In the cafeteria No one’s ever done that before”

“No one should have to,” he throws back coldly “Stand up for yourself next time”

I open my mouth to speak, then can’t

That … wasn’t the response I was expecting

“I was just—” My face is turning red I feel an indignant twitch inhim in trouble? “I didn’tyou for—”

“Save your thanks for someone who cares” And with that, he continues into the principal’s office, slapping the door shut on his way in, causing s to flutter off my forehead

I stare at that door, baffled

My baffleer Then it turns back into baffle Becky, leave the main office, and make gested It’s in the reflection of that boys’ roo why Vann would be so rude toHe could have easily let Hoyt feed et involved at all, if it was just going to piss him off afterwards?

I make it to fifth period pre-calculus for its last tenan open seat in the front Ms Ducasse, who seems to be aware somehow of the reason for my tardiness, doesn’t interrupt a word of her lesson as she comes up to my desk and lays a syllabus upon it, then returns to the front of the classroo As I clutch the sheet of paper, hts of Vann and how he spoke tomad about it, or sy to hiht now

I peer over atht in the cafeteria was the talk of the town before the fifth period bell rang

Then ht of someone else at the opposite end of the classroo le version of the story, too And I’m sure the worst version will make it toit; I’ll have to tell the later

On rowls To be fair, I’d only eaten one or two bites of a chicken strip before everything went down Kelsey ate more of my lunch than I did Is it too much to ask to slide into one of the other lunch periods for a do-over? And for that matter, shouldn’t the principal haveme and Hoyt schedule-wise? It’s the first day, after all, and a change would be easy Didn’t he notice Hoyt and I not only share two classes, but also the same lunch period?

I reunite with Kelsey in sixth period: yearbook It’s held in what feels like a closet, fitted with shelves of old yearbooks and four computers lined across a squatty table with four desk chairs Fittingly, there’s only four of us on the yearbook staff, the other two of whoames of Solitaire, since our yearbook advisor Ms Reyes isn’t here yet Ms ReyesOnce, her first period journalism class waited for fifteenof coffee, cockeyed glasses, and her hair a shocking mess No one ever seems to mind She’s been head of yearbook and journalism for over fifteen years