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“And that,” Mr Beckett says, leaning against the edge of his desk in third-period AP English, ankles crossed and dark eyes shining, “is the story of how Heerald became the most famous literary frenemies of the twentieth century Full disclosure, it probably won’t be that useful to you on the AP exae of hundred-year-old publishing gossip But you can keep it in your back pocket and use it to iging a whiteboard marker out of the back pocket of his dark blue khakis
“Okay,” he says, “let’s talk homework”
We let out a collective groan, and Bex—which is e all call hins the first forty pages of A Farewell to Arht
“It’ll go fast,” he proician with a deck of cards “One of the great things about Heway, and we’ll talk about the words”
“Well, that’s good,” cracks Gray Kendall, a long-legged lacrosse player who just started here back in September He’s sprawled in his chair a couple of rows behindbriefly in the apple of his cheek “Neither am I”
Eventually the bell rings for the end of the period and we all shuffle toward the door, the scrape of chair legs on linoleum and the s down the hallway
“You ready?” I ask Chloe, stopping by her desk at the front of the roolasses, her yellow-blond hair falling in soft waves to her shoulders A tiny lapel pin in the shape of a pink flao is affixed to the collar of her uniform blouse
“U over ant shoulders ray cashmere sweater
I raise , and she makes a face at me in return
“Yeah”
“Uh-huh Right” I offer her an exaggerated nod and sling o when Bex looks up
“Oh, Marin, hey,” he says with a guilty shake of his head “I ain today, if you can believe it But I’ll bring it in tomorrow for sure”
“Oh! No worries” I smile
Bex has been tellingto lend me his copy of The Corrections, which he says I’ll love, but he keeps forgetting to bring it in
“Whenever is good Honestly, it’s not like I have a ton of time to read for pleasure anyway”
“I know, I know” Bexunboxing videos to your YouTube channels, or whatever it is you people do for fun”
My hburied in AP English homework is more like it”
“Yeah, yeah,” Bex says, but he’s sot lunch duty; I’ll see you down there”