When To Put Trust On The Line

Part 10

The next morning, I woke up in Addie's bed, my school bag on the floor. I felt kind of hungry, though Mom had brought lots of food upstairs for me late the previous night. I got out of bed and went into my room to pick out some clothes. Adele was snuggled in my bed, hidden under the covers. I tried to quietly and quickly pick out an outfit in the dark room, while still feeling groggy from waking up. I succeeded in picking out clothes discreetly, but I wasn't sure what exactly I was carrying in my hands. I found out after my shower that I had chosen a fuzzy pink sweater and a plaid blue-green skirt. Not something that I would wear, but it looked good.

That was when I realized that they were part of Adele's collection of old clothes from her high school days. What had they been doing in my room? I knew the logical-slash-obvious answer: Adele had probably placed them there. She was always complaining about my lack of style. I decided that I liked the outfit. Even if I didn't, changing would be the last thing on my mind - though the skirt was pretty short and revealed the majority of my thighs. I wore Adele's thigh high brown boots, which were a little too big for me. After having a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast, I went out in the chilly weather and headed to school. As soon as I entered the school building, I spotted Armon and Jackson. Jackson saw me. I hurried over to them. "Hey."

Jackson nodded at me. "We heard from Kenny this mornin'."

Armon. "He was provided a lawyer and has to be in court this afternoon at one."

I frowned. "That- that was quick." Jackson nodded.

Armon. "Yeah. These people really get they shit done."

I sighed. "Hope everything goes well."

Jackson looked a little worried. "Us too." I said later to the guys and headed to my locker. *

Throughout the morning, people seemed to be whispering behind my back and staring at me. I knew they were whispering about Kenny and probably wondering if I was going to crack or randomly break down. I got a few compliments on my outfit by white girls, but mostly curious/suspicious stares from Latinas and black girls. Derrick was in my second period History class. I sat all the way in the back and he and his friends sat a few desks away. Not far away enough. I was still in shock from his violent reaction the previous day. He didn't look at me once and I was glad cause I was ignoring him too.

Once class started, our history teacher, Mr. Burchop, clapped his hands together. "Okay class. Everybody have a seat, devices away, and look up here please." People quieted down. He let a few students trickle in late before closing the door. "So, today I will be assigning your first official project." Members of the classroom groaned. It didn't affect Mr. B's smile. "In fact, it'll be your first group project." People brightened up a little bit. Right away, groups of friends started to look at each other and nod or smile knowingly. Mr. B continued. "Each group must be composed of two students or three maximum. You cannot work alone. I repeat, no working alone. So, now you don't have to ask me again."

Large groups of friends started to whisper or silently cut their crew in half or more to see who would work with whom. No one was paying attention anymore. Mr. Burchop leaned against his desk, and watched everybody, an amused look on his face. I noticed a girl a few desks away, trying to get my attention. It was Samantha. One of Pauline's friends. I spoke to her occasionally. Mostly when we did in-class assignments together. I guess we saw each other as reliable school buddies/partners. I just didn't like the fact that she talked so much. She never knew when no one was listening and when to be quiet. And what she talked about was mostly gossip. In other words, she was pretty, sometimes nice, but not my friend type. As I looked at her, her big blue-grey eyes sparkled at me as she pointed to herself and another girl named Bella, to ask, 'Wanna work together?' I nodded. Who else would I work with?