by Alexia Purdy
I leaned in closer, tilting my head to the side. “You probably aren’t the best person to be checking out my legs anyway since you have eye problems.”
Her face turned bright red. Before she could throw another insult at me, Becky was back at my side. Judging from the sour look on her face, Becky wasn’t impressed by the coffee assailant. And, despite not wanting to socialize with anyone, I actually was impressed by the infuriated girl standing in front of me.
There was no falling over herself to talk to me, no fawning, no flirting. Just those qualities alone made me want to know her. Even though I didn’t want to get close to anyone.
Yeah, I wasn’t off to such a great start.
“Is that guy looking at me?” Becky asked, her voice high and pitchy
I didn’t bother turning around. I didn’t give a damn which guy had already caught her eye. “Does it look like I care?”
“Just turn around and tell me!” she said with a pout.
There was no way I was going to turn around.
“He probably is.” The coffee assailant was the one who’d spoken.
Becky finally acknowledged the girl’s existence. “Really? You think so? How can you tell?”
“Because he’s my boyfriend and he likes to make out with girls who aren’t me.” The girl didn’t bat an eye.
Surprise flooded me. I turned around to find the guy they were talking about. He looked like the typical jock-type—tall, strong build, and dark blonde hair. She was dating him? But he was cheating on her? Was that why she didn’t like the jock-type?
Don’t get me wrong, she was a pretty girl. She just didn’t seem like the kind of girl to go for a guy like that. Not that I knew anything about her or the type of girl she was. My type had always been the easy type because, well, they were easy.
“He’s your boyfriend?” Becky asked in disbelief, echoing my thoughts on a rare occasion.
“No, I was joking. He’s not my anything.” The girl’s expression grew dark as she pursed her lips. “I’m sorry, I have to go.”
She hurried past us and I watched her walk away, unable to take my eyes off the strange girl. I could not figure her out.
“You know you have coffee on the back of your shirt?” Becky stated a matter-of-factly.
***
The Admin office was nothing more than a desk with an elderly lady stationed behind it. Beside her desk was a door that said ‘Principal’s Office’. She barely glanced up as we approached the desk and stood in front of her, waiting to be noticed.
“Excuse me?” I finally said, when I couldn’t take the waiting any longer.
She looked up at me questioningly. “Yes, what is it?”
“This is me and my sister’s first day.” I gestured between Becky and me. “We have an appointment with the principal.”
She typed something into her computer and looked back at me, her brows rising in interest. “Lincoln and Rebecca Bracks? You’re twins?”
I nodded, accustomed to this kind of reaction. Over the years, we’d encountered plenty of people who were fascinated with us because we were twins. As soon as they found out this little fact about us, you could see their brain working as they tried to find similarities in our appearances.
“I can see the resemblance,” she said, as her eyes glided between Becky and me.
Well, obviously.
“So, can we see the principal?” Becky asked with a yawn. I could tell she was already over this conversation.
The lady nodded, still eyeing us with interest. “Just go right in. The principal is waiting for you.”
Glad to get away from her probing gaze, I opened up the door to the right and we stepped into the small office.
An aging man was leaning against a large desk speaking to two girls who had their backs to us. The man straightened up as we entered and approached us in two long strides. He stuck out his hand, which Becky and I shook in turn. “Lincoln and Rebecca Bracks? The twins?”
I groaned inwardly as Becky nodded. “Yep, the twins,” she echoed dryly.
“I’m Principal Lawson and this is Askance Logan and Hadie Swinton. They’re going to be your buddies for the week.”
Both girls turned around and my stomach dropped. The girl on the left was very attractive, like she belonged on the pages of a magazine instead of in this small town high school. She had dark brown hair in curls that would’ve made her look cute if she didn’t have a sneer on her face. She was tall, slim, with eyes as blue as mine.
When her gaze fell on me, her eyes glittered. The look she was giving me made me feel like I was a piece of meat.
The other girl I recognized all too well. It was the girl who’d spilled her coffee on me only minutes ago. She’d taken off her sweater and was wearing a tan colored shirt that had a light coffee stain on it, though it wasn’t too obvious since it was only a shade darker than her shirt.
She shot me a look of pure loathing that surprised me. I wondered what her deal was. Did she hate me that much for knocking into her?
The other girl flipped her long locks over her shoulder as her eyes zoned into me. She flashed me a flirtatious grin. “Call me Kance.”
“And you can call me Becky.” The glee in my sister’s voice was evident. She had finally found the type of girl she wanted to be friends with.
This Kance girl was of no interest to me. I knew plenty of girls like her. I’d dated plenty of girls like her and they were mostly the same—obsessed with their appearance, being popular, and dating boys. They had no depth or substance to them and they made me yawn.
On the other hand, the coffee assailant was another story. It was impossible to ignore that look she was giving me, as though I’d done something to personally offend her. She was intriguing, and so was that name of hers.
“You’re Hades?” I asked, wondering who the heck would name their kid that. “Like the God of the Underworld?”
“How nice. You know basic Greek mythology,” she retorted, and then said one word that made no sense to me. “Hadassah.”
My eyebrows shot up. “You’re a hairdresser?”
Her bottom lip curled. “That’s my name. Ha-DAhs-sah. That’s where my nickname, Hadie, comes from.”
Wow. No wonder the poor girl was in such a bad mood. If my parents had named me Hadassah, I would’ve sued them.
Kance smirked at our exchange. “Hadassah is such a precious name.” It was pretty obvious that she meant otherwise. “I can’t imagine why Bennett didn’t stick around to play with you.”
Whoa. What was that all about? Who was this Bennett guy?
Ignoring Kance completely, Hadie crossed her arms and turned to Principal Lawson, her face a mask of fury. “Sir, are you sure there’s no one else who can do this?”
Principal Lawson frowned and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Hadie. You volunteered for this, and it may not be enjoyable for you, but at least it counts towards extra credit.”
Great. So the weird-named girl was doing this for extra credit. And they were talking about me like I was some annoying chore that had to be taken care of.
I cleared my throat to remind them that I was still standing here. “I don’t need anyone to babysit me. Just give me my schedule and a map and I’ll be fine.”
Principal Lawson looked like he was seriously considering my request, but he ended up shaking his head. “I’m afraid that’s not the policy of our school. We want you to feel as welcome as possible.”
“I’d be more than happy to take care of Lincoln,” Kance jumped in.
“I’m sorry, Askance, but I’ve already assigned you to Becky. Hadie is Lincoln’s buddy for the rest of the week.”
Becky seemed thrilled by this. “Trust me, Link is a total bore. We’ll have way more fun together, Kance.”
Kance gave Becky a look as though she highly doubted this, but plastered a fake smile on her face. “Sure, we will.”
Hadie turned to me in surprise. “You named yourself after a boy who dresses in green and rescue
s princesses?”
I gave her a non-committal shrug which seemed to infuriate her even more, because she physically turned away from me as though she couldn’t stand to look at me.
Principal Lawson sighed and began heading out of his office, motioning for all of us to follow him. What I couldn’t understand was why the heck he’d assigned Hadie to look after me. The girl was anything but welcoming.
This was going to be the hardest week of my life.
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