“Wait, seriously?” Renee let out a short laugh, which turned into an embarrassing snort. “Their names are Macey, Lacey, and Casey? Well that explains everything, doesn’t it?”
Suddenly, the name Renee didn’t seem so bad.
Mrs. Haskins, the English literature teacher, was positively ancient, but forgiving of the girls for being late, just this once. The class had been divided into groups who were working on presentations. Since Renee was new, she was allowed to join Autumn’s group, whose presentation was on drawing parallels between the works of Shakespeare and modern comic books. Autumn introduced her to the other two in the group, Kate and Josh. Kate was a pretty girl, with deep red hair and a smattering of freckles across her cheeks and nose, but she seemed to hide her beauty behind a pair of thick-rimmed glasses. Josh was a pale boy with blonde hair, who wore a military surplus jacket that was much too large for his skinny frame. From their body language, it was clear that he and Autumn were a couple. Both Kate and Josh seemed just as friendly as Autumn, and everyone wanted to see Renee’s schedule.
“We’ve got the next two classes together, and you have the same lunch as us,” Kate pointed out.
“And I’m in your study period and art class,” Autumn added.
Josh was in her physics class, meaning that the only class without one of her newfound friends was, unfortunately, physical education. If ever there was a class where being the new kid with no ally sucked the most, it was gym. By the sympathetic smile that Kate gave her at the end of math class, Renee realized that she wasn’t the only one who knew this to be true.
“We usually go downtown for lunch. You are more than welcome to come with us,” Kate informed her with a friendly smile before they parted ways.
“Sure. Thanks,” Renee said and smiled back, pleased to have found a group of likeable friends on her first day of school.
Though as soon as she entered the gymnasium, her smile faded. Macey, Lacey, and Casey were all in her gym class. They were standing in the middle of the gym, wearing very short shorts and tank tops that didn’t quite cover their stomachs. Renee had to wonder if Waterside had any dress code at all. Not that she would have dressed in such skimpy clothing. But if they could get away with dressing like that, she was sure she could get away with dying her hair.
Fortunately, the teacher blew a whistle for everyone’s attention before the girls noticed Renee. Unfortunately, the teacher made sure everyone noticed her.
“All right class, listen up,” he said, clamping one brutishly strong hand down on Renee’s shoulder. “We have a new student with us today and you all know what that means.”
The students’ expressions ranged from sympathetic to curious. From the vicious smiles that all three of the mean girls wore, Renee wasn’t sure she wanted to know what the teacher meant. The rest of the class was sent to run laps around the gym while the teacher led Renee to the center.
“Nothing to worry about,” he said with what was supposed to be a reassuring smile. “We’re just going to run a couple of trials and see what group you’ll be placed in.”
It probably wasn’t anything to be worried about, but for Renee, the experience was as embarrassing as the classic nightmare of giving a speech and forgetting to wear pants. The teacher set a minute on his stopwatch and told her to do as many sit-ups as she could. After that, it was squats, then pushups, then toe touches, and then lunges. Every time the whistle blew, the other kids would slow down and gawk at her progress. By the time she was sent to the dreaded climbing rope, the class had given up all pretense of rule following and stopped to watch her make a fool out of herself.
The whistle blew and Renee wiped her sweaty palms on her sweat pants before jumping to get a hold on the thick, scratchy rope. Her legs dangled awkwardly for several seconds before her feet finally found the knotted foothold, but then she was stuck. It wasn’t that she was completely out of shape. Renee had been on the varsity softball team at her previous school and had always done well in PE. But as she looked out over what seemed like hundreds of pairs of mocking eyes, she became paralyzed out of sheer embarrassment. She squeezed her eyes shut in an effort to block them out and reached up, pushing herself up the rope with her feet. She made it only a little farther before one obnoxious voice rang out over the cacophonous din.
“Good job, monkey girl. You’ve qualified for the Olympics. The Special Olympics, that is.”
Renee’s hand reached up, but she missed the rope and slipped. As she tried to catch herself, she lost her footing and slid down several feet. The burn of the rough rope in her hands made her let go and she fell the last two feet, landing in a crumpled and embarrassed heap on the floor just as the teacher blew the whistle.
“Okay, show’s over. Everyone, get to your groups,” the teacher bellowed. “Are you okay?” he asked Renee.
“I think so,” she mumbled back, red faced.
“Good. You’re in group C,” he said and pointed to one of the groups. Renee was relieved to see that none of the mean girls were in her group, though she did learn that C was where the least athletic students ended up and she felt this was an unfair assessment. Especially when she learned that Macey, Lacey, and Casey were all in group A.
After what felt like several hours, the bell finally rang. Renee grabbed her bag and snuck off to a nearby restroom, knowing that attempting to dress in the locker room was just asking for trouble. Autumn, Kate, Josh, and another boy she didn't know all waited at her locker. The boy’s name was Troy and he was introduced as Kate’s boyfriend. Renee felt uncomfortable about hanging out with the two couples, but Autumn just rolled her eyes and dragged her out the front door.
“Geez, silly. It’s not like we’re all going to start making out at lunch.”
“Yeah. That’s what the after school Satanic orgies are for,” Josh added.
“He’s just kidding,” Kate reassured her. “They’re not Satanic, just normal orgies.”
Renee laughed along with everyone else. It was nice to know that not only were her new friends weird, but they shared the same warped sense of humor that she did. At least, she hoped they were joking.
“So where are we going?” she asked as they passed the diner, which was already packed with kids she recognized, including her least favorite trio. As much as she didn’t want to have another run in with them, she hadn’t brought a lunch and the diner was the only eatery she had noticed.
“Waterside’s best kept secret,” Autumn answered as they stopped at a door Renee hadn’t noticed earlier. Wedged between the hardware store and a law office was a door with no name, but an open sign hung in the window. Inside was a staircase and at the very top, a painted sign hung on the wall that read, “Linda’s Latte Loft.” Underneath the name was a chalk drawing of a hand pointing to a door on the right.
Inside the cavernous room were mismatched tables and chairs, several comfy sofas, and coffee tables piled high with board games. Behind the counter, a handwritten menu advertised a wide variety of sandwiches, salads, desserts, a huge selection of coffee and tea drinks, as well as smoothies and juices. Jazz music played quietly in the background.
“I don’t think half the idiots at school even know about this place,” Kate said with a smug smile, “which is fine by us.”
Renee couldn’t agree more. Like her new house, the funky bistro was exactly the kind of hangout she had always wished existed. She selected a chicken salad sandwich and a glass of apple juice. As she waited for the others to place their orders, her eyes fell on a lone figure who sat typing away on a laptop. It was the boy she had seen earlier that morning. While she was pleasantly surprised to see him again, she looked away quickly, not wanting to get caught staring this time. To her complete surprise, Autumn led them right over to where he was sitting and set her salad and water on the table.
“Hey loser, skipping class?”
“My afternoon lecture was cancelled,” he said, frowning at his computer. “I’ve got a pretty big report to work on, so I’d appreciate it if you kindly re
frain from informing mother as to my whereabouts. The woman squeezes enough unpaid hours out of me as it is.” He looked up and noticed Renee. A beautiful smile played at the corner of his mouth, causing her to blush. “Well?” he said, turning an amused eye back to Autumn. “Are you going to introduce your new friend or make us look like a family of rude jerks?”
“Sorry,” Autumn said sarcastically. “This is Renee, she’s new here. Renee, this snobby jackass is my older brother, Sage. He’s only a year older, but he’s in college, so he’s obviously too worldly to hang out with us lowly high school students.”
“My dear sister always paints me in the most flattering of light,” he said, closing the laptop with a wink. “I figured you were new to town when I saw you this morning. It’s nice to meet you at last, Renee. Please, sit.” He patted the chair next to his with an inviting smile. “What brings you to sleepy little Waterside?”
“My parents,” Renee answered nervously. She couldn’t believe that a boy was interested in talking to her, especially not one as cute as Sage. “We moved from Albuquerque. They were both offered positions with Eastern University.”
“Wait, is your last name Ward?”
“It is,” Renee answered, rather surprised.
“Your father is my music history professor this semester,” Sage informed her with a huge grin. “He’s totally cool. Has he really seen all those bands he’s always talking about?”
“He and my mom met at that very show,” she replied, pointing to the Ramones t-shirt he still wore.
They began discussing bands they liked and Renee was shocked to learn that all of her new friends were not only into the same music she was, but they shared many of her interests, including a love of books. As it turned out, the bookstore that she had been excited to see earlier was owned by Autumn and Sage’s mother. They both worked there in their spare time and both were happy to give her suggestions as to what to read next.
The lunch hour flew by too quickly. For the first time in her life, Renee wished she was rebellious enough to skip school, but as the others got up to leave, so did she.
“So,” Sage said, giving her a suddenly shy smile. “You’re friends with my sister. I hope this means I’ll be seeing you around?”
“Um, yeah. I guess so.” Her stomach fluttered nervously. “I mean, if that’s cool.”
“Definitely cool,” he said and graced her with another smile. “I’ll see you later, Renee.”
“Bye,” she said quietly, waving as she followed the others down the stairs and back into the bright sunlight.
Chapter 3
“Dude,” Autumn said as they walked back to school. “My brother was totally crushing on you!”
“Whatever,” Renee mumbled and rolled her eyes, but the butterflies in her stomach were still doing a vigorous interpretive dance.
“Don’t act like you weren’t totally flirting back.”
“I wasn’t flirting!” Renee protested as her face turned bright red yet again. “Your brother is super-hot, Autumn. There’s no way he’d be interested in me.”
“Okay, first of all, gross, that’s my brother. Second of all, why the heck not? You guys have everything in common and quit talking like you’re a troll because you’re totally not.”
Renee giggled at the sort-of compliment and was about to thank Autumn when something hit her in the back of the head. It was a banana. Two more bananas sailed past her head.
“What the crap?” She put her hands up over her face as another barrage of fruit was thrown.
“We brought you some lunch, monkey girl!”
“Are you freaking kidding me?” Renee rolled her eyes and turned around to face her tormenters, who were jumping around and scratching at their armpits like orangutans at the zoo. Where they had gotten several large bunches of bananas from was anyone’s guess. Lacey, the tall one, flung two more in her direction.
“Free snacks, cool!” said Josh, snatching one out of the air as Renee sidestepped the other.
“I wouldn’t eat that,” Autumn warned him with a disgusted look. “Who knows what you’ll catch.”
“Yeah, they probably did things with them. Nasty things,” added Kate, pantomiming lewd behavior.
“Ew!” Josh said and flung the banana away, wiping his hands on his jeans as if it had been covered in something gross. “Poor banana. Nothing deserves to be violated like that.”
Renee ignored her friends’ banter and glared at the girls. She had dealt with bullies before, but these three were utterly ridiculous. For the first time in her life, she had good friends and even a guy who was possibly interested in her. She wasn’t going to let anyone ruin her mood, let alone three insecure girls with hostility issues. Picking up one of the bananas, she carefully measured her steps until she was just a few feet away from them.
“I appreciate your generosity, but I had plenty to eat for lunch, thanks,” she said, calmly peeling the banana before tossing the fruit aside. “But I’d like to return the favor, so here’s a bit of advice just for you, Macey.” She graced the ringleader with a menacing smile. “You might want to invest in shoes you actually know how to walk in before you go throwing hazardous obstacles around. It would be a shame if you were to… slip.” With a flick of her wrist, Renee tossed the banana peel at Macey’s feet.
With one last look of warning, she turned and followed her friends into the building, smiling to herself.
“What did you say to her?” Autumn asked with an appreciative smile. “They actually looked scared of you.”
“I put a curse on them,” Renee whispered with a wicked laugh. For a brief moment, she allowed herself to feel powerful, as if she truly had the ability to curse the girls with her words, but then she felt bad. She may have fantasized about having super powers, but in her dreams, Renee never used them for anything mean spirited. But still, she rationalized, if anyone deserved to be cursed, it was those three.
By the time Renee got to her last class, she had all but forgotten about the lunchtime incident. But as she entered the art classroom, Autumn waved her over to the window.
“Check it out,” she said, pointing to the school’s front lawn. Macey, Lacey, and Casey each had a trash bag and were picking up the bananas they had thrown. A teacher stood on the steps, supervising the cleanup. “The vice principal saw the whole thing. They got in building suspension for a week. Looks like your curse worked.”
“Nah, that’s justice being served,” Renee remarked with a smirk as she watched the girls scrape mashed bananas off the sidewalk. “I cursed Macey to slip on a banana peel.”
Almost as soon as the words were out of Renee’s mouth, Macey, who had been cleaning up the stairs, began flailing wildly. Both girls watched in horrified fascination as her feet left the ground and she tumbled down the stairs, landing sprawled on her backside and clutching her ankle.
“Holy crap!” Autumn squeaked, turning to Renee with wide eyes. “Remind me not to mess with you!”
“Uh… I guess don’t throw bananas at me,” Renee said with a nervous laugh. “That was super creepy though." It had been fun to make the girls think she had cursed them, but the unfortunate coincidence disturbed her.
“Totally,” Autumn said, turning to Renee with a wicked expression. “But so freaking awesome. I think that made my whole week.”
The bell rang and they took their seats. For the rest of the class, Renee tried to concentrate on the pastoral scene she was supposed to be drawing, but she remained distracted by what had just happened. It had to be a coincidence. Despite what she desperately wanted to believe, supernatural powers didn’t exist. Macey really couldn’t walk in her shoes, so taking a spill was bound to happen. For all Renee knew, it could have been something that happened regularly. And it wasn’t Renee’s fault that they did something as stupid as throwing bananas around. At least their behavior didn’t go unpunished.
At last, the final bell rang and Renee packed up her art supplies. Her first day of school had been eventful and cert
ainly bizarre, but she had to admit that the good definitely outweighed the bad.
“I have to work pretty much as soon as I get out of here,” Autumn informed her. “But do you want to come by and check out the shop? Sage will be there,” she added, making Renee blush.
“Let me check,” Renee said and sent a text message to both of her parents. Both replied that they would not be home until after six o’clock and Renee’s mother added a smiley face, saying that she knew Renee would want to check out the bookstore.
As they approached the shop, Renee pointed to the sign above the door that read, “Twisted Rivers” with a picture of a crooked river meandering into the horizon.
“That makes sense now,” she said with a wink. Renee had only just discovered in art class that Autumn’s last name was River. “You are pretty twisted.”
“It runs in the family,” Autumn said and held open the door with a flourish. “Right this way, Madame.”
“Wow,” exclaimed Renee as she entered the shop, which encompassed two floors. The second was a loft that was open to the first. Shelves lined the walls from floor to ceiling and several overstuffed chairs had been placed strategically about to encourage patrons to stay a while. “I’m so jealous.”
“Don’t be,” Autumn said as she tossed her bag behind the counter, where her brother sat drinking tea and typing on his laptop. “Mom’s a slave driver.”
“She left you a list,” Sage informed her and glanced up at Renee with a warm smile. “Hey again.”
“Hi,” she said with a shy wave. Sage was wearing a pair of wire-framed glasses that didn’t diminish his looks in the slightest. Rather, they gave him a studious charm that Renee thought made him look more approachable.
“Ugh! Doesn’t she realize how much homework they pile on in senior year?” Autumn complained as she read over the list her mother left. “How am I supposed to get all of this done before we close?”
“Nowhere near as much as they pile on in college,” her brother shot back, rolling his eyes. “Seriously, I wish it was only as much as high school. At least you get a lunch break.”
Kind of Like Life Page 2
