Shadow of a Life

by Tifani Clark

CHAPTER 6

  I felt like I had an extra spring in my step the next day. All of a sudden my life had purpose and meaning. For the first time in a long time I looked forward to summer break.

  Camille immediately noticed the change in me. “What’s with you today? You seem bouncy.”

  “I dunno. I guess I’m just happy that we’re almost through with school.”

  “Yeah, but we have tests today.”

  “Some of us have actually been studying for the tests. I’m not concerned about any of them.”

  Camille rolled her eyes and slammed her locker door shut. We walked side by side to our first period class. She’d been particularly quiet on the bus that morning and I guessed that she was still angry about being rejected on Sunday.

  First period was English and I handed in the assignment I’d finished writing on Saturday. Thankfully I’d finished it during the first part of the weekend. If I’d met Sophia first, I don’t think I would have gotten around to it.

  The rest of the day dragged on without anything eventful happening. I found myself continuously looking over my shoulder and peering into the middle of crowds, expecting Sophia to pop up at any moment, but she stayed away. In fact, I didn’t see her until Camille and I were heading out the school door at the end of the day. We planned to ditch the school bus and grab a ride on a city bus to Grandma’s Café so that I could make good on my promise to hang out with her. Sophia suddenly appeared, carrying a backpack and looking like any one of the other hundreds of kids spilling out of the school.

  “Hey, you two. Where are you headed this beautiful afternoon?” She wore the sunniest smile I’d ever seen.

  I could feel Camille tense next to me. She said nothing and just kept walking.

  I shrugged. “We’re heading over to Grandma’s Café for some ice cream. Want to come?” I probably shouldn’t have invited her, but I thought that if Camille got to know Sophia it would help.

  “Sure, that sounds fun. You don’t mind, do you, Camille?”

  Camille turned to Sophia and half-smiled, but the look in her eyes screamed, ‘Go away’.

  Apparently half the school decided that ice cream sounded good because Grandma’s was packed when we got there. We finally managed to snag a table made for two and an extra chair from a nearby table. It wasn’t a secret that a lot of the eyes in the room were on our little group—especially those belonging to the opposite gender. I’m sure they were all wondering who Sophia was and how they could possibly find out so they could try to hit on her. Sophia acted oblivious to the attention we were getting, but Camille kept flashing her own famous smile and tossing her hair over her shoulder with a flip of her head. I wondered if I should try the hair flip thing. With my luck I’d pull a neck muscle and end up embarrassing myself horribly.

  The three of us made small talk and I kept looking at my watch. I wanted to get back to our research, but I didn’t know how to nicely get rid of Camille. Sophia tried to include her in the conversation as much as she could, but for the most part Camille ignored her and spoke only to me.

  Finally, unable to stand it any longer, I pushed back from the table. “It’s getting really late. I should probably go home.”Camille looked at her watch. “What are you talking about? School’s only been out for forty-five minutes.”

  “I have homework to do,” I lied.

  “What homework?” Camille quizzed. She didn’t believe me.

  “It’s for my math class.” The answer seemed safe since it was the only class we didn’t have together. I was in an advanced math class and Cam wasn’t.

  “Whatever. Let’s go then,” Camille said dejectedly.

  The three of us barely spoke as we walked home. When we got to my street, Sophia and I turned off together. Camille stopped walking.

  “Are you following her home?” she asked Sophia in an accusatory tone.

  “What? Oh, no. Well, sort of. I left something at her house when I was over there yesterday and I’m just going to grab it quickly,” Sophia answered.

  Camille nodded slowly before quickly turning and continuing toward her house. I’d gained a spring in my step, but it seemed as if she’d lost one.