group leader and he wasn’t able to reach me. Tracking me down in the lunchroom was his last resort”.
I was impressed by how easily I was able to lie to her, and the lie sounded pretty convincing, even to my own ears.
“ Oh, OK. Makes sense," she said, running a hand through her long red hair.
“ Channing is one of those serious students," I rambled on. “ I always wait until the last minute to get my papers done, but it seems like he’s more organized than that”.
“ Oh, he definitely is," Samantha agreed. “ He’s used to pulling all A’s. Sorry if he pressured you about the paper. I’ll tell him it’s definitely not cool to chase someone down during their lunch period”.
I pretended to laugh, and shrug it off. “ It’s no big deal. I really should have made more of an effort to meet with our study group”.
“ What’s your name, by the way? I’ve seen you around the halls but I don’t know you? I’m sorry, but I was so worried about Channing I forgot to ask you before”.
I felt my face grow red when she mentioned being worried about Channing. It made me realize she probably cared about him as much as I did.
“ Um, it’s Nellie," I said, my voice getting a little wobbly. “ Nellie Depaola”.
“ Nice to meet you, Nellie," Samantha said, giving me another friendly smile. “ I’ll see you around. Good luck on the paper!”
“ Sure. Thanks," I said, and got up from my chair. I walked away from her as quickly as I could, feeling sick to my stomach.
I looked over my shoulder once I got to the end of the hall, but she was gone. The bell rang, and I practically sprinted to my next class.
My morning classes had been consumed with worrying about Channing. In my afternoon classes, I couldn’t stop thinking about Samantha. I’d been watching Samantha like a hawk ever since Channing and I had started seeing each other. I had to admit a part of me was a little obsessed with her, because she seemed so different from me. I wanted to know what it was Channing saw in her in the first place.
But even though I’d spent a lot of lunch periods surreptitiously watching Samantha, and taking mental notes on her hair and her shoes and makeup, I never thought I’d ever have actual contact with her. Never thought I’d exchange words with her. We moved in entirely different circles. It was easy to cheat with Channing when Samantha was just a girl I saw in school, but talking to her and seeing how nice she seemed made me feel differently about her.
Maybe I wasn’t being fair to her.
I tried to push the thought to the back of my mind. The things Channing had told me about her made it seem as if she wasn’t really that nice of a person. Channing never came right out and told me he hated her, but I always got the feeling he didn’t like her at all. He was only with her because of how unstable she was…
It was hard to visualize the girl I’d spoke to earlier as an unstable person. A crazy girl, if the things Channing had told me were true. The girl who had approached me seemed normal enough, kind of friendly for an A-girl, actually.
I was grateful when the final bell rung, and school was out. Every part of me wanted to go home, and curl up in my bed. I didn’t want to go to the mall, or even talk to Channing. I just wanted to forget about all of my problems and sleep.
But Ro was waiting for me by my locker, probably thinking I was going to bail on her and Tommy and Joaquim. I didn’t tell her about my encounter with Samantha. I knew it would just make her go into a whole lecture about how wrong my relationship with Channing was.
“ What’s wrong?" she asked, though, because she is my best friend and knows me better than anyone in the world.
“ My head still hurts that’s all," I replied, but I took a deep breath, and tried to make myself look cheerful.
“ The Tylenol didn’t work?" she asked, frowning.
“ Not really, but I’m fine," I said.
“ Nellie, honestly. What’s happening to
I was impressed by how easily I was able to lie to her, and the lie sounded pretty convincing, even to my own ears.
“ Oh, OK. Makes sense," she said, running a hand through her long red hair.
“ Channing is one of those serious students," I rambled on. “ I always wait until the last minute to get my papers done, but it seems like he’s more organized than that”.
“ Oh, he definitely is," Samantha agreed. “ He’s used to pulling all A’s. Sorry if he pressured you about the paper. I’ll tell him it’s definitely not cool to chase someone down during their lunch period”.
I pretended to laugh, and shrug it off. “ It’s no big deal. I really should have made more of an effort to meet with our study group”.
“ What’s your name, by the way? I’ve seen you around the halls but I don’t know you? I’m sorry, but I was so worried about Channing I forgot to ask you before”.
I felt my face grow red when she mentioned being worried about Channing. It made me realize she probably cared about him as much as I did.
“ Um, it’s Nellie," I said, my voice getting a little wobbly. “ Nellie Depaola”.
“ Nice to meet you, Nellie," Samantha said, giving me another friendly smile. “ I’ll see you around. Good luck on the paper!”
“ Sure. Thanks," I said, and got up from my chair. I walked away from her as quickly as I could, feeling sick to my stomach.
I looked over my shoulder once I got to the end of the hall, but she was gone. The bell rang, and I practically sprinted to my next class.
My morning classes had been consumed with worrying about Channing. In my afternoon classes, I couldn’t stop thinking about Samantha. I’d been watching Samantha like a hawk ever since Channing and I had started seeing each other. I had to admit a part of me was a little obsessed with her, because she seemed so different from me. I wanted to know what it was Channing saw in her in the first place.
But even though I’d spent a lot of lunch periods surreptitiously watching Samantha, and taking mental notes on her hair and her shoes and makeup, I never thought I’d ever have actual contact with her. Never thought I’d exchange words with her. We moved in entirely different circles. It was easy to cheat with Channing when Samantha was just a girl I saw in school, but talking to her and seeing how nice she seemed made me feel differently about her.
Maybe I wasn’t being fair to her.
I tried to push the thought to the back of my mind. The things Channing had told me about her made it seem as if she wasn’t really that nice of a person. Channing never came right out and told me he hated her, but I always got the feeling he didn’t like her at all. He was only with her because of how unstable she was…
It was hard to visualize the girl I’d spoke to earlier as an unstable person. A crazy girl, if the things Channing had told me were true. The girl who had approached me seemed normal enough, kind of friendly for an A-girl, actually.
I was grateful when the final bell rung, and school was out. Every part of me wanted to go home, and curl up in my bed. I didn’t want to go to the mall, or even talk to Channing. I just wanted to forget about all of my problems and sleep.
But Ro was waiting for me by my locker, probably thinking I was going to bail on her and Tommy and Joaquim. I didn’t tell her about my encounter with Samantha. I knew it would just make her go into a whole lecture about how wrong my relationship with Channing was.
“ What’s wrong?" she asked, though, because she is my best friend and knows me better than anyone in the world.
“ My head still hurts that’s all," I replied, but I took a deep breath, and tried to make myself look cheerful.
“ The Tylenol didn’t work?" she asked, frowning.
“ Not really, but I’m fine," I said.
“ Nellie, honestly. What’s happening to
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