Shucked (9 page)

We picked up a few more random kids,
none of who did more than give me a passing glance. I'd settle for that. It was
better than being tossed in the air with the intent of breaking my neck.

The bus pulled into the parking lot
and I leapt off as soon as the doors opened. I pushed through the crowds to my
locker where Becky waited, staring at her cell phone.

"Hey," I said. I was
thrilled to see her. I needed a friendly face after all the weirdness of the
day before, but I still couldn't let myself be too vulnerable.

"Finally. I called you last
night, but your grandma said you were sleeping. Is that true? Because I thought
maybe you didn't want to talk to me anymore. Who goes to sleep before
six?"

I smiled.

She took a step back. "You look
like you're going to bite me."

I toned it down a bit. "Sorry,
just happy to hear we're still friends. After yesterday, I'm a little confused
about how things work around here. Those cheerleaders were really nice to me,
then all of a sudden, they were trying to break my neck."

Becky rolled her eyes. "Ignore
Kailey. She's a total bitch. Not all of them are that bad. It's just bad luck
she happened to be Alex's girlfriend when you came to town."

Callie's sympathetic eyes flashed in
my head. But she hadn't said a word to me since.

"And that she happens to be a
jerk. I could maybe understand if I'd done something to break them up, but I
didn't."

Becky smiled and nudged me. "I
know you want to." Then her face dropped. "But you shouldn't because
he's really a jerk. I know I already told you this, but based on the look on
your face, I think I have to say it again. He's going to lead you on and dump
you as soon as he's bored with you. Just like he did to Kailey and like he's
done with almost every other girl in this school."

I wasn't sure what look she thought I
had on my face. I was feeling nothing but crabbiness and anger over yesterday.
It's not like I was standing at my locker mooning over Alex. "I don't want
to date him anyway."

"Date who?"

I felt a chin on my head, a warmth
blanketing my back, a voice I knew even after such a short time. "Go away,
Alex."

"I think you probably shouldn't
date yet, Tabitha. You're new to town. You should get the lay of the land
first, figure out what people are really like because you don't want to make a
bad decision." He slung his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer.
"Besides, I'm going to keep you way too busy with math tutoring."

He leaned over, kissed me on the top
of the head, and then sauntered away.

I looked at Becky, my eyes probably wider
than a set of lunchroom trays.

"Don't say it." Becky
grabbed my English book out of my locker and shoved it in my arms, followed by
a notebook. She stuck a pen behind my ear. "God, he's such a pompous
pig."

I shook my head, not only bringing me
back to reality, but also in an attempt to erase what he'd just done to me. A
kiss, even on the top of my head, was too much to process. "Mr. Fenton said
he wouldn't let Alex tutor me if we hooked up. Clearly Alex was just being
obnoxious." Body parts that had never tingled before were doing it now. I
wanted him to come back, kiss me again. "Let's get to class," I said
in my most bored voice.

Becky rolled her eyes. "This is
not going to end well. You're totally over the moon."

"Am not." I stuck my tongue
out at her.

A hand grabbed my arm from behind. I
spun around, expecting Alex to be back, but it wasn't him.

"Tabitha, we need you. Will you
hear me out?" Callie smiled, but it looked strained. "Hey,
Becky."

"Hey, Callie." Becky stood
still next to me, not budging, and even more strangely, not talking.

Callie looked at me, then back at
Becky. She ran her hand nervously through her curls. "Look, I'm not here
to torture you. I'm not going to make excuses for Kailey either."

"Okay," I said, unsure what
else to do. Callie seemed nice enough, but Becky stood next to me like a
bodyguard, unwilling to let anyone past.

"Um, I suppose I can say this in
front of her." Her eyes darted to Becky.

"Of course you can, Becky's my
best friend. Anything you tell me, I'm just going to turn around and tell her
anyway." I knew by saying it, I was making a long-term commitment to
Becky. Maybe one even more profound than marriage because I knew in a million
years she'd never let me forget it. And that might not be so bad.

"Kailey broke her ankle last
night. She was practicing a flip and landed on it funny. Her mom got her
x-rayed at the ER and she's out of cheerleading for the next six weeks. We need
another member. The rest of us talked and we want you."

My eyes narrowed. "Why?"
It's not like any of them stood up for me when Kailey tried to flip me.

"We need you and we really think
you can teach us some cool stuff that will make us unique. We've been doing the
same thing since we were six when Kailey's mom started the squad. Same cheers.
Same gymnastics. Some of us actually would like to see some change."

I shifted from one foot to the other.
This was getting more interesting by the second. And it didn't surprise me that
Kailey's mom had been driving the whole thing. No wonder she didn't want me
involved. "I think I could do that. When's the next practice?"

Callie jumped up and down, clapping
her hands. "Oh my God, this is great news! I was so afraid you'd say
no." She lowered her voice. "Just so you know, I had no idea what
Kailey was planning. I was just as stunned as you were and really felt bad
about myself when I didn't help you. Deer in the headlights, I guess."

I shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant,
but I was really touched. "Thanks."

"Okay, so we'll see you tomorrow
morning, then? Before school, just like yesterday. If you need a ride, let me
know.” Callie smiled, and then skipped down the hall.

Becky linked her arm through mine.
"Ready to get to class?" A smile lit up her face.

"You're not mad?" I shifted
my books to my other hip, making the whole BFF pose a little easier to deal
with.

"Why would I be mad? You're my
best friend, right? If you're happy, then I'm happy." Her smile grew and I
had to admit that she really didn't seem jealous. She thrust her index finger
in my face. “Just don’t turn into one of them.”

“I’m pretty sure you don’t have to
worry about that!” Maybe everything I'd thought about American teens wasn't
totally true. Frenemies might be a myth, or at least not as common as I'd
believed.

The bell rang, breaking up my
unexpected love fest. I'd gone from feeling like the worst thing in the world
to cementing my friendship with Becky, getting kissed, even if just on the
head, by Alex, and being invited back on the cheerleading squad after the
wicked witch of the farmland broke her ankle.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad living
here.

Chapter Thirteen

The good mood stayed until math. Knowing
I’d have to start tutoring after class turned my bowels to water. Kind of like
that time I had dysentery. It’s not pretty, I promise. After an insufferable
forty-five minutes of math instruction, during which I learned absolutely
nothing because I was so focused on what was going to happen after class, I sat
glued to my chair. The class filed out after the bell rang their freedom.

Alex sauntered over to my table,
dropped his textbook next to mine, then turned the chair around and straddled
it. My mind raced and I tried to concentrate on the tabletop, and not his
package.

“You ready to catch up in math?” Alex
asked.

Illinois Jon stood at the front of
the classroom, erasing the chalkboard and totally ignoring us huddled in the
back of the room.

“I guess.”

“How much do you know?” Alex flipped
his textbook open to the first chapter. His fingers rested in his hair, his
palm on his cheek. He looked up at me with those deep brown eyes and blinked
twice. His long eyelashes touched his cheeks, then the smooth skin above his
eyes. I wanted to run my thumb along his cheek and…

“Tabitha?” Alex waved a hand in front
of my face.

A warm blush spread from my neck up
my face. I thanked the powers above that I didn’t live in one of those
paranormal worlds. If he was Edward Cullen, he totally would have known what I
was thinking.

“Sorry, I was spacing out.” I opened
my math book to the same page as his.

“Do you understand this stuff?” Alex
tapped the page with his pencil.

The numbers swam in front of me, like
the fish in the tank at the dentist’s office. “Not really. I’ve never had any
formal math instruction. I can count change, add and subtract in my head, stuff
like that. But I’ve never had any algebra or geometry. No one uses it in the
real world.”

Alex laughed. “That’s what I’ve
heard. But I understand it and I’m going to need it to become a doctor, so
you’re lucky I can teach you.”

I ventured another look back at him.
He’d turned serious, the smile gone. Was this the same goofy boy who’d kissed
me on the head in the hall this morning?

“Um, yeah, I guess I’m the lucky
one.” I repeated like a parrot. I looked back up to the front. Illinois Jon was
packing up papers into his satchel.

“Let’s start with basic equations.”
Alex launched into a lengthy description.

I tried to follow his reasoning,
nodded every time he looked at me, and even scribbled down some notes. Not that
any of it made sense.

After five torturous minutes, Alex
finally stopped talking. “Did you get that?”

I nodded. I didn’t understand one
word of it, but maybe it would eventually sink in through osmosis. If he just
came a little closer, put those lips on mine, maybe, just maybe I’d absorb
enough of it to pass class.

“Okay, great!” He looked up to the
front. “Mr. Fenton, what do you want Tabitha to do as an assignment?”

Illinois Jon wiped his hands on his
khakis, and then strode back to our table. “Why don’t you do the first ten
problems on this page? Turn them in tomorrow.” He patted me on the shoulder.
“I’m sure with some hard work, you’ll catch up to the other kids in no time. Look,
I’ve got to run. I have a webinar at four. Why don’t you two stay here and work
on the first couple of problems just to make sure Tabitha understands?”

“No problem, sir.” Alex stood up and
shook Mr. Fenton’s hand.

Maybe the pod people had captured him
during study hall. This was not the same guy who’d annoyed me in the hall
earlier in the day.

“I’ll see the two of you tomorrow.”
Illinois Jon started to walk out of the room, then stopped and turned around.
“Do both of you have rides home?”

“I’ve got my car,” Alex said. “If
Tabitha doesn’t have a ride, I’d be happy to take her home.”

Illinois Jon smiled. “Great.”

As soon as he disappeared through the
doorway, Alex draped his arm over my shoulder. His eyelids drooped, sending me
smoldering smoke signals. “Finally, he’s gone.”

I wanted to move closer, but instead
I sat as still as a rock. I reminded myself Alex was a professional womanizer. Just
because I wanted him, it didn’t mean I had to let him know it. Not yet.

“Mr. Fenton said we had to keep this
professional.” I wiggled away from Alex, even though my body screamed at me to
move closer. I didn’t want to be just another conquest. That would be the worst
way to have a first boyfriend. Besides, and maybe this wasn’t the teen way, I
wanted him to like me for me, not because I was new.

“Fine, fine. Let’s get the first
couple of problems out of the way, okay?”

I pretended to understand and somehow
got through the first line of problems without looking like an idiot. Alex’s
arm rested on the table next to mine, just a hair’s breath away. I cursed
myself for telling him we had to stay apart, but at the same time I knew encouraging
him would be my downfall. If I wanted him to respect me, then I couldn’t fall
into his arms right away.

“Think you can do the rest yourself?”
Alex looked at me.

I nodded, unable to say anything. I
couldn’t. I was too busy drowning in his brown eyes and imagining all the ways
I wanted to kiss him.

“You need a ride home?” he asked,
putting his books in his backpack, oblivious to my inner struggle.

“No, I’m going to call Mimi and have
her pick me up.” I mirrored him, slipping my math book into my arms. I hadn’t
even been to my locker yet to get my backpack and my other homework.

“You don’t have to do that,” Alex
said with a sigh. “Look, I’m sorry I keep hitting on you like that. I’ll stop
if that’s what you want.”

It wasn’t, but it was. Ugh, why did
it have to be so confusing? “Whatever.” I shrugged.

Alex didn’t look at me again as he
wound through the maze of tables and chairs. My heart started to pound and my
palms sweat. I wasn’t ready to let him go.