Skater Boy (11 page)

But I had to be cool. I had to impress Starr and her friends. Make them see I wasn't a Barbie. And so I told off my best friends in the world. Publicly humiliated them.

I'm so stupid. So, so stupid.

Wait a second. In my self-torturing I almost forgot about Starr. But now Stuart's words come flashing back at me. Expelled! For drinking! But Starr doesn't drink. I remember when Eddie offered her a flask before the rave. She flat-out refused and said she was straight edge or die.

I hope she's okay.

I exit the bathroom stall and splash cold water on my face, staring at my blotchy reflection in the cloudy mirror. It's so obvious I've been crying. But whatever. Who gives a care anymore?

I wander the halls for the rest of lunch period, my stomach growling in protest. But I can't go back in there. Wander around the caf, wondering where I now fall in the high-school social circle. Because I'm too afraid of the answer: nowhere. I'm no longer one of the populars and the so-called losers have rejected me as well. I'm stuck in this weird void where I practically don't even exist.

The bell rings, thankfully, and I duck into my D period class. Chemistry. Oh, goody. Now I get to fail my makeup test, too. Talk about adding a cherry on top of my already crap sundae of a day.

I start to sit down, then think better of it. Oh, screw this. I know I won't be able to pass the test, so why bother taking it? Maybe if I don't show up to class, Sister Mary Anne will let me reschedule it for tomorrow instead.

I leave the classroom and cut through the library. There's a back door in the library. A back door out of the school. And it's got my name written all over it.

Chapter Fourteen

 

It's funny. A week ago I never would have considered skipping out of school. I mean even if trench-coated kids showed up with Uzis, I'd probably ask for a pass first. I was such a goody two-shoes.

Now I'm an exhausted, jaded outcast who's flunking out of school. And I've got to get out of here.

I manage to leave school grounds without being spotted and catch the bus downtown, all Girl on a Mission. I slouch in my seat, feeling very juvenile delinquent, not that the bus driver cares. When we reach my stop, I jump out, this time not bothering to wave good-bye.

I head up the street and soon the town's public high school, Woodbury, looms before me. I wonder if I should walk through the front doors or find some side entrance. I wonder how I'm going to find Starr in a school of thousands. I wonder if my Catholic-school-girl outfit is going to make me stick out like a sore thumb. I bite my lower lip. This wasn't a very well-thought-out plan.

I decide the front door is still my best bet. Just walk through with confidence, as if I own the place. I ditch my rosary beads in the bushes and pull my shirt from my skirt and tie the shirttails together, revealing a little belly skin. Now I look less uniformish, at least.

I step through the front door and am shocked at how big the school is. The hallways are wide with high ceilings. Lockers line every inch of wall space. A bell rings and suddenly I find myself caught up in a wave of high schoolers pooling down the hallways.

“Smells Like Teen Spirit,” as that old band Nirvana would have said.

“What are you doing here, Dawn?”

Augh. I whirl around, my heart in my throat. In my worry about Starr, I'd totally forgotten the fact that Sean goes to Woodbury, too. But there he is, standing in front of me, looking oh-so-adorable in his button-down surfer shirt and khaki shorts. Gah, I missed him. Even though I just saw him yesterday. I want to collapse in his arms and sob and cry and beg him to come back to me.

Of course I don't. I mean, that would be relationship suicide. If I have any hope of getting him back (which I'm pretty sure I don't, but whatever!) I have to play it cool. So even though my hands are shaking like I have Parkinson's and I can barely speak, I manage to throw him a casual oh-how-nice-to-see-you smile.

“Hey, Sean.”

He scratches his head, still staring at me. I hope he doesn't think I'm like stalking him or something. Like that movie
Swimfan
where the guy has sex with the girl in the pool and then she goes and ruins his life. That would be way too embarrassing.

“I, um, forgot you went here,” I stammer.

 “But you don't,” he says pointedly. Oh man, he really does think I'm Stalker Girl.

A wave of hallway salmon swimming upstream push by us, shoving me into him, and for a moment I'm in his arms as he reaches out to catch me. I rejoice in the feeling of his hands on my forearms.

“Come on, it's too crowded here,” he says. He leads me down the hallway and we duck into an empty classroom. He flicks on the light and closes the door behind him.

I wander over to a desk and slump down. “You think

I'm stalking you, don't you?” I ask mournfully.

He chuckles and props himself on the desk in front of me. “Well, if you are, it'd definitely be a first for me.”

Yeah, right. He probably gets stalked all the time. I mean, look at him. He's so gorgeous. So wonderful. Probably every girl in Woodbury is obsessed with him. He probably has
them
carry
his
books to class.

“Well, I'm not,” I insist. Might as well put all my cards on the table. “I came here to find Starr.”

He scrunches his adorable face. “But Starr goes to Sacred Mary's….”

“Did go,” I correct. I explain what I know about Starr getting drunk, getting expelled, now attending Woodbury. How I'm worried about her and how I need to see her to make sure she's all right, since they took away her cell and I can't reach her any other way.

“Wow,” Sean says, looking as concerned as I feel. “So you skipped out of school to come find her?”

I nod glumly. “Though I have no idea how I'm going to do that in a school this big.”

 Sean thinks for a moment. Then he jumps from his desk and heads over to the classroom computer. “I know,” he says. “Come here.”

I follow him over and watch as he sits down in front of the computer and starts typing. I have no idea what he's up to—the screen is complete gibberish to me.

“Um, what are you doing?”

“I'm hacking into the class schedules,” he says. “They tell you what students are in which class. So we can find out where she is.”

“You can … hack?” I ask, shocked.

“Sure. My mom was always too poor to pay for a good computer when I was a kid, so I built my own from spare parts I found in the garbage outside this electronics store,” Sean explains. “And taught myself how to get free Internet access and stuff.”

Interesting. I had no idea just how talented this boy was. I only saw him as a cute skater, when really there's so much more to him. He must be totally smart to hack a computer. I can barely figure out Facebook.

“Here we are,” Sean says, before I can comment further. I lean in to focus on his pointing finger. “She's in Room 203, Algebra.”

“Cool! Thanks!” I cry. He turns around quickly and we bump noses. Kind of Eskimo kiss. How can he not feel the sparks flying between us? “Uh, sorry,” I say, not really meaning it.

“It's okay,” he says, rising from his seat. “Let's go.”

I raise an eyebrow. He wants to come with? I figured he'd be ditching me right about now.

“‘Kay,” I say, trying not to sound too delighted.

We exit the classroom and hang a left and then take a flight of stairs up to the second floor. The second bell has rung and so all the kids are in class, making the hallways easier to navigate. But still, I'm glad Sean's with me on my secret mission. I'd be completely lost in this maze of a school without him.

“This is it,” Sean says, pointing to a closed classroom door. “Room 203.”

I surreptitiously peek through the small window and see Starr sitting in the back of the classroom, a scowl on her face.

“She's in there,” I whisper-squeak to Sean. “Now what? Do we wait for her to come out?”

“Class just started. You'd have a long wait,” he replies.

“Oh. Well, that sucks.”

“Nah, here's what you do,” Sean says. “You walk into class like you own the place, right? And then you say you're here from Guidance and Starr needs to report to the Guidance Counselor immediately.”

I look at him. “And that'll work?”

“Yup.” He nods confidently. “Guaranteed. They send student messengers all the time. Guess ‘cause they don't want to use the intercom during class and interrupt everyone.”

“Wow. The nuns at Sacred Mary's would never fall for that one,” I say. “But okay.”

I take a deep breath and wrap my hand around the doorknob. I wonder what will happen if I'm busted. Will they call and report me to my school or just kick me out of Woodbury? Will Sean get in trouble for being with me?

I pull open the door and step into the classroom, concentrating on looking both confident and bored. “Um, like, hi?” I address the teacher, using my best dumb blond voice. “The Guidance Counselor wants to see Starr—er … Ashleigh down in her office? Like immediately?”

Out of the corner of my eye I can see Starr staring at me. She looks shocked. I swallow a smile.

“Okay,” the teacher agrees, without missing a beat or looking the least bit suspicious. “Ashleigh?”

Four girls stand up.

“Uh, Ashleigh Robinson,” I clarify.

Three sit down. Starr makes her way to the front of the classroom.

“Thank you, sir,” I say to the teacher. Then I turn and walk toward the exit.

Once outside, we reclose the classroom door. Sean beams at me. “Good job,” he says.

“What the heck are you doing here?” Starr demands, looking rather pleased to see me.

“Shhh,” I say. “Let's go somewhere we can talk.”

We head back downstairs. Sean suggests we hit the auditorium, which is only used during after-school drama practice. Sure enough, when we arrive, the place is deserted. We plop down on the stage.

“So, you going to tell me what you're doing here now?” Starr asks again.

I laugh. “It's actually more fun keeping you in suspense, but okay.” I stretch out my legs on the floor. “I wanted to make sure you were all right. I mean, one day you're at Sacred Mary's and the next you've been transferred. And Stuart and Sophie said you were grounded and that your dad took away your phone. So, like, I figured the only way to find you was to come to school.”

“But why aren't you in school yourself?” “I was. I left.”

Starr stares at me, openmouthed. “You left?”

“Yeah. I snuck out.”

Starr raises her hand in a high five. “Wow, girl. You rock.” We slap hands. “But really,” she says in a more serious tone. “You shouldn't have risked getting in trouble. Not to come see me.” She nods her head toward Sean. “Though I guess you got a two-for-one deal by coming here.”

My face grows hot at her teasing remark. I forgot she has no idea that Sean and I broke up. I glance over at the skater in question and he's as red-faced as I probably am.

“Actually, Sean and I aren't together anymore,” I say, using my bravest voice. “So I just came here to see you.”

“You broke up?” Starr stares at the two of us. “But then ...? What are you ... ?”

“Starr, this is not about me and Sean. This is about you. They told me you got expelled for showing up to school drunk. You don't drink. You're straight edge. What happened?”

Starr sighs and turns her gaze toward the ceiling. “I know. I'm a total loser, huh?”

I frown. “No. You're not. There's obviously got to be some reason. What's going on with you?”

 She lies down on her back, still staring skyward. I remember her in this position one other time. When she started telling me about her mother.

“Oh,” I say, suddenly realizing. That's got to be it.

“One year ago yesterday was the day my mother died,” Starr confirms, her voice kind of choking out her words. “I woke up and I ...I just couldn't deal with it. I missed her so badly.” The tears start flowing from her eyes, smearing her mascara so she looks like a miserable, rabid raccoon. “I loved her so much, Dawn. She was like my best friend as well as my mom. We used to do everything together before she got sick.”

My heart breaks for Starr. I can't imagine what it must be like to lose a parent. It'd turn anyone's world upside down. And here I am complaining about how much my life sucks and really all my parents do is set boundaries they feel will keep me safe. I mean, yeah, they are completely overprotective, but they're doing it because they love me.

“I'm sorry, sweetie,” I say, reaching over to stroke her hand. She squeezes her fingers around mine.

“Anyway, I asked my dad if I had to go to school and he said yes. He never talks about her. Or her death. It's like he wishes she never existed,” Starr says. She wipes at her tears with her sleeve. “So I was mad and I raided his liquor cabinet and drank half a bottle of bourbon.” She makes a face. “Nasty stuff. Really gross. I don't recommend it.

“I felt okay when I got on the school bus. But I think our bus driver must have been a former racer in the Indy 500 or something ‘cause he drove like a bat out of hell.  By the time I got to school, I was totally nauseated.” She groans. “So I'm like, desperately seeking a bathroom, when Sister Frances stops me in the hall and asks me if I'm okay. I guess I looked a little green. I tried to answer, but it all came out puke. I totally hurled all over her.”

“Ew, dude, you ralphed on a nun?” Sean exclaims, sounding grossed out and impressed all at the same time. “That's so effed up.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Starr says, sitting back up. “And for a nun, she's no dummy. She figures out exactly what's going on and hauls me into my dad's office. At first I think he's going to give me some light sentence ‘cause he knows the circumstances, but no. He says I have to set an example and I've embarrassed him from the moment he enrolled me in Sacred Mary's. Et cetera, Et cetera. So he says he's sending me to Woodbury. As if that's some bad punishment. I would so much rather be here anyway than that stuck-up richie private school.”