The Original Crowd (A Whole New Crowd 0.50)

We both knew students were stopping to watch us, but neither of us acknowledged them.

I’d had my say. Amber had her say.

Now neither of us were willing to b

e the first one to walk away.

Grant saved us because he walked up and merely dragged Amber behind him. But she wasn’t protesting at all, she just glared at me until he hauled her around the corner.

Now I realized why I felt comfortable here. It was just like back at Pedlam.

I grabbed my textbook and hurried into third period where I slipped into an empty seat in the back. I’d purposely sat amongst the potheads. They reminded me of Geezer and I drew some strength from that.

Walking through the hallways, so many people had sent greetings my way, I thought I had something plastered on my back, like a target or something. But no. They seemed relieved. Grateful. Fourth period was biology. And Molly was almost squealing from her excitement. Guess she’d always hated Amber. Which, I gotta tell you, was a surprise. I knew that I didn’t like Amber, but I never realized how much everyone else hated her, too.

Guess Amber was the reigning bitch in this school. I always thought it had been Jasmine, but I guess not.

Molly filled me in, “No one’s wanted to say anything bad about Amber. When Jasmine and Tray broke up, Amber was vicious to Jasmine. Jasmine left school crying a few times and she even quit the cheerleading squad. But that was last year and Amber quit too. I heard that Amber even got Jasmine thrown into a psych ward. She called the police and said she was Jasmine and that she wanted to kill herself. Jasmine’s parents didn’t believe her, so she got put on a seventy-two hour observation.”

“You have to be making some of this up,” I murmured.

“And one time, in seventh grade, Amber made Carter Sethlers date Sabrina Lyles because she knew Mandy liked him. So that’s why Mandy and Devon started dating. Amber didn’t want Carter dating Mandy.”

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

“It doesn’t have to. Amber is crazy.”

“Yeah, but…that’s psychotic. She doesn’t strike me as a psycho.”

“But she is. Amber is capable of anything, that’s why everyone’s scared of her.”

Everyone except Tray apparently. Oh, and me.

“And one time,” Molly insisted, leaning closer, whispering, “Amber called the police on Mandy’s thirteenth birthday party because she didn’t invite Amber. They’d had a fight over Bryce. Amber caught her and Bryce kissing in a closet at her own birthday party.”

The girl had control issues.

This was how my entire fourth period went.

Normally I sat alone at lunch. So I was more than surprised when I entered the cafeteria and saw my usual table filled. Honey, Bit, Molly, Larkins, and a bunch of the potheads. I glanced at Mandy’s table and saw Grant, Bryce, and Devon. No Tray.

Suddenly, I felt his hand wrap around my own. “Come on,” he said, pulling me behind him as he walked us back through the hallways.

“Where are we going?” Notice I wasn’t protesting, I just wanted to know. It was quite alright with me not to be in that cafeteria. I did see a few disappointed looks when we left.

“We’re skipping the rest of the day,” he answered, pulling out his keys as we approached his SUV.

This is not the brightest idea in Plan: Stay Out of Trouble. Again, notice that I wasn’t protesting.

I climbed into the passenger seat and buckled up.

The drive was quiet when we pulled up to his house.

Instead of heading to his pool-house, Tray grabbed my hand and led me into the kitchen. He threw his keys on the marble counter and opened the fridge. From inside, he asked, “You want some pizza?”

“Not really hungry.”

He pulled out a pizza box and a Diet Coke. Placing the can in front of me, he warmed up two slices of pizza for himself.