On a scale of one to ten, how much do you want to strangle Anna Karenina?
She grinned to herself and then saw a student looking at her and quickly wiped the smile off her face.
She tried not to think about Phoebe back home in England.
Without making eye contact with anyone, she slid into an empty seat and pulled out her books.
She’d already read the book the class was studying. Was she supposed to say so? Or pretend to be stupid?
“Hi.” The girl next to her flashed her a smile that almost blinded. “I’m Kennedy. And you’re new. I’ve seen you in some of my classes.”
Mack was so relieved that someone had finally spoken to her, she almost melted with gratitude. “I’m Mack.”
“You’re British? Oh my God.” Kennedy pressed her hand to her chest. “I love your accent. Where are you from?”
“I lived in London, but my mom is from here. I’m only half-British. She was born on the Vineyard.” And if it was going to make her more popular she would be as British as possible.
“But now you’ve moved back? From London? Why?” Her tone suggested she couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to do that.
“My—” Mack stalled. No way was she ready to divulge personal details. “My dad died.”
“Oh, that’s too bad.” Kennedy’s brow creased. “So tough.”
“Yeah.” Mack felt emotion rush at her and dipped her head in horror. If she cried now it would all be over. She leaned down and pulled her pens out of her bag, giving herself a moment to recover. Breathe, Mack, breathe.
“So do you want to hang out some time?” Kennedy was open and friendly and Mack had to fight even harder not to cry, but this time the emotion was driven by relief.
It was all she could do not to hug Kennedy.
She’d hoped that she might find some friends eventually, but she hadn’t expected it to be so soon. And she hadn’t expected the overture to come from someone like Kennedy, the coolest girl in the year.
“Thanks.” Humbled and touched, she tried not to choke on the word. “I’d like that.”
“Great.” Kennedy’s smile widened. “A bunch of us go to the beach most days after school. In the summer we swim and stuff, but while the weather is cold we mostly just hang out, chat and do things to keep warm.”
Mack wondered what “things” were. “I don’t have a car or anything.”
“No worries. My brother and a couple of his friends have cars, so we’ll give you a ride.”
Mack shifted uncomfortably. There was no way her mother would want her to climb into a car with a bunch of older boys she’d never met before.
“I have my bike at school.”
“Mitch drives his dad’s pickup so you can sling the bike in the back of that. Come this afternoon. We’ll meet at the front entrance. It will be good for you to meet a few people.” Kennedy’s eyes narrowed. “Unless you need to check with your mom or something.”
Mack was torn. Now that the first thrill had faded, she was starting to feel uneasy. But Kennedy’s smile was like a flickering torch in a dark tunnel and Mack didn’t want that light to go out.
She had a feeling this was some sort of test and she was determined not to fail.
It wasn’t as if her mother was likely to check up on her. She had too much on her mind to be a helicopter parent right now. And she’d wanted Mack to make friends, hadn’t she?
“My mom is cool with whatever I want to do,” she said.
“Great.” The smile was back to full wattage. Kennedy had perfect teeth, blue eyes and that groomed all-American look that Mack knew she’d never be able to achieve.
Across the room, Mack noticed the lanky, dark-haired boy who had pinned up the advert for the Coding Club. Their eyes met. He gave her an awkward smile and she looked away, embarrassed.
“Ignore him,” Kennedy advised. Flicking her hair back, she took her book out of her bag and slapped it on the desk. “He’s probably just looked up from his keyboard and discovered girls exist, but he wouldn’t have a clue what to do with one of them so don’t worry. He’s a coding creep.”