Tranquil Falls

Peer Buddy

Mondays at school were always interesting. Some people walked around like zombies. Others were bouncing around after a weekend of recovery. I pulled my hood over my head and navigated through the crowded hallway, wishing that I could fade away into the concrete walls. Hide behind a spirit week poster. Avoid attention at all costs.

An arm looped around my neck. "Hey! There you are, jailbird!" Brody exclaimed, grinning at me as he jerked my hood down.

I rolled my eyes. "I didn't get arrested. Just escorted home."

"Oh, whatever," he said, hefting his backpack up onto his shoulder. "Did you do anything else other than getting escorted home? We went to a killer party at Josie's house, which you would have known about if your parents hadn't confiscated your phone. Maybe you should stop getting escorted home. Then we could actually hang out outside of school and practice."

"You got arrested again?" Raven asked as she walked up on the other side of me. I rolled my eyes. "What for this time?"

I cut her off and shoved my way to my locker. "I tried to break into the graveyard."

"Really?" Brody asked, draping his arm over Raven's shoulders. "You trying to get high because I have connections to help you with that. You don't need to break into a creepy-ass graveyard."

I shook my head and yanked my French book from under the stack, bending to pick up the papers that fell out. "Not that graveyard."

"Oh," he said softly.

"Yeah," I muttered, slamming my locker shut and turning to face him. "Don't give me that look. I'm fine."

"Sure, sure," he said, a fake grin on his face. "Listen, Coach is thinking about having two captains this year because he doesn't want to piss either of us off." Pity move.

"Cool," I said, stepping back into the flow of the hallway.

"Mr. Arlington," a familiar voice called.

"Oops," Brody muttered. "The nuthouse manager is calling. I'll see you in calc."

"Yeah, thanks," I said, breaking away from them and moving towards Mr. Collins. He stood in the office doorway, a file in his hands. "You found out quick."

"Oh, I have ears everywhere in this city," he said as he clapped me on the shoulder. I brushed past him and into the office. "That's not what I want to talk to you about right now, though."

"Really?" I asked, frowning at him. It wasn't often that he didn't want to debunk my latest police escapade. On top of meeting with the psychologist my parents paid, the school and court thought it was best that I meet with a counselor at school once a week to check-in.

"Really," he said as he led me down the hall to his office.

When we stepped in, a blonde girl turned around. I stopped in the doorway and looked at Collins. Wasn't there a patient-doctor confidentiality type thing that applied?
"This is Tae Austin. She's new," Collins said as he tossed the file onto his desk. "I'm assigning you to be her peer buddy."

"No. No. No way in hell am I being someone's 'peer buddy'. Isn't that the student council or some shit's responsibility?" I asked, backing towards the door.

"Gatlin. We've discussed avoiding uncomfortable situations before," Collins said, arching an eyebrow. "You can't flee every time you're faced with something you don't like. Tae is a senior. I've given her the same schedule as you so you don't have to worry about running around the school to find her and vice versa. She's a straight-A student like you. She just needs someone to show her the ropes."

"Pleasure to meet you," Tae said, holding out her hand for me to shake.

I stared at it and then I looked at Collins. "I'm not fleeing. Don't do that psychological shit with me. I don't have time for this."
"She'll only need you for a few days, Gatlin. It's not a lifelong commitment," he replied, crossing his arms over his chest. He wasn't going to let me win. "She may be able to teach you something."
"I hear that you're a star track athlete. I can't wait to try out for it in the spring," she said with a smile. I looked at her and then I looked at Collins.