Beautiful Demons

8. Someone Might Get Hurt

Except for the whole passing out in front of everyone thing, my morning went by without further incident. Classes here were small, but I was relieved to find that most of them were far behind where we were in my Atlanta school. At least I wouldn't have to worry about being behind on homework, especially since Ella Mae had been so serious about me keeping my grades up.

At lunch, I found Agnes and walked over to her, hoping she had gotten over whatever I'd done to make her mad this morning. She was sitting with three other girls who looked up as I walked over.

"Hey," I said. "Mind if I sit with y'all?"

"Sure," she said, her bubbly attitude thankfully returned. "This is Harper everyone. Harper, this is Shamekia, Randi, and Flora."

"Hey," Randi said. "How's your day going so far?""Hi," I said, sitting down. "Typical school day, I guess. How about y'all?"

"Always the same," Agnes said. "Too bad we don't have any classes together. I have math after lunch. What's next for you?" She squirted some ketchup onto her plate and dipped a french fry into it.I glanced at my schedule, then slipped it back into my bag. "Sixth period Calculus," I said.

Agnes coughed, nearly spitting out her fry. "I thought you said you were a sophomore?"

"I am."

"Then how are you in calculus? That's usually a senior class."

I shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not even sure they have my transcripts here yet. Maybe they put me in the wrong thing."

Agnes brightened. "Yeah, that's probably it. I mean, sophomores are hardly ever in the same class with seniors. I bet once they get your transcripts, they'll move you into my class."

"Uh-huh," I said, stuffing a french fry into my mouth. I didn't want to tell her that I had been taking calculus at my last school too. She seemed sensitive when it came to certain things, and I didn't want to make her angry again or hurt her feelings. I figured it was best to feign ignorance. And change the subject. "So what's there to do around here for fun? Like on the weekends?"

Agnes didn't answer me. In fact, I don't even think she heard me. Her hand was stuck mid-way to her mouth and her eyes were glued to something on the opposite side of the cafeteria. I turned and followed her gaze.

That's when I saw them. A group of four girls more beautiful than anyone had a right to be. They seemed to glide across the room as a single unit. Nearly everyone in the cafeteria was staring at them. As they passed, a younger boy with glasses practically tripped over himself to get out of their way.

"Who are they?" I asked.

"Those are the cheerleaders," Agnes said.

Her tone carried a certain reverence, and I had to hold back a laugh. Man, these people really seemed to take their sports seriously. There was definitely something special about those girls, but other than their beauty, I wasn't sure why everyone was so awed by them.

"There are only four cheerleaders?"

Agnes looked at me and rolled her eyes. "No, silly. Those are just the four most popular cheerleaders. The girl on the right, the brunette? She's Brooke Harris, senior and captain of the squad.

"I turned to look at the girl she was talking about. She had shoulder-length brown hair and was wearing tight black pants and a beaded pink tank top. Her smile lit up her entire face.

"Lark Chen is the Asian girl next to Brooke," Shamekia said, nodding toward the cheerleaders. "Her mom is the mayor."

Lark was shorter than the others. Her bone-straight hair fell halfway down her back and was the color of obsidian. She was talking excitedly to the girl next to her.