The Truce

Chapter 18

School was strange now that Sebastian and I were together. People weren't mean or anything. Actually, his friends were pretty nice to me, but in a sort of begrudging way. Not that I thought they wouldn't have been cordial otherwise, but I was unexpected. Despite what he thought, everyone else saw me as a nerd, and a nerd was not the ideal girlfriend for a star football player as popular as Sebastian.

I never thought about it before, but he seemed to know everybody. Any time we had a few minutes together, someone else wanted his attention. I didn't really mind. I had a distinct advantage, living next door to him, and I was glad that people liked him. Or mostly. There were an uncomfortable number of girls who were suddenly giving me the side eye. I might not care at all, but it was kind of disturbing to get that sort of attention everywhere I went.

Thankfully, Scott stayed away from me. I was a little worried with what Sebastian said, but after a week, I'd only noticed him glaring in my direction at lunch a few times. Initially, I tried to skip out on eating in the cafeteria, convinced that he'd make some kind of awkward scene. But Sebastian refused to let me hide as if I'd done something wrong, and surprisingly, it was fine. Natalie and I were settling in at Sebastian's and Wes' table, and it was a much more enjoyable time than lunch had ever been with Kennedy so nearby.

"Does anyone get this stupid quadratic equation?" Emma, one of the girls at the table asked as she furiously flipped pages in her algebra book. "I have a test next hour and I have no idea what any of it means."

Part of me wanted to jump up and explain it to her, but I was already a nerd to these people. I didn't want to give them another reason to think so. Besides, I was pretty sure Emma was one of Sebastian's ex girlfriends and she hadn't been overly welcoming so far.

Sebastian smirked at me as if he knew exactly what I was thinking. "Michaela's a genius with math," he volunteered. "I'm sure she'd be happy to go over it with you."

My face reddened as everyone turned to me.

Emma looked up, hopeful. "Would you?"

So much for not seeming like a nerd. "Sure." I gave her a small smile and moved to sit beside her.

By the time we had to start heading for class, Emma had roughly grasped the concept - enough that I didn't think she'd fail her test anyway - and she was acting like we were best friends. With a parting promise to text me later to plan a pedicure trip, she hurried off to her test.

Sebastian stood beside me, looking amused.

"You're just giving your friends more reasons to think we don't belong together," I told him. "They already think I'm a nerd and that we don't fit."

He didn't seem dissuaded. "First of all, that's not true. Second, if it was, I really wouldn't care. They just have to get to know you, and since I like you, they're willing to assume they'll like you."

"If you say so." I let it go.

After a brief stop at the lockers, we walked to Geography.

"I used to hate that we had this class together," I mused as we approached the door. "Now I'm kind of mad it's the only one."

"We'll plan things better next semester."

I smiled, glad we still had a semester left.

"Ah, Mr. McBride. Miss Carver. You're both wanted in the office," Mr. Alvarez said before we could go to our seats.

Again? Sebastian and I looked at each other, confused.

Mr. Alvarez cleared his throat conspicuously. When we turned back to him, he held out hall passes for us.