Drink, Slay, Love

Chapter Seven

High school.

Pearl placed her hands on her hips and surveyed the monstrosity. It hulked on a hillside, a fortresslike block with narrow slits for windows as if to allow the teachers to shoot arrows at the kids in the parking lot. Not a bad idea, she thought.

She'd refused to ride the school bus. She'd also turned down the neon-pink My Pretty Pony backpack that Uncle Felix offered her after a far-too-long anecdote about its acquisition. It sported bloodstains on one shoulder strap. Instead, she'd borrowed a military backpack from Uncle Pascha (actually used in WWI-it came with an anecdote too) and hiked across town.

Now that she was here, the temptation to keep walking was nearly suffocating. She'd rather walk across Connecticut (eastward into the sun) than walk into this shadowed prison and spend hours shoulder to shoulder with her supper. Humans didn't have to hang out in a chicken coop before having chicken nuggets. With this many humans, she bet it even smelled like a chicken coop. But she couldn't explain to Mother and Daddy that she'd balked because of the stench.

A familiar voice said behind her, "I thought you said you were homeschooled."

She nearly flinched. She hadn't heard the boy approach, which was inexcusable. Even in a parking lot with humans swarming in every direction, she should have been aware of her personal space. "Just enrolled," she said.

"Been inside yet?" Evan asked. He stood beside her, and she studied him from out of the corner of her eye. He wore a button-down shirt, slightly wrinkled, with jeans that had worn through in one knee. His neck looked soft and sweet against his collar.

"Nope," she said.

"Planning to?"

"Undecided."

"Fair enough." He fell silent, studying the school beside her. "Look, I feel like I owe you an apology. . ."

Jumping up and down like a demented kangaroo, a girl screeched from across the parking lot and waved. "Evan! Over here!" Backpack bouncing on her back, she ran past the cars. She was puffing by the time she reached the sidewalk. "Hey, Evan," the girl panted. She then beamed at Pearl. "Hi, I'm Bethany."

Pearl raised her eyebrows at the newcomer. She never understood why any human would presume she wanted to talk. This human was of the perky sort. Her eyes sparkled, her teeth sparkled, and her strawberry-blonde hair sparkled. She carried a hot-pink backpack emblazoned with Hello Kitty. Pearl hoped she carried it ironically, but given the girl's chipper smile, Pearl had her doubts. She elected to ignore Bethany and returned to her assessment of the high school.

On all sides the school was framed by woods. To the left, the woods were broken by athletic fields, complete with bleachers and a track around a football field. Looking up at the school itself, Pearl noticed the mascot for the first time. Beside the words greenbridge high school was the white silhouette of a unicorn. In smaller letters, it read, home of the rampant unicorn. Automatically, she placed her hand over her heart, as if her hand could keep her vital organs safe and whole inside her. Her chest still ached, despite the pale skin that had sealed over the wound. Glaring at the unicorn silhouette, she decided that she hated coincidences. Or cosmic signs. Whichever it was. She felt as if the universe were laughing at her.

She heard Bethany stage-whisper to Evan, "Is she okay?"

"She has issues," Evan said.

"Oh," Bethany said. "Parents?"

"She didn't say," he said.

Bethany heaved a sigh. "I wish it were socially acceptable to walk up to strangers and say, 'Tell me your life story.' Every time I see someone interesting, I just about die from curiosity. Luckily, there are so many boring people in this town that it's rarely a problem." She inserted herself between Pearl and her view of the school. "Hi! New here? Welcome!"