The Homecoming Agenda

step six; don't allow the burnout to cheat off you

step six; don't allow the burnout to cheat off you

“TS Alaina!” Andrew Quincy threw a toned arm around my shoulder, dragging out the last ‘a’ in my name. “Let me copy off your test, huh?”

            It was Friday morning, and I had just arrived at school to be surrounded by Andrew and Matt, figuring I would let them cheat off of me on the government test today. I assumed neither of them decided to take the time to study last night.

            I pushed Andrew’s arm off my shoulder and spun on my heels to stop walking and face them, forcing the two of them to halt in their steps. “Uh, no.”

Andrew frowned. “Aw, come on Alaina. Do me a favor.” He tried to hug my waist, but I escaped his grip.

“Can’t either of you be bothered to study? Besides, just by listening in class, you already have a seventy percent.” I shrugged, and glanced around the vast cafeteria. My friends were sitting at our usual table in the cafeteria, copying each other’s homework.

“See, that’s the problem.” Matt said. “We never pay attention in class.” He smiled guiltily.

            I rolled my eyes. “I'm not going to let you guys cheat off my test.” Jen and Vena had now spotted the three of us, and were smirking my way. I mouthed at them to fuck off. They just giggled innocently. What fucks.

“I can't fail another test, Alaina.” Andrew pleaded. “My parents will kill me.” I envisioned him getting down on two knees and starting to beg like the big fuck he was. It was entertaining to say the least.

“Look,” I sighed. “If you can see my answers from where you’re sitting, I don’t care. But I'm not going to shove my paper in your face so you can see them. I'm not a complete idiot.”

            Andrew grinned. “Never said you were, dude.”

            I started to walk away from them, and muttered a ‘whatever’. They didn’t follow me, but instead headed over to their own usual morning hangout in the lobby of the auditorium, where the rest of the burnouts were located.

            By the time I reached Vena and Jen, they were finished with their homework and were staring patiently at me, like they were waiting. “Yeah?”

“You friends with Andrew now?” Jen asked.

“No.”

            Vena blushed. “What about Jason, are you gonna be friends with him?” She practically climbed across the table in wondering.

“I haven’t even talked to him once, Vena. Calm down.” I casually pushed her back into her seat, while discreetly glancing over at Matt and Andrew out of the corner of my eye.

            They were laughing with their friends, not a care in the world. That’s the thing I envy about stoners. They never seem to care what others think of them; they just do what they want, when they want. And here I am, pretending that I don’t give a damn that everyone thinks I'm a fucking slut.

            But I'm over it. Totally over it.

“Well, when are you going to meet him?” Vena asked, after taking a small sip of coffee she had gotten from the school cafeteria.

            I shrugged, before realizing Matt was forcing me to go to his party tonight. “Actually, today.”

            But like I figured, I shouldn’t have said anything at all. Vena proceeded to have a mini heart attack, almost flinging her coffee right into the lap of Carl Nixon, who was sitting only a few seats away from her. Once Vena came to her senses again, Jen asked me why in the hell I was seeing him in the first place.