Linger

F I F T Y - T H R E E

My heart beat fast as I raced into the crowded halls, the first bell ringing just as the doors shut behind me. I let out a sigh of relief and made a beeline to my locker. 

"Maddie!" a cheerful voice called. 

I looked up to see Kelsey, a cheerleader, rushing up to me, waving papers in her hand. "Finally! There you are!"

I gave her a puzzled look. "What's going on?"

"Chelsea said you needed help with the study guide for math." She held out the papers to me.

My eyebrows shot up in realization. With everything else that went on this morning, it seemed like ages ago that we were studying for math. "Right!" I nodded, taking the papers. "Thank you. I'll get these back to you when I'm done." 

She waved her hand dismissively. "Just pass them on to whoever else needs it. That's what we've been doing." 

I looked at her, confused. "It's not yours?"

"Pft, no," she scoffed. "I'm telling you, no one was able to finish that study guide."

I let out a laugh. "Thanks, Kelsey." 

The papers were clutched in my hand as I made my way to study hall but my head was still in clouds. Time flew by and before I knew it, I was sitting in the courtyard with Alice and Chelsea during break. 

"Did you guys manage to get any sleep?" Chelsea asked, taking a sip of her coffee. 

Alice shook her head. "Couldn't." 

I nodded along. "Same." 

Chelsea stuck her lips out in a pout at us. "Now I feel like I missed out." 

"You didn't miss anything." I reassured her with a smile. "We're the ones that missed out on sleep." I nodded to Alice and me.

"You guys can nap during the senior meeting. I'll stay up and fill you in on everything later." 

I paused. "Wait, there's a senior meeting today?"

"Another one?" Alice asked. 

"That's what the announcement said." Chelsea shrugged. "Which doesn't make any sense because we weren't supposed to be meeting until next month. Why does he want to meet with us so soon?"

"Maybe he changed things up," Alice offered, peeling a piece off her string cheese. "No one seemed to like their group anyway." 

"If he did, I'm boycotting." 

I let out a laugh, taking a bite of my trail mix. "You're going to boycott a project?"

"Yes! Our group is . . ." Chelsea rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Whatever. But we finished the first assignment and turned it in. So, he knows we did it. If he changes it, that means we have to do it all over again." 

"Or maybe he'll just scratch the whole project," I said with a shrug. 

Alice gasped. "I hope so!"

Chelsea sighed. "That would be even more unfair."

I gave her a look. "Chels--"

The bell sounded, signaling the end of break. 

"Cruel," Chelsea said sternly, holding her finger out at me. "He's cruel. I'm glad you're done with him." She turned away, disappearing into the crowd heading back into the halls. 

Alice and I exchanged looks. 

"Imagine dating the most hated guy at this school," Alice said with a teasing smile.