Freak Genius

Chapter 7: DAN

Chapter 7: Dan

            Dan yanked his locker open and crammed his drawstring into it. He held it there with the rest of the junk in his locker. He slammed it shut and began briskly walking towards the cafeteria table, lunch in hand. Arthur was just taking a seat when Dan got there. “So how about that Pre-Calculus homework?” Arthur inquired. Dan shook his head, kicking his feet over the bench beside Arthur. “It makes me want to shoot myself in the head, reincarnate, and shoot myself again.” Brittany scampered up, plopping down between Arthur and Dan. She instantly wrapped her arms around Dan’s shoulder. “I’m in Trigonometry, and what we’re doing isn’t that bad. I’m not very good at math though.” Arthur disregarded her and continued his conversation with Dan, a slight edge in his voice. “How much did you get done?” Dan chuckled, unzipping his lunchbox absentmindedly, “Ha! I finished the first two… I think. I don’t know. She only gave us the evens, right?”

            Arthur nodded, situating his lunch around him. “Yeah. I guess that’s better than the whole worksheet. How does she manage to fit so many problems on one page? I think there were seventy problems!” Brittany shook her head, smiling. “Wish I had smart people problems…” She muttered.

            Just then, a faint shift in the air occurred. Dan saw Macy stumbling out of the bathroom across the hall, head down, through the reflection in the bronze stallion beside them. She was followed, seconds later, by Casey and a blonde girl Dan was almost positive was Taylor. Dan elbowed Brittany and pointed at the reflection in the statue. “No you don’t.” Dan watched as Casey marched up to Macy and whispered something in her ear. Macy remained expressionless but her face was drained of color. Taylor cackled and she scrambled away with Casey. Macy glanced around, and then assuming nobody was looking at her, she smiled and pranced over to the table.

            “Could I join you?” she asked brightly. Dan looked away, not believing what he had just seen.  “No. Go away,” Arthur demanded. Macy rolled her eyes and sat down across from the trio. She was attracting many people’s attention.

            Macy still looked sickly white, but otherwise perfectly fine. Dan didn’t understand how she did it. He’d just witnessed something he didn’t doubt was horrible and Macy acted as though nothing at all had happened. Macy scanned the room, easily spotting the onlookers. “So, has anyone said anything to you at all?” she asked no one in particular. Brittany pulled her arms from Dan and splayed them onto the table. “Well, there was a group of boys talking about homecoming and I heard them mention your name, but I’m not sure what they were talking about.”

            Macy nodded, pondering this. “Homecoming? Huh… I wonder what they said…” Brittany grinned at Macy, raising her eyebrows. “What?” Macy exclaimed defensively. “You haven’t heard?” Brittany stifled a laugh as Macy gazed the wall thinking. “What haven’t I heard?” “There’s a rumor going around that Stephen Star is going to ask you to homecoming.” Macy began choking. Arthur and Dan laughed, Brittany’s smile widening. Macy felt her cheeks redden with surprise. “St-Stephen Star? The one Casey used to cheat on Jake? The- The football player?”

            Brittany nodded. The boys’ laughter began to subside. “Not just a football player, the quarterback of the varsity team.” Dan rolled his eyes. “So what if he’s the quarterback? I’m on the team too!” Arthur whined. Brittany flailed her hand dismissively in his face. Macy still couldn’t believe what Brittany had said. “You’re sure it was Stephen Star?” Brittany nodded vigorously. “Why would he want to take me? He could go with anyone!” Dan felt a pang in his chest at the excitement in her voice. Brittany giggled girlishly and Macy followed her lead. “I don’t know, but have you seen his eyes? I’ve always loved boys with blue eyes.”