The Perks of Being a Freak (Editing)

47. And Now I Hate Science

Spanish sucked.

As a rule, Spanish is a sucky class. Since sixth grade, when grades really started mattering to me, Spanish has been the only class that I struggled with.

And this was the last year that I ever had to take it.

So I was practically skipping down the hallway to my absolute favorite class: science.

I had heard stories of my new teacher, Dr. Sanders. Apparently, he was dull as nails. Which sucked, but it was science. It couldn’t be that bad.

I was wrong.

Other people crowded the classroom, waiting to be seated. Immediately I groaned. I hated it when teachers sat us alphabetically. “Remembering names” was bullshit. They just did it because it was easier. Lazy jerks.

I didn’t have to wait long. D was right at the beginning of the alphabet.

“Juliana Davis?” The gray-haired man looked up. I raised my hand and moved to the seat he pointed at. 

“Just Lia, Dr. Sanders.” 

He didn’t respond, simply pointed at the seat behind me and called the next student. “Simon Downie.”

My heart stopped beating.

Immediately, my frazzled brain put together the pieces. Copper hair, just like Jaeb’s. She was rushing through the halls so none of us would see her. They were here. Oh, God they were at our school.

I scanned the students by the door anxiously, praying that he wouldn’t appear.

Maybe it was just someone with the same first name? That wasn’t uncommon. In fact, Simon was a pretty popular name. It couldn’t be him. He wouldn’t come to school. And it hadn’t been Jaeb. Jaeb would never run away from me. She would have turned and confronted me in front of the entire school.

I sighed heavily.

“Is Simon Downie here today?” Dr. Sanders narrowed his eyes at the crowd. When no one stepped forward, he shrugged and called the next name. “Samantha Enoch.” A pretty girl with long brown hair came and sat in the first seat of the next row.

When Dr. Sanders finally finished seating us, finishing with one of the smartest kids in our grade, Abby Xie, he placed his clipboard on the desk and turned to survey us. I could have sworn that I saw his eyes lock onto my braid scornfully, before he moved on.

Dr. Sanders began the same speech that we had all heard in all of our classes since the beginning of forever, talking about homework and grading procedures and how “physics is really hard and I expect many of you will fail” (he looked straight at me when he said this (douchebag)). Naturally, we drowned out his words and went back to studying each other.

The girl in front of me, Kelsey, I knew from freshman year. We had been stuck sitting next to each other with one of the worst teachers in the school. Everyone called her the Dragon, because her breath alone could kill you. Not to mention that she had a horrible temper. And she had hated me, which was not uncommon.

So Kelsey turned around and we chatted in whispers. She told me about her summer, and how she had gone to Brazil to visit family. I told her about how boring and ordinary my summer had been, cringing at the lies.

And then the door slammed open and the room went dead silent. I turned to look at the newcomer, and my head spun.

Golden brown hair, cold blue eyes, lips upturned into a smirk. My nightmare walked through the door of my science class.

“Sorry I’m late, Dr. Sanders,” Simon said politely, barely even glancing at the teacher. “I got lost. My name is Simon Downie.”

“Alright, Mr. Downie,” Dr. Sanders said, glaring at the taller boy. “I’ll let it slide because it’s the beginning of the year. But after this week, I expect punctuality from all of you.” Why was he looking at me again?! Jerk! “You can sit behind Juliana over there. She is the one with the… er… colored hair.”

My hands were shaking, although I couldn’t tell if it was from fear or anger. Maybe it was a mix of the two, because behind me was the guy who had tried to throw me off of a roof, who had decided to hate me without ever knowing me. Behind me was an enemy.

I curled my hands into fists and tried to focus on Dr. Sanders monotonous voice. I could not think of Simon behind me, so close to my wings and my completely vulnerable back. I could just imagine the headlines. “TEENAGE GIRL DEAD AT DESK”, “STAB WOUND WITH NO WEAPON???”, “TELEKINETIC TEENAGER APPREHENDED FOR MURDER OF FREAKISH PEER.” I was totally gonna die.

The entire class passed by so, so slowly. It seemed like the clock was determined to slow down as much as possible, and to give me an ulcer at the ripe age of sixteen and a half. I kept my back against the seat, afraid that if I pulled away Simon would have a clear shot at my wings. I tried to remind myself that he didn’t know about the feathery appendages that I hid beneath my camo jacket. 

But it still terrified me to have him behind me.

Simon is here Simon is here Simon is here Simon is here oh God oh God help please.

What?! Benny flipped out, and I had to keep myself from wincing at the volume.

Simon is sitting behind me and I think I saw Jaeb earlier. 

There was a sudden, sharp pain in the back of my head. I opened my mouth to cry out, but stifled it at the last second. Blood boiling, I turned to glare at Simon, who still held my braid in his fist.

Without breaking eye contact or losing that infuriatingly smug smirk, he yanked my braid again.

It was going to be a very, very long year.