The Perks of Being a Freak (Editing)

48. Why Do You Hate Me?

Benny met me outside of science, and I was the first one out. Emily met us a few paces down the hall, holding on to my arm tightly.

Buddy system?  Benny asked. Silently, I nodded. 

We couldn’t be alone. Not now. If Jaeb and Simon were in the school, Mitchell wouldn’t be far behind. If one of us was caught alone…

It doesn’t have to just be the three of us, I thought, glancing down at my schedule. I doubt that they’d try anything if we were around normal humans.

Hana and Maggie? Emily brightened visibly. 

Yeah. Just… don’t be completely alone. No dark hallways or hiding underneath staircases or whatever. I pulled away from Benny and hooked my arm through Emily’s. Taking the hint, Benny split from us and went off towards his next class.

Study hall? Emily looked up and me and I nodded.

“I’m glad that we get at least one period together, Em,” I grinned at her. Speak aloud. It’ll look weird if we’re walking silently through the halls.

“LIA! EMMY!” A voice cut through the hallway din. For a split second, I could feel my heart stop.

And then I was grinning as Maggie threw her arms around my shoulders. I hugged her back tightly, smiling over the shorter girls shoulder at Hana.

“Good to see you again,” she said, smiling and embracing Emily gently, with much less vigor than Maggie. I could feel my ribs pressing together, and fought to pull the brunette off of me.

“Mags,” I hissed breathlessly. “Let go of me.”

Her hands were scarily close to the place where my back became my wings. A few inches downward and she would be able to feel them through the over-sized sweatshirt.

Maggie pulled away, grinning sheepishly. “I just missed you is all, Lia.”

“I missed you, too, Mags,” I ruffled her hair, caught up in a bun. She scowled at me and straightened it, as if her hair had been neat in the first place.

“How was your summer, Lia?” Hana asked, touching my arm. She had never really been one for physical contact.

“It was… dull, really.” Did Emily just scoff? Damn it, Em. Discretion. “I swam, I slept. I watched more TV than I should have. What about you?”

“I finished another novel,” Maggie said, eyes gleaming. “And I just sent it to the editor.”

“That’s great, Mags,” I smiled and threw an arm around her shoulder. Why did it feel like there was somebody watching me? I hated that feeling. “What about you, Hana?”

She simply shrugged.

We had a nice dynamic.

Maggie dragged Emily and I forcibly to study hall, and I couldn’t help look over my shoulder, towards where I had felt the eyes coming from.

Simon stood with his hands shoved into his pockets, glaring at me. Jaeb was beside him, looking worried.

But I couldn’t worry about them. I had to catch up with my friends again.

It occurred to me, watching Simon’s cold eyes, that maybe having human friends wasn’t a good idea. They were weaker than I was, they were a liability.

“Why do you hate me, Simon?” I wondered aloud, soft. “What did I ever do to you?”

Almost as if he had heard me, Simon’s eyes narrowed and he stalked away, Jaeb on his heels.

And I turned to follow my friends to study hall.