The Unexpected

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

I waited anxiously for the results of my test. I would say that I had studied hard and payed attention in class, but I honestly had learned nothing about the French Revolution over the weeks Mr. Carter had lectured about it.

I crossed my fingers under my desk when he stopped at the kid in front of me. “Sorry Mr. Olsen, but this is what happens when you skip class,” Mr. Carter commented, sounding annoyed.

I snuck a peek over the Olsen kid's shoulder and sucked in a breath when I saw an F scrawled over the sheet. Dang, I'm going to fail.

“Miss Young.” Mr. Carter stood in front of me. He handed me my paper and smiled. “I knew you could do it. Very well done.” He patted me on the back and moved on to the next student while I stared in shock at the A- next to my name.

After he finished passing out tests Mr. Carter moved to stand at the front of the room. “As many of you have now realized,” he said, “this class is not an extension of lunch, nor is it your nap time. Now, only two of you have gotten above a C on this quiz. A round of applause for Ricki Young and Zachary Freeman.”

Half the class clapped weakly while the other half glared at me and Zachary with distaste. I met Zach's eyes and raised an eyebrow as if to say ‘Do you know what dimension I've been sucked into 'cause there's no way I passed this’.

Zach just winked and flashed me a knowing and confident smirk. He dropped my gaze to receive a high-five from one of his football buddies, but when I looked back up I met his eyes again- the same green eyes I had been mesmerized by in that unfortunate moment in the hallway.

What? I mouthed. He held up a finger and scribbled something on a piece of notebook paper before passing it down. Eventually the slip made it to me and I unfolded it.

So, am I invited? it read. I wrote back my answer, yes, and passed it back.

Normally I wouldn't except when someone invited themselves to something (if you think about it it's kind of rude), but Zachary had been acting weird lately and I was going to turn my detective mode on and get to the bottom of it.

I glanced toward his desk but he was glaring at something behind me. Aaden was two desks back, pinning Zach with the same glare of pure hatred you would normally only use on someone if they were kicking a puppy. I rolled my eyes- they were acting like five-year-olds fighting over a toy- and got back to work.

.   .   .

As soon as the bell rang I gathered my books, ready to get the day over with. It had started raining- no, that wasn't a strong enough word. It had started down pouring- and just like that the sky got darker and the day got drearier. I sighed. It seemed like it rained every year on my birthday. At least I didn't plan anything outdoors. My house was big enough the entire tenth grade could show up and there would still be room.

Zachary was nowhere to be seen, but when I stepped out the door a hand grabbed my wrist and pulled me back into the empty classroom.

I shook my arm free from his grasp. “I need to go,” I pointed out, but he ignored me and closed the door.

“Okay Ricki,” Aaden said, standing in from of me. “You probably won't like this, and you're probably going to blow up on me, but you need to hear this.”

Seeing I was going nowhere fast I sank into the nearest chair and sighed. “What is it?”

“You can't have your party tonight.”