Where There's Light | ✔

02. Definitely A Frowny Face

"Ana Lyons." Bee repeated, her brow creased as she tried to place the name. "Who the fuck is Ana Lyons?"

I had just shown Bee the text after days of debating whether or not I should. She was more shocked by what the message said than I was. Ana should be thankful that Bianca Sackler didn't know her face.

Despite her being fun sized, Bee wasn't afraid to fight. Growing up with four older brother she couldn't afford to be weak or else they would've walked all over her. That eat or be eaten mentality carried over to her school life as well.

Her temper was almost as short as she was. But she swore she was working on it. Her main goal for senior year—aside from keeping her grades up—was staying out of the principal's office.

I believed she could do. Just as long as no one tried her.

"Ana? The blonde girl who dresses like she's going to a Catholic school?"

I started to tell that was Anna Wells when she held her palms up and shook her head. "You know what, I don't even care. She's irrelevant just like Deshaun," she said definitively, clapping her hands together as if wiping them clean of them subject. "That's the end of that."

Accepting the subject change, I took another bite of my pancakes.

Bee an I did this every year the day before school started. We had breakfast at the diner and discussed the new school year. By that I meant that we gossiped about everyone and everything. Who broke up, who hooked up, what teacher lost their job after a drug raid, etc.

The diner, which had an actual name—The Olive Badger, the Diner just had more of a ring to it—was all dark wood and red leather booths. The floor was white and black checkered and all around were large posters of people who were enjoying the food a little too much.

It wasn't packed in there, but most of the booths and seats at the counter were taken. Some of the faces I recognized from school.

"Are you doing dance again this year?" I asked, taking a sip of my orange juice.

"Nah, boxing." A grin broke out on her freckled face.

"Since when does Bellcreek have boxing?"

"You haven't heard?" Her green eyes lit up as she leaned in across the table. "Some anonymous donor give the school a shit ton of money," she told me. "They're offering a bunch of new electives: boxing, sign language, art—"

"They already have art." I would know, I've been taking the class since freshman year.

"Not those color by number assignments Mrs. Wheeler passes out. Actual art." She began ticking things off on her fingers. "Painting, sculpting, stamp making."

"Stamp making?"

She nodded excitedly. "You didn't get the email to pick your classes?"

I tried to remember the last time I even logged into my email account. Probably the day I created it.

"Jade." My friend frowned. "School starts tomorrow. All the good classes will be full by now."

"Shit." I fell back against the leather seat. "Maybe if I hurry now..."

Bee was already waving down our waiter. She put down almost forty dollars for a fifteen dollar check. Always a big tipper.

What I did wasn't something I was proud of and I'd pay it back one of these days. While Bee was already heading towards the door, I took one of the ten dollar bills and slipped into my pocket. That'd be enough to get Taylor some more diapers.