Half Life: A Novel

Chapter 3

                                                           Chapter 3

                                                              -Brynn-

It was only 6th period and, already, Brynn wanted to scream. So far that day, she’d missed homeroom, had been so distracted during her Calculus test that she’d left half the answers blank, and had totally massacred her Renoir impressionist replica during 3rd period Art. And all of that was nothing compared to the utter disaster that had just been chemistry.

And, okay, maybe forcing her to be partners with James did make some sense, given that Brynn was a fellow new-comer and had formerly been the only other student without a permanent lab partner. But, clearly, the universe hated her.

Or someone up there did, Brynn thought angrily. Because, over the past 11 months, she had imagined an inevitable run-in with James a thousand different times, in a thousand different scenarios. But none of them were quite so public or undignified. And in most of them, Brynn hadn’t had to stop, drop, and roll. 

Just as Brynn began to give this new theory some thought, Cassie Carlson appeared beside her and abruptly began to drag her toward the café.

“Jeez,” Brynn said indignantly, as she stumbled forward behind her friend. “Where’s the fire?” And just as soon as she’d uttered the words, Brynn regretted them. She might as well have asked Cassie to mock her.

Fortunately, if Cassie noticed the crater-sized opening made by Brynn’s ill-timed and poorly chosen idiom, she didn’t let on, but simply shook her head in obvious disapproval. “Where the hell have you been all day? We’ve been looking for you since 5th period!”  She said “5th period” as though it hadn’t just happened an hour ago.

As Brynn prepared to ask who “we” was, she saw Stasia DuPont leaning casually against the Café entrance and, suddenly, the question seemed pointless. So, instead, she followed Cassie to their usual booth in the corner and then looked up at her friends expectantly.

“So what is this?” Brynn asked. “Some kind of intervention?”

“Look,” Cassie said, ignoring Brynn’s question. “We heard what happened in Chemistry. Kelly Stevens told us everything.”

When Brynn didn’t respond, Cassie rolled her eyes.  

“Don’t play dumb,” she chided. “Kelly told us Jenkins partnered you with James McAllister.” 

“And how you were a total bitch to him,” Stasia added. “Just because he knocked over your Bunsen Burner.” 

Brynn gaped at her friends. “Are you kidding?" She didn't recall James knocking over a Bunsen Burner. He'd just mentioned something about Caleb and suddenly the fire was huge. And then the magnesium powder -- or whatever had been in that beaker -- had only exacerbated the problem... But she wasn't about to tell that to them.  "I thought this was something important.”

Cassie and Stasia exchanged glances.

“Look—” Cassie continued solemnly. “You’re still kind of new at Park Crest and you’re dating Josh Anderson, so I doubt anyone will really hold it against you. But if you want to fit in here, you can’t just go around telling people like James McAllister to shove it.”

Brynn scowled. “So I didn’t fall all over the new kid. What’s the big deal?”

“The big deal,” Stasia explained. “Is that James McAllister isn’t just some stupid new kid. He’s Park Crest Royalty.”