I push my hair out of my face and yawn, rubbing my eyes tiredly. Throughout the room, everybody looks half dead. Freddie has face-planted into the middle of a fat SAT study book, drool puddling on a page of vocabulary. Noah sits on my right, his thumb rubbing idle circles on my hand that he holds, tapping his pencil on the table with his other hand. He stares at a page of math but doesn't appear to really see anything in front of him. Zamari was chewing on the end of a pen, actually focused on the math book in front of him, while his feet are propped on the chair Ana rests in. Her eyes slide shut for a second before snapping back open and drifting closed again. Dante is shuffling a deck of cards, not even pretending to focus on studying. Esme flips through her pages, glancing up at Dante every once in a while. I drop my pen and stand to stretch, startling Noah out of his glazed state. We have been studying for the SAT for the better part of the hour, and my brain hurts.
"Break time, I need food," I announce, digging through my backpack for a snack. Dante silently passes half of his deck of cards to Zamari, and they both begin throwing them like throwing stars, attempting to hit Freddie. Ana snaps out of her doze, stretching her shoulders, and slumping further into her chair, appearing exhausted.
"SAT is gonna be the death of us," Noah says, pushing a hand through his hair and sighing. I sit back in my chair and he holds his hand out again for me to take, sliding his fingers between mine, and planting a kiss on the back of my hand. The simple sweetness of the gesture brings a smile to my face, and I brush his hair out of his face. Zamari finally hits his target, and Freddie bolts upright, sliding in his chair until he nearly falls on the floor. He looks around in confusion for a moment, before laying his head back on the desk, pulling his hood over his face and resuming his nap.
"I need this test to just be over already," Ana says, the edge in her voice betraying her lack of energy.
"Let's fail and get it over with," Dante says, closing his book.
"Guys we should talk about the spring break trip." I change the subject, opening fruit snacks, and passing some to Noah. Thinking about the SAT is starting to make my head hurt.
"That's so far from now," Freddie says, his voice muffled by the arm covering his face.
"So is graduation, but it'll sneak up on us." Ana reasons, kicking Zamari's feet off her chair. He looks at her, feigning hurt and she rolls her eyes, a small smile on her face.
"What trip?" Zamari asks, dropping his math textbook on the desk with a thud.
"We're talking about all of us going up to Florida for spring break. You're invited, obviously, we just haven't been able to talk about a lot of the details." I tell him some of the things we already know, like where we'd be staying, the shuttle my mom talked about, and how the plane ticket would be the main expense.
He shrugs one shoulder. "I mean, it might be out of my price range, but I'll see about it, we have a bit to get the money."
Ana and I discuss Florida, wondering what beaches we would go to, where we could go in the shuttle, with Esme jumping in here and there while Dante and Zamari resume their card throwing practice. Noah takes after Freddie in his napping.
YOU ARE READING
Salted Wound
Teen FictionAnastacia Flores doesn't live a perfect life, but she pushes herself into her education to have a bright future and become a teacher. She is loved and supported by her family, her boyfriend, Luis, and her best friends. Zamari Sabian is a deviant wh...
