“No. I just had an… issue… with the test. I have to retake it.”
“An issue outside of you not studying enough?”
“It’s calculus. It’s not so much studying as—”
“You really think you’ll do better this time around?”
“Yes. There won’t be an asshole around to muck it up for me.”
“Ya have to stop blaming your problems on someone else,” Max says grimly. “The world isn’t gonna give you a silver platter or roll out no red carpet.”
“Believe me. I don’t want the royal treatment,” I assure him. “I just want a fair shake.”
“With you retaking this test, that’s already not a fair shake.”
“Another student sabotaged my test!”
“I don’t care. You didn’t stop him. That’s on you, not anyone else.”
“I shouldn’t have to worry about bullies.”
“There are bullies in the real world,” he points out.
I grit my teeth. “Yes, I know,” I mumble.
“The world isn’t fair. Deal with it,” he says.
“Yeah, yeah. I hear you.”
“It won’t always be bad,” he tells me.
“Nah, it’ll be worse.” I roll my eyes and huff a sigh.
“You better be ready to roll up your sleeves and get ready to work the moment you arrive,” he warns.
“My sleeves are already rolled up,” I assure him.
I hang up.
Max is right. The real world is filled with bullies. If I can't handle the Mutineers, am I going to be able to handle the real world?
It’s lunchtime. Now that the phone call is out of the way, I log onto the computer and start to look around for colleges. If I want to stay off my father’s radar—if he’s even looking for me—then I can’t go to any of the colleges I already applied to under my real name. I draw up a short list and then start to dig deeper to find out what they require for their admissions requirements. It’s long and tedious, and when the bell rings, I’m not done, but I dutifully head to my next class.
Advanced physics is a lab today, and my partner is one of those who wants to do it all. I hate when kids are like that, even though I tend to be the same way. We end up butting heads enough that the teacher separates us and has us do the lab individually. Whatever.
Once I’m done, I head over to geography. Shane is there, and I find my mind drifting.
“Why aren’t you checking me out today?” he complains loudly. “I wore a sleeveless shirt just for you.”
I glance over at him and yawn.
He flips me the bird, and I wink.
“You think you’re all that and a box of chocolates, don’t you?”
“I love chocolate,” I say, “but I won’t ever eat the whole box. Gotta keep my girlish figure.”
“Nothing about your figure is girlish.”