“You’re just in time.”
I hadn’t been expecting anyone other than Nicole to show up at the club, so a room already full of four people was unexpected; however, a room where only one person was smiling proved to be an unsettling sight. Nicole and Aubrey seemed resigned to their fate, sitting on either side of the table and doing their best to ignore one another–one burying their nose in a book, and the other constantly swiping on their phone. The bubbly girl I had met while hanging up the posters for the fireworks show was grinning ear-to-ear. Her seat was pulled up next to Aubrey’s and she was chatting to the disinterested girl who deemed to answer her occasional grunts and shakes of her head. Topping off the unusual group was Miss Halsey. She had something akin to a grin plastered on her face, except that it was way too scary for that to be an accurate description. It was more like her lips were pinched upward against her will, and she was desperately trying to frown instead.
“Umm…”
When all of them turned to me, my mouth clamped up tight. I shifted from the doorway, head hung and shoulders hunched, as I found my way to the chair at the center of the table. Placing my hands on top of my knee and facing my body toward the window, I decided I would pretend to have a fascination with the bare trees outside. After all, there was no chance I was going to manage anything other than that weak interjection in this group. While I was confused beyond belief about why everyone was even here to begin with, I was trusting that our teacher would fill us in.
She didn’t disappoint.
“Alright, I’m glad to see that everyone has chosen to join. Makes everything easier for me.” Everyone besides the tanned girl let out a sound of disgust. “Yeah, yeah. You show me how sympathetic you can be after dealing with you little monsters all day. In fact, the only one I’m impartial toward right now is Serena.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“Polite too. That’s an extra five points in your favor.”
Where did this point system come from? And how could Serena be the only one in her good graces? I guess that this whole club debacle had either made Miss Halsey lose her mind or she’d been secretly judging us the entire time, which actually made total sense, now that I thought about it. No clarification was needed to know that the rest of us had racked up negative points.
“Anyways, about what we were discussing–”
“Objection,” Nicole said, turning a page in sync with her interruption.
Our teacher pounded on the table like a judge might with their gavel to silence the courtroom. “Denied. Anyone else?”
Everybody held their peace. Well, everyone but Nicole who was busy grumbling about our teacher in what I was certain was not a complimentary manner.
“Perfect. Now what were you saying about the arcade, Serena?”
My ears perked up at that. Arcade? It felt like I was missing a lot of context from the few minutes I showed up late.
“I wanted to know if it was ok if we took a break from club activities today and went to the arcade?”
“Take a break from doing nothing, huh?” Our teacher pondered that for a moment, tapping a finger on her chin and leaning back on her left leg. “So, you’re asking me, a respected teacher of this school, if it’s ok to skip out on your club to go play around?”
She stared at the older woman like it was a trick question on a pop quiz. “Yes?”
“Wait, are you even a member of the Volunteers Club?”
“Literature Club.” Nicole chimed in, only to be ignored once again.
“Yes… to both.”
“Sure, whatever then. Go ahead and knock yourselves out. I was the one they sent to check on you today anyway, so I’ll mark you as present.” She gave a short bow on her way out the door. “Hold the applause. There’s no need to thank me.”
When the door softly closed behind her, there was no round of applause to speak of. Rather, Aubrey released a deep sigh and appeared to be contemplating everything that had transpired. I wasn’t far behind her, although I was more confused than distressed. Nicole, on the other hand, stashed away the novel she’d been reading and was halfway out the door before Serena got in a word edgewise.
“Where are you going?”
“Home.”
“But what about the arcade? It’ll be fun!”
“Don’t care, midget.”
There was no lie detected as she also left the clubroom. It didn’t dampen Serena’s mood any; she sprung to her feet, entwining her arm with Aubrey’s, no matter how much she protested. Funny enough, it was almost like an older sister going along with their little sister’s whims. The height difference sold the act too. Since Aubrey was already short, it was funny to see her towering over somebody.
“You?”
The question snapped me out of my thoughts, I glanced around, finally pointing a finger at myself after I’d had enough of the charade. “Me?”
“You.”
“Grant,” Aubrey interjected, massaging her temple. “Please, I don’t need two of her.”
“Grant,” Serena carried on, unfazed, “are you going to come with us?”
It was a funny kind of crossroads I found myself at. Honestly, I didn’t have any burning desire to go to the arcade, especially not with these two. But going home wasn't exactly an option either. I’d already skipped the club on Friday, and Dad was bound to notice if I kept leaving early. Then he’d start asking questions, and knowing him, he might even call the school to figure out what was going on. The last thing I needed was for him to discover that I'd lied about why I joined this club–that it wasn't for fun, but for the credits I needed to graduate.
I could lie some more, obviously, but where did I draw the line? That sounded like more trouble than it was worth, and the arcade gave me a perfectly good answer to give him. Besides, we were going to be stuck together for a semester. What was a couple of hours going to hurt?
“I’ll come.”
“Awesome!” She threw open the door and scampered down the hallway. Her heavy footsteps echoed from all the way down the hall. “Dibs on driving.”
“Not since I value my life, you won’t.”
We trailed her at a much more leisurely pace with me pulling ahead of her due to her tiny strides. I was acutely aware of the space between us, constantly monitoring it and ensuring there were at least a few meters between us. The last thing I needed to do was have a panic attack if she accidentally touched me. Freaking out in front of every single member of this club wasn’t something I was striving for, despite evidence to the contrary.
A group of girls burst through the gym doors giggling about something or other as I practically slid along the wall farthest from them. If Aubrey found this strange, she didn’t comment, and we carried onward. There was nothing overly awkward about the situation, besides how I kept widening the gap between us, but I figured I’d feel more comfortable with conversation to fill the silence. Otherwise, it was probably going to turn into a long walk to the parking lot.
“You two been friends for awhile?”
“Is that what it seems like?” She chuckled. “Maybe in her mind we are, but I like to think it’s more like we’re sisters in arms. Fighting the good fight together or whatever.”
I nodded, assuming the good fight was referring to pining after Luke–an area I severely lacked experience compared to the two of them. “Either way, I figured you’d be more against the whole idea.”
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, I want nothing to do with this. I just know that going against her will end up being nothing but a headache.”
“I can kind of see that…” I said, figuring that was how she ended up in the clubroom to begin with.
“But what about you? I’m surprised you agreed to tag along.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Nicole already kind of stole the spotlight by storming out. I would just be a copycat if I did the same.”
The parking lot was now visible through the wide window as we caught the last glimpses of the school buses pulling away.
“I’m glad she isn’t coming, but I was kind of surprised.”
“Why’s that?”
“I figured she’d want to spend more time with you.”
I shook my head, not certain how to even respond to that question. This prompted her to try another approach. “You recommended that book to her, didn’t you?”
She was pretty sharp for somebody who was on their phone constantly. “In a very roundabout way.”
The girl hummed, pushing open the door leading to the parking lot. “Makes sense. You would make a weird pair.”
Of course it did. Because me and Nicole being friends? Impossible. Even if she was a fan of the same light novel, I already knew that wasn’t something that would happen in a million years. After all, I didn’t like her, and she didn’t like me. There was nothing more to it.