––––––––
Mrs. Grace, the assistant principal, had kindly waived Saturday detention for the lunchroom debacle. Apparently, Regina’s assault record proceeded her. By the way Mrs. Grace smiled, I could tell that she was glad that Regina finally got a taste of her own medicine. I did have to apologize, though, which I did through clenched teeth. Regina didn’t respond. Oddly enough, she didn’t look entirely upset either.
Maybe this was some sort of test that her and Jake cooked up? Maybe she gained some respect for me since I’d fought back against her? Either way, the Winsteds were officially on my list of weird families.
I walked in to seventh period study hall, dressed in my gym clothes. I was a mess. No. Not just a mess. A hot mess. My hair was far from its earlier cuteness after I washed it with Jasmine’s shampoo and conditioner. Products that were not meant for curly hair by the way. I braided it into two braids, but even those were frizzing without the requisite gel or mousse that I normally added. And now I had to go sit in front of a boy who looked as sour as the milk I’d left rotting on the floor of the lunch room.
Why was this my life?
Cole sat at our usual table, books in front of him, pencil ready.
I slid in to my seat and put down my bags.
Would he be angry at me for pelting his sister with meat and fixings? Jake surely was. He’d told me how inappropriate my behavior was via text. I’d responded with two emojis. One was a cow. One was a pile of poop. I hoped that he was smart enough to get the point.
“Let’s start on chapter two,” Cole said, not looking at me.
What had I done to him? Why was he treating me this way?
I never thought I’d say it, but I kind of missed our banter. Yes, he was a cocky jerk, but this boy sitting in front of me was b-o-r-i-n-g.
For forty-five agonizing minutes, he quizzed me on French without even glancing at me. When I got an answer wrong, he simply said wrong, told me the correct answer, and asked me the question again. If I got the answer right, which I, of course, did, he moved on to the next question.
It was tedious and not at all what I was used to. I mean, it was nice that Cole wasn’t teasing me for once, but it was as if all the life had drained from him, leaving this angry, sullen husk of my arch nemesis.
I didn’t know whether to be happy about it, or sad.
When the bell rang, he didn’t say anything. No goodbye. No see you tomorrow. No great job, kid.
He just stood up and walked away.
What was his problem?