Excuse my French

cinq. folie à deux

I was running late, and I thought my calculus textbook was still in my locker, which was halfway across the school. Why did this have to happen to me out of anyone in the world now? My phone was lighting up and pinging with texts from Luc and Lila, and to be completely honest, I couldn't bother to answer. As I rushed through the hallways to get to the entrance of the school, I assured myself that I could still access the online textbook at home later (which really wasn't the same as the paper edition, but I couldn't afford to be any more late at this point). And then, shrugging my backpack over my shoulder, I really ran.

Classic Rock Appreciation Club had let out late. That wasn't the issue—the real problem was that none of my affairs (my textbooks, my papers, my backpack, my belongings, and my life in general, to be realistic) were in order. I really wished I was more like Olivia now (obsessively organized). The lobby was looking closer now. I turned the corner of one hallway and skidded to a stop on the marble floor, slamming into Lila's back.

"Hey!" she complained, stooping over to pick up the textbook that she had just dropped. "You're late."

"I know, I know," I panted, hitching my backpack over my shoulders one more time. "But here I am now, so we might as well get going."

Luc, to whom she was talking before I collided with her, raised an eyebrow at me. "Classic Rock Appreciation Club?"

"What?" I straightened my skirt hastily, sniffing.

Luc coughed, his eyes laughing from the fist he held in front of his mouth. "You...like classic rock."

My mouth dropped open a little. "What? Elvis was pretty groovy."

"Right." Luc scoffed. Rude.

I rolled my eyes, shrugging. "Anyway, it sounded fun. And I don't think I can handle any more academic subjects outside of the classroom."

Once Luc stopped talking, my mind wandered to the disastrous event of the day: the calculus test, which Olivia, Lila, and I had taken today. I was already stumped by the first line of the first question, and I had spent most of the test trying to pull vocabulary terms out of my head (unsuccessfully). I also couldn't figure out how to use my graphic calculator, even after using them for at least three years. Yeah, my life was pretty much a hot mess right now.

As we three walked outside (it was nice and breezy with the sun shining benevolently today, so at least that made me feel better) to the car, Luc grinned mockingly at me, fiddling with the car keys in his pocket. "Honestly, though, calculus was easy. It gets way more difficult in statistics."

I punched his arm. "Stop showing off. I know I didn't take Algebra II in 8th grade, and you don't have to keep reminding me."

"I did," Lila but in. She had been trailing behind me and her brother like a lost puppy, so I guessed she was begging for attention. "I just failed it, so I retook it in 9th grade."

I rolled my eyes at her, taking a step away from Luc. "Fine, I admit it: you're both geniuses. Now stop bragging, will you?"

"Nah," Luc said. He unlocked the car (which was parked almost right next to the entrance, in contrast to Olivia's car, which was almost always parked on the road that led to the school when it wasn't parked next to the football field) from a couple feet away. "I'm the only one."

"Stop it." Lila sent him a dirty look. "You have a superiority complex."

Luc scoffed, holding up his car keys as he raised his hands. "I don't." He turned to me. "Audrey, just tell her."

I said nothing, however, as Lila took shotgun and I slipped into the back of the car. Seriously, Luc's car was fantastic. I didn't know how his parents trusted him with a new Cadillac (with a glossy, flaming red exterior) when my parents (who thought I would crash the car into a bridge and kill myself or something—which wasn't a bad fear, considering my driving rep) could only give me their old BMW. But anyway, his sleek leather seats would always best those of my car. The seats—they made me ridiculously giddy because they were so slippery.