A Banshee's Wail (The Banshee Curse #1)

Chapter Five

THE DIN OF the cafeteria was practically deafening, distracting me from the school work I had begun in hopes of keeping me from glancing over at the table where Lyle, Derrick, and Sam were sitting. I hadn't spoken to any of them in over a week, which was actually quite a big feat. I had Lyle in quite a few of my classes, and since we hadn't been talking, none of our teachers had put us together for a project. And since Sam and I roomed together, not speaking to her was quite hard.

     I frowned and dug my iPod out of my bag, putting my ear buds into my ears and turning up the music until I couldn't hear the people around me chattering away. I returned my attention to my work and scribbled the next few sentences of answers to the history questions I had for homework. My last visit to see Dr. Sterling had resulted in another medication write up. I'd thrown away that slip of paper, too, but vowed that I would pull up my grades. She'd prescribed medication for ADHD and asked that I got a tutor.

     The tutor I understood, but medication for ADHD? I wasn't hyper, and she was just crazy.

     My pencil stopped moving and I tapped the eraser against my notebook as I tried to get my train of thought back. What had I been writing about again? I read through what I'd just written and paled, then I flushed a bright red color. Like anyone else had read what I'd just written. I erased it quickly, rereading the question and scribbling down the answer quickly. I can't believe I just wrote my feelings on my homework paper like it was my diary. Which I didn't have one, now that I thought about it.

     I glanced up as the chair across from me squealed back and Marc fell into it. “Hey, Jemmy,” he exclaimed, smiling cheekily.

     I frowned at him. “Hey, Marc,” I muttered, returning my attention to my homework.

     “How's it going?” he asked, completely overlooking the fact that my ear buds were in and I wasn't paying any attention to him at all.

     I sighed and turned the volume down on my iPod. “It's been going,” I told him, scribbling another answer down.

     “Do you mind if I ask you a question?”

     I looked up at him sharply. “What?” I said, drawing out the one-syllable word slowly. I set my pencil down on my notebook and leaned back in my seat, watching him link his fingers together and set his hands behind his head.

     “What happened between you and the others?” he asked, nodding his head at Lyle, Sam, and Derrick.

     I glanced over at them and winced, staring down at my notebook. “I'd rather not talk about it,” I told him, picking up my pencil again. I checked to see what the next question was and realized that I'd finished my homework. I set my pencil back down and stared at the paper.

     “I can respect that,” he said, nodding his head. “I've noticed Vince hasn't been bothering you as much lately. You finally threaten to castrate him if he didn't leave you alone?” He grinned, obviously joking.

     My eyes widened and I cringed at the memory. “No,” I said a little breathlessly, shaking my head and glancing out the window.

     The grin dropped from his face. “Hey, everything all right, Jemma?” he asked, concern in his voice.

     I glanced back over at him and forced a smile. “Of course, Marc,” I exclaimed, forcing myself to sound happy. I definitely wasn't happy, but I couldn't really let others know just how far that unhappiness went. “Was there a point to this visit, Marc, or did you just want to ask about why no one's speaking to me now?”

     He stared at me for a moment longer before leaning forward and onto his elbows. “You going to Joey's party tonight?” he asked, his dark brown eyes studying me intently.