Freaks of Greenfield High

Freaks of Greenfield High (Chapter 3)

Freaks of Greenfield High

By Maree Anderson

Chapter Three

Jay lay the scalpel on the table. She grabbed Tyler's shoulders, steadying him as he wobbled atop his stool. "Are you unwell?" she asked, gorgeous eyes all shiny with concern.

His stomach chose that exact moment to heave.

"Tyler? What is wrong?"

"Gumph!" he said, desperate to warn her that he was going to—

Shee-it. Amazing how much puke came from eating one little apple. Just kill me now. Please?

Tyler wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and seriously considered crawling under the desk and dying. Puking in Bio. How lame was that?

And puking on a girl? A thousand times lamer than fainting. He was never going to live this one down.

"God. Jay. I'm so—"

"Nice one!" Bettina didn't sound the slightest bit sorry about Jay being the up-chuck victim. She couldn't have planned it better if she'd actually bribed Tyler to humiliate her potential competition.

Shawn was nothing if not persistent. He materialized beside Jay like he was a mosquito and she was a plump juicy vein.

"Jeez, you poor thing. Look at the mess he's made of you." He leaned toward her, like he was going to brush her down, and then screwed up his face, clothes-pegging his nose with his fingers. But pinching your nostrils isn't a good look when you're trying to suck up to a hot girl. Shawn finally realized that, and removed his hand from his nose to stick it in the pocket of his jeans. Which meant the puke smell got to him again, and caused a repeat of the screwed up face.

Tyler might have found the whole thing highly amusing if he hadn't been the one who'd done the puking.

"I'll take you to the bathroom and help you clean up," Shawn pulled himself together enough to say. And the way he said it, all wink-wink nudge-nudge, let's you and me get to know each other better.

Tyler gritted his teeth so hard his jaw ached. Asshole was dating Tyler's sister, for crying out loud! It'd be worth the risk of getting expelled. Reeeally worth it.

He clenched his fist, pulled back his elbow and—

He didn't complete the lunge because Jay clamped her hands around his biceps and pushed him back onto his stool, trapping him. She had some impressive "use your opponent's strength against them" mojo going on.

She leaned in to whisper in his ear. "Calm down."

Over her shoulder, Tyler caught Shawn's "you wouldn't freaking dare!" expression and hot-cold-hot relief washed over him. Last thing his mom needed was a call from the principal's office. She'd wig out and ground him for the next ten years. Plus Tyler would be banned from coaching. And his team would hunt him down and kill him... slowly and painfully.

His trembling muscles abruptly relaxed, leaving his limbs noodle-limp. Jay released him, but before he could thank her for saving his butt, she'd waved a hand in the air and attracted Mr. Gilbert's gimlet eye.

"Back to your seat, Shawn," Mr. Gilbert said.

"But—"

"You're disrupting class. Carry on massacring your frog."

Unlike the other teachers, Mr. Gilbert didn't give a toss that Shawn's daddy was Snapperton's mayor, the self-proclaimed biggest fish in a small pond. Behind the teacher's back, Shawn flipped him off and slunk back to his stool.