Cold Coffee and Stale Cigarettes *on hold*

Chapter 14

“God, Mr. Tyffin is such a dick.” Mia says as she sits down at the table, her voice high pitched and angry. Her friend, Nora, crossed her arms and leaned back in the chair, watching her from across the lunch table.

                “What he do?”

                Exchanging a look with Dalton, who was sitting a seat away from me, I rolled my eyes and tuned them out, not really caring what Mia wanted to complain about. He seemed about as thrilled as I was. Gabe hadn’t shown up yet, even though I knew he was at school, so there was no one there to have a side conversation with in an attempt to ignore her. I couldn't talk to Dalton. I couldn't ask him about Rachel and her baby. It seemed too personal. I wasn’t sure if the rest of the group even knew about Dalton having a niece. I’d have to wait and find out. Carefully rolling a dehydrated looking pea on my tray, I picked at my lunch, still tired from the night before. Thankfully, the beach cop had been an older, much slower officer, with an unhealthy layer of fat. Per my instructions, Dalton and I had dodged through several yards and lost him with ease. We were just walking the beach at night. Even though it was past curfew, the cop wouldn’t be under enough pressure to try and find us.

                “Sam!” Hearing my name, my head snapped in the direction of Nora.

                “You ever had Tyffin?”

                “Yea, as a freshman.” I nodded as I spoke, remembering the middle-aged man with the desk covered in pictures of his children. He was a nice guy but a crappy teacher. Sometimes things just worked that way.

                “He ever yell at you?”

                “No.” I don’t think about what I’m going to say. “But I actually showed up for class and did my work, so.” Mia bristled at me, mouth thinning into an annoyed line.

                “I was sick.”

                “You were skipping.”

                “I didn’t feel good.”

                “It was a hangover. Suck it up.”

                “You’ve never even been drunk.”

                “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were keeping track for everyone. I’ll let you know next time.”

                “Excuse me?”

                “Mia.” Nora cut in, narrowing her eyes at the girl. “Stop trying to start a fight with her.”

                “I’m not!” Mia hissed, slamming her hands on the table. Several surrounding groups look at us at the noise but I don’t look at them. My gaze is stuck on Mia, cool and level, anger heating my veins. My fists inched and my teeth scraped together as I clenched my jaw. Searing heat stirred in my chest, fueling my heavy pumping heart. Why am I so angry? It used to scare me. I was used to it now.

                “Hey.” Gabe appeared, leaning on the table between Dalton and I, a crooked smile on his lips. “No need have a hissy fit guys.” His hands were splayed on the table beside me, eyes glimmering in mischief. “Get out your contact lists would you? I’m throwing a huge party tonight at my place.” Gabe eyed me for a moment. “Just a pre-warning, there will be drugs. Try not to flip, yea?” My fists clenched at my sides but I didn’t say anything, feeling another wave of heat wash over me. I need to punch something. The urge hadn’t been so strong in ages. Trying to force my anger away, I focused on something else, eyes scanning the people around me. A boy had stood and was throwing his lunch away, passing by our table. He was short and scrawny, with shining blonde hair and dark eyes. He was in one of my classes, although I couldn’t remember which. Ceramics, maybe? He was one of the two openly gay people I knew about in school. The other was his boyfriend. They would walk around school, hands linked, ignoring the world. It was cute. It always sparked some warmth in my cold heart, to see them so open about it. Gabe noticed my gaze and he smirked as the boy passed us.