Script Kiddies

Chapter 3

Haley squirmed in her desk, trying to find a position where shards of plastic weren't digging into her back or butt. The school district "refreshed" the desks about once a generation, and when they did, they always went with the lowest bidder, who used the cheapest, most brittle plastic possible.

Her English teacher, Mr. Garrigan, walked down the aisles, dropping the stapled stack of papers on desks, murmuring congratulations or encouragement to each student.

Dana sat a few rows ahead of her, and she beamed up at him as he approached. He smiled back and nodded as he handed her the paper, before moving on.

Haley couldn't see Dana's face, but the other girl sat straighter, and Haley felt some of the tension in her chest release. English wasn't her strong suit, and she knew Dana would get a higher grade, but they'd studied together so she couldn't be too far off.

Asking Dana for help in English had actually been one of the best decisions Haley had made in the two weeks since she'd arrived at the Kells. They were great people, who genuinely cared about their kids, both biological and foster, but there was definitely a pecking order, and Haley's arrival had pushed Dana down a rung. Even though Dana had been the picture of politeness, there had been a certain frostiness between the two.

Asking her foster sister for help had started to help thaw their relationship.

Dana turned and watched Mr. Garrigan approach Haley's desk.

Despite her confidence, Haley felt her pulse quicken.

Mr. Garrigan stopped next to her desk. She smiled up at him, doing her best to imitate Dana's ingratiating smile. He tried to smile encouragingly at her, but her heart sank as she saw a large swath of red ink as the paper dropped.

"Dropping into a new school mid-year is tough on anyone," he said, lowering his voice. "Why don't you stay for a few minutes after class and we can go over what you missed?"

She didn't look up, her eyes too transfixed by the red "D+" circled at the top of the page, but she managed to nod.

She blinked rapidly to clear her eyes, her chest constricting. She didn't look up to meet Dana's gaze. She wanted to just make an excuse to run out of the classroom.

The bell rang a few minutes later, and Haley swept the papers into her backpack before Dana could see but wasn't fast enough.

"I'm sorry," she said.

Haley sighed and looked up at her new sister.

"Not your fault."

"We should have done more of those practice quizzes," she said, putting a hand on Haley's shoulder.

"We were up until two in the morning the night before," Haley said. "There wasn't anything more you could have done. But thank you."

Haley stood.

"I need to see Mr. Garrigan," she said before Dana could apologize again. Haley held out the car key, which Mr. Kell had given her Monday morning. "Don't wait for me."

"You sure," Dana said.

Haley shook her head. "You can't be late for work. I'll grab the bus."

Dana bit her lip but took the key.

"Thanks," Dana said. "Text me when you get home."

"Ok, Mom ..." Haley rolled her eyes dramatically.

Dana smiled, and then patted her shoulder once more her before leaving the classroom.

Her meeting with Mr. Garrigan was just as she'd expected. He offered to walk her through what she got wrong, and she tried to follow why she should have used a semicolon instead of a comma, even though none of it made any sense.