Love Me, I Dare You

Chapter 1

I close my eyes and cross my fingers, hoping that Mr. Penguin doesn't call on me. No, his name isn't Mr. Penguin but I call him that since he always dresses in a depressing black and white.
"Ember," says Mr. Penguin.
I open my eyes, uncross my fingers, and give him a teasingly smile, "Yes?"
"The answer please," he requests.
I clench my teeth and rub my tongue onto my roof, giving me a tickling sensation. It's what I do when I panic.
"Okay, the answer is..." I look to my right and Brody mouth whispers, "Eighty-five!"
I smile and look back at Mr. Penguin, "I believe the answer is eighty-five."
Mr. Penguin rolls his eyes, "Thank you, Brody."
Was it that obvious? Whatever, the test isn't until Monday so I've got plenty of time to study this dumb math situation.
"Okay, before the bell rings, I want to give an announcement," Mr. Penguin informed.
I put my books into my cute little Hollister purse bag and listened.
"We are going to do a project on a word problem. You need 3 people in your group and..." The bell rings.
We all stand up and leave, happy that we didn't hear the rest.
Brody caught up with me in the halls and grabbed my arm from behind.
I was startled and instantly turned around, giving him a smack.
"Em?!" He yells, grabbing his right cheek.
"Don't scare me like that!" I yell back. This is why my mother only threw me a surprise birthday party once, and that one time was a disaster.
He released his cheek, "I'll live. So, you saw the text I sent you?"
"Which one?"
"The last one, about 3 classes ago."
"Last time I pretended to dig into my bag and used my phone, Ms. Hater stepped on my phone, with her heel." Of course her name isn't Ms. Hater but it's been my name for her ever since she became our principle and suddenly decides to hunt me down specifically. There are more troublemakers far worse than me!
"Seriously?!"
"Why do you think I bought a new phone? Because the other one smelled funny?"
He grabbed my hand. Well, not technically my hand but he grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the cafeteria before we were caught "skipping" class.
We grabbed our lunch, got a pass, and ate outside in the front steps of the school.
Well, since you just met Brody, here's who he is:
Brody has been my mega friend (we don't like the term 'best friend' because it's too often used) since we were birth babies. My mother and his mother are like beyond close since Freshman year. Brody and I have dated a couple of times but it never worked out so we always decided that staying as mega friends would just be best for us. I tell him everything that a girl usually tells to another girl, but Brody is a guy and I am perfectly fine with that. He even took me bra shopping at 10. Well, his looks are something girls called 'sexy.' I call it 'Brody-looking.' He's muscular enough to be considered buff and bulky, even though he really wasn't that buff. His short black hair match his light blue eyes on his nice caramel skin. Brody just looked like a Brody to me. He's used to my chunky UK accent so he understands me more than anyone else.
I took out my phone and checked the message he had sent me.
"Oh, a party?" I asked.
Brody turned his head to me since he was staring at a nice golden colored car, "Uh-yeah! Melon Head is throwing one with Pit Stain."
Yeah, we had names for every kid in our school, it was considered our 'code.' But we mostly did it to offend. Melon Head is Kacy and Pit Stain is Jackson. Kacy is in cheerleading while Jackson is in the football team. They went out a few times but Kacy always ended up cheating so they just remained "friends." Everyone else believes otherwise. Oh and they're popular. Not like it matters or anything.
"If you go, I'll go," I said while peeling an orange from my tray which was sitting on my knees.
"Last time Mindy went, she said it was the best party ever made," replied Brody with a convinced look on his face.
You realized how he didn't say an offensive name, instead he said 'Mindy' since she's a close friend of ours since Sophomore year.
"Mindy compliments everything," I responded. I say this since she always ends up complimenting the ugliest things or the lame things.
"Well, it's our last year here and we might as well enjoy the last of it."
I stuffed a piece of an orange into my mouth and nodded in agreement.