Miranda [Watty Awards 2013]

Chapter 7

I added a few notes to the list in my notepad before I went to school the following Monday. Nothing else had happened, and I didn't worry about anybody from Ethans' group finding me. I could change appearances in a heartbeat.

            When I got to first period, I sat my head down on the desk, closing my eyes. I hadn't slept well over the weekend, having stayed up at odd hours of the night. Sleep deprivation usually wasn't an issue for me, but it was when I had a school schedule. I hadn't thought that through all the way.

            I'd gotten here early, not enough students in the room to make enough noise to irritate me. I was pretty short-tempered when I was tired, but I was going to have to hide that. It shouldn't be a problem. Everyone was cautious to stay away from me since word of what I'd done to Cody spread around.

            A chair squeaked next to me, and I turned my head the other way. I knew it was Jack, but I didn't want to talk to him this early. He had other ideas, though. I was slightly surprised when he struck up a conversation.

            "Long night?" he asked.

            I took a deep breath, then sat up in my seat. Even my mask couldn't hide the dark circles completely. "Yeah," I said, forcing a smile.

            He nodded. "Had plenty of those."

            That's because you were partying, apparently, I thought. "What'd you do this weekend?" I asked, like I didn't already know.

            He pushed his chair back a little bit and stuck his feet up on the table, much to Mr. Louis' displeasure. "Just hung out a little bit. Same for you?"

            I shook my head without really thinking. "No, people don't like me here."

            It wasn't the best thing for me to say, but Jack gave me a knowing smile nonetheless. "And why would that be, Lex?"

            I fought back a frown at the nickname, thinking that maybe he would try getting too close to me in the future if I let him. He seemed the type that would be attracted to the girl I was playing, in a different way than I wanted, and I obviously could not have that happen. I had to be careful around him.

            I shrugged, playing it off. "Because I don't like them. It's mutual feelings."

            "I like you," he said, and I didn't meet his eyes. "You seem nice enough to me."

            "Nice?" I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "Oh Jack, you don't know me at all."

            Shut up, my brain said, scolding me for setting myself up like this. I had to think about what my words would imply before I said anything, and that didn't work well when I was barely awake to begin with. If I said the wrong thing it would sit in Jack's mind until he came back to me, and then it would grow from there.

            "I think I know you enough," Jack stated matter-of-factly, staring at the clock in the front of the room.

            His remark amused me, and for a moment I considered his point of view. It didn't yield much; he had the kind of mind that was hard to guess. I let myself have some leeway and decided to have some fun for once.

            "Who do you think I am, then?" I challenged.

            Jack seemed too happy to share his opinion with me. "You're the kind of girl who wants people to hate her. Am I right? You're like me. You think you can handle everything by yourself."