With a muttered grumble, he grabbed his tray and moved down so that Mikey could sit down next to Cole. Sighing with satisfaction, Mikey reached for her chocolate milk, only to wonder why the large boy sitting across from her was glaring at her.
“Why do you look familiar?” Mikey asked as she took a sip of chocolate milk, absently noting that it was definitely creamier than public school chocolate milk.
“Dodgeball,”he bit out between clenched teeth.
Nodding, Mikey mumbled, “Good times,” with a heartfelt sigh that had the boy’s eyes narrowing dangerously on her.
Deciding that she should probably give him a chance to work through his need to glare at her, Mikey took in the large cafeteria that reminded her of the dining hall inHarry Potterand took in everything from the wood beams lining the ceiling to the freshly polished hardwood floor. That was followed by watching students coming and going, the teachers sitting at the long table at the other end of the cafeteria eating lunch instead of patrolling the cafeteria like they did at her old school and watching as Chloe tried to walk past their table.
“What are you doing?” Chloe asked as Cole reached back and grabbed hold of her bag and dragged her closer, giving her no choice but to sit down next to him.
“Making it easier for you to share,” Cole murmured as he helped himself to a bite of her pasta.
“But I don’t want to sit with you,” Chloe pointed out as Mikey went to take another sip of her milk only to find it missing. Frowning, she glanced to her left, only to find Sebastian sitting next to her. Having a pretty good idea why he was glaring at her, Mikey asked, “Is this because the ball slipped out of my hand?”
That question cost her her slice of pizza. “Would it help if I told you that I was sorry?” Mikey asked, only to end up losing her cookie. Sighing heavily, Mikey got up, grabbed her empty tray and got back in line, only to realize who was standing in front of her.
“If it isn’t Latin Scribe’s newest charity case,” the bleached blonde said as she ran a dismissive eye over her.
“And if it isn’t the sophomore that’s obsessed with me,” Mikey said, blinking up at the girl who she had the unfortunate luck of having three classes with as she stepped around her and grabbed a burger before moving on to select her sides. By the time that Mikey was ready to check out, her new best friend was gone.
Wondering how long it would be before she got bored and moved on, Mikey headed back to her seat, only to find a semi-familiar-looking man, whom she’d like to point out didn’t look happy to see her, standing in her way.
“Come with me, Miss Campbell,” he drawled, gesturing for her to follow him.
Wondering what she did now, Mikey dropped her tray off with Sebastian, ignored his questioning look and grabbed her bag and the burger off her tray and followed him, absently noting that Braxton was sitting at a table in the back of the cafeteria by himself. Taking a bite of her burger, Mikey made her way across the hallway towards the administration offices and into a large office with the headmaster plaque outside the door to find Uncle Jason and Coach Jackson waiting along with her new BFF and one of her lackeys.
“What’s going on?” Mikey asked, taking a bite of her burger as she noted that Uncle Jason really didn’t look all that happy to see her there.
“Have a seat, Mikey,” Coach Jackson said with a resigned sigh.
Knowing that she really didn’t have a choice, Mikey sat down in the chair next to her new BFF as the man that she was assuming was the headmaster cleared his throat as he sat down behind the large oak desk in front of her. “We don’t tolerate bullying at Latin Scribe High School, Mikey,” he began, making her frown as she took another bite of her burger.
“That’s good to know,” Mikey said slowly, wondering why he was telling her that.
“We have some concerns about your behavior,” he continued, making her bite back a wince as her gaze shot to Coach Jackson and noted that hereallydidn’t look happy about this meeting.
Clearing her throat, Mikey shifted in her chair as she said, “I was told that I wouldn’t get in trouble for dodgeball.”
“What are you talking about?”
Blinking innocently, Mikey asked, “What are you talking about?” realizing that he had no idea what she was talking about and deciding that it was probably for the best if she kept it that way.
“I’m talking about the way that you’ve been treating Nicole and Heather,” he said, making her frown.
“Who?” Mikey asked as he gestured to the girls sitting next to her.
“What exactly did I do?” she asked, nibbling on her burger only to grumble when Uncle Jason reached over and stole it, finishing it off in one bite, all while glaring at her.
“She wouldn’t leave us alone during Mr. Bailey’s class,” the girl, who she was assuming was Heather, said, making Mikey frown as she asked, “Who’s Mr. Bailey?”
“English,” the headmaster said, noting that she was still frowning in confusion and added, “Your third-period class.”
“Oh…” Mikey mumbled with a slow nod. “Wait. Is this because I took a nap?”
“You took a nap during English class?” the headmaster asked with a frown matching hers.
“That depends,” Mikey murmured as she cleared her throat.