It had been a few days since I had been able to make it down to the beach, what with studying for exams, student council president duty, and training the new freshmen for the swim team. I begrudgingly told myself that I would need to make the trip out tonight before the cravings got worse.
Bottle filled again, I rummaged through my bag to pull out a little blue tin labeled SEA SALT, and surreptitiously tilted the contents into my bottle.
After giving it a good shake, I took a swig from the briny liquid, the salt water much more refreshing as it made its way through my blood stream.
I smacked my lips, satisfied, and turned to go back to my friends when I came face to face with a small picture of a girl.
She stared up at me, her eyes wide. “Did you just drink salt water?”
Oh, shit.
“Uh, no? Just water,” I scoffed, as I tried to keep my voice from jumping up an octave.
Oh, shit. Oh, shit.
She pointed to my water bottle. “But I just watched you dump salt into the bottle and then drink it.”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“It wasn’t salt. It was vitamins,” I said quickly.
She shifted, her small hips jutting out to one side, hands resting on them in that full power mode that all women seemed to possess, an eyebrow cocking upward.
“The bottle of salt is still in your hand.”
Fuck.
I studied the girl. She was tiny, much shorter than my own 6’2”, in dark worn clothes far too baggy for her slim frame, and her hair looked like it had been attacked with a lawn mower holding a paintbrush…but despite that, she was cute. I didn’t know exactly what it was, perhaps it was her creamy brown skin. A color you really didn’t see in this rural northern town. Then her eyes, brown with hints of green, brimming with this confidence that just pulled me in, or maybe…just maybe it was her adorable button nose that reminded me of a bunny.
She had several piercings in her right ear and one in her left eyebrow that screamed ‘I’m a rebel’. Yet, she was wearing pink lip gloss and her long sleeved hoodie read “TEAM QUIN”.
Soft Punk would be the words to describe this girl.
But the big problem was that I didn't know her. She certainly wasn’t part of my Pod and definitely new to the school, so…
I gave a wide smile and simply tossed the bottle over my shoulder and into the trashcan I knew was there. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. See you around.”
With a wink, I walked off, quickly leaving her behind and back to my friends. When I got outside, I was relieved to see that she hadn’t followed me. She was so small, not really young looking but I hoped that she was a middle schooler who was transferring in. It would make it easier to avoid her until the year was over.
The rest of lunch went by quickly. Davie and Margo pitched me ideas on different possible mascots for the school. It was tradition that every eleven years, the school would change the mascot. This past eleven we were The Wombats, and before that, The Cougars. Two weeks ago the principal called me into her office to tell me that as the student council president, it would be up to me to decide. I had until the end of the term.
I honestly had way more important things to worry about.
“Did you and the rest of the council pick a theme for Prom yet?”
Like that.
I groaned and scratched the back of my head. “Honestly Margo, you would have an easier time getting those three to go skinny dipping in the bay with sharks than you would getting them to actually decide on something.”
My fellow council members, the triplets, Dina, Enya, and Pema, never got along and I was pretty convinced they only joined the council because I became president, as they spent most of their time making goo-goo eyes at me.
We all packed up our lunches as Margo and I separated from Davie, who had his next class on the other side of the building while Margo and I shared English together. As the class was literally right next to the exit, we didn’t have to go very far.
Finding our usual seats next to each other, we sat down and Margo continued.
“Well, I say you should go with the theme Midsummer Night’s Dream.” she suggested as she slid her coat off her back and onto her chair.
I tilted my head as I took off my own coat. “You want us to be running around the forest in the middle of the night, high on love?”
“No, you dingbat. Picture this: we go set up a bunch of fairy lights in the Doncreek clearing. We could easily get tables and a basic platform out there, and it would be pretty with some purple and white tule.”
I squinted my eyes and propped my chin on my hand, trying to envision what she was selling. “It’s not a bad idea, honestly a lot better than the gym. We would just need to get approval to set up and get the generators out there.”
“See,” She smiled, proud in her perpetual rightness.
“Okay, smarty pants. You came up with the idea, you write up the proposal to give to the principal, and help organize the whole thing.”
Her jaw dropped open and she started shaking her head in disbelief. "No, no, no, don't put that on me!”
I stood abruptly from my seat and held a pencil to her shoulder. “By the power invested in me, I, student council president Jason Monroe, name you, Margo Juneteli, the head of the prom committee.”
The rest of the students that had shuffled in began to laugh, including Damon, our teacher. Poor Margo looked furious but I knew she would enjoy it. I had known her and Davie all my life and if there was one thing I knew, it was that she loved being in charge, especially when it came to putting together parties, organizing the little details. She would thank me by the end of it.
My own smile fell when I saw, standing in the doorway, the girl from the water fountain. She was watching me as most of the class was, but not with a smile on her face. Her pink glossed lips were turned down into a frown and slightly puckered, brows drawn together as if she were trying to figure out some sort of math problem.
I assume others noticed my staring when Damon stood from his desk and walked up to her. “May I help you?”
Damon Kline was the youngest looking teacher in our school. Appearing at most twenty-six years old, a lot of the girls and a few of the guys in our school had a crush on him. He was also my cousin. And judging by the blush spreading across the girl’s cheeks, she wasn’t immune to his good looks or the charm that oozed off him.
“Is this English Literature?” she asked.
He smiled. “That it is. Are you the new transfer I was told about this morning?”
“I am,” she murmured. I watched as she fidgeted with one of the straps of her backpack. She kept glancing over at the rest of the class before shooting her eyes back to Damon.
“Well,” He shuffled over to his desk and picked up a packet of paper, turning to hand it to her. “It’s too late in the year for me to really give you a run for your money but If you don't mind, I have a test I would like you to take, to gauge your knowledge.”
The strong confident girl I had seen in the hall was smothered now, shy and fidgety in the face of all the eyes in the classroom watching her. She nodded and took the packet.
“For the sake of our new student, today is a reading day. Talk amongst yourselves or read, though I would prefer you read. In fact, extra credit for those who actually read one of the stories in our book and can give me a summary of what they read by the end of class.”
The students began to meander about, either starting pockets of conversations or pulling out their text books while our new student awkwardly looked for a new seat.
“Oh blimey, I nearly forgot. I’m sorry, I didn’t ask your name,” Damon commented on the way back to his desk.