Chapter 5: School Days

  With closed eyes, my back presses against the cool gss of the vending machine. The coils grind and turn somewhere inside before ending with a hollow thud. Luna reaches in to grab both of our energy drinks.

  "You only use the quadratic formu if the numbers are too big to factor or unfactorable."

  "I thought so, but I swear there was somewhere else where you use it too."

  "I don't think so…?" Wait, is there another situation where you use the quadratic formu? Now she's screwing me up.

  "When you're finding the discriminant." I smile at the husky third voice that interrupts our mini math session.

  "Morning, Matthew." I open my eyes to be met with the muscur frame of the guy I call my best frie—my second best friend.

  "What's up, man? Sleep te again st night?"

  "Of course."

  "Yeah, I feel you." He chuckles, bringing his hand in for a dap.

  "If you two are done," Luna interrupts our reunion, "you said something about a discriminant?"

  "Yeah, you use the bottom part of the formu, everything under the fraction. Like, uh, two times the variable." I can't help but sigh. Here I was thinking Matthew was being all smart.

  "You get the discriminant from using whatever is under the square root, dumbass, not under the fraction."

  "Oh, shi—are you for real?" Is he really that surprised?

  "Try your best not to fail, Matthew." I shoot him a condescending smile. It's a bit funny considering how the three of us are all pretty smart. We're all in advanced pcement csses, after all. If I'm being honest though, I'm pretty sure Luna beats us both in terms of academic prowess.

  "Did you want something too, Matthew?" Luna asks as she hands me my energy drink—my only weapon in the fight against sleep during history css. Matthew shakes his head, and the three of us make our way to first period together.

  The only css we all ended up in was AP English, which I have to admit has been pretty fun. Before we can fully step foot through the doorway—

  "Lunaaaa!" One of the girls bursts from her seat, running toward Luna with open arms, her blue hair swaying behind her.

  "Starr! No way, you got your nails painted!?" Luna's eyes widen in surprise. She noticed that already?

  "Of course! Have you not had a chance to? Don't tell me Micheal is keeping you all to himself again?" I turn to see Starr's purple eyes burning into mine, grinning widely.

  "Your nails look horrible, Starr." I say it with a wide smile, my eyes not leaving hers. I like to mess with her, she's the only girl I know who can take insults, besides Luna. I go easy on her though. I know she only fires shots at me because she's jealous of how close Luna and I are.

  "Thanks, bitch." After flipping me off, she turns her attention back to Luna.

  "Why aren't you coming to the party tonight?"

  "I got something pnned for Micheal tonight. Besides, you know how he is." I brace myself for Starr's typical response, but to my surprise, she just looks at us both with a cheeky smile.

  "Book a hotel or something? You guys have fun then…" The three of us just sigh. Even Matthew. We're used to Starr and her comments. She's pretty unfiltered—it's funny, though.

  "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Don't worry, we'll hang out soon, just the four of us." Everyone nods in agreement. It would be nice. It's been a while since we've all—

  "Can I come too, Mikey?" That's…a voice I recognize. All four of our heads swivel toward the blonde girl approaching us.

  "Hiiii, Matthew…" Wait, is she flirting with Matthew? It's nothing new. Matthew is one of the most popur guys at school. He's attractive, built, captain of the basketball team; he's basically the perfect—eww, gross, now I feel weird thinking all that. I mean it's true, but still, I don't get what they see in him personality-wise.

  "I didn't know you were hanging out with Micheal today, Matthew." I look down to see the blonde leaning into me, her arms resting on my chest. Now I realize who it is—Trisha.

  "I just met him in the halls. I'm with Naomi and you today, don't worry." Matthew replies as trisha smirks. I give Matthew an Inquisitive look.

  "Again? Too popur for us now?" I say it with a smile, but there’s some venom in my words. He doesn't respond, turning his head away from me. He's been hanging with Trisha and Naomi more often than usual the st couple of weeks. I barely see the guy anymore.

  "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Is this how low you've gone, Trisha? Your boyfriend broke up with you, and now you're throwing yourself onto every guy you see?" Starr to the rescue? Actually, I'm just now noticing the gre coming from not just Starr but…Luna too?

  "Trisha, get your hands off of him. If you're going to harass people, go do it on the streets." Trisha gres at the girls. I'm missing something here, aren't I? If Luna's even getting into it then—

  "Yeah, go back to the street, whore!" Trisha raises her fist at Starr's comment. I prepare to intervene, but Matthew grabs Trisha before she can do anything she'd regret.

  "Let's take a chill pill, Trish." He drags her back to her desk by the window.

  "So what's the deal?" I look down at the two girls, awaiting their answer. Their eyes are inspecting every part of the room but mine. Sure, Trisha broke up with her boyfriend, but there's clearly more to the story if these two have taken to such hostility—especially Luna.

  "Trisha is…not the best person right now." Why is Luna refusing to tell me?

  "She's never a good person. Now spill. What, are you guys scared of her or something?"

  "Hey! I'm not scared of anyone, let alone someone like Trasha!" I can't help but snicker. Trasha, that’s a good one. It's also amusing how easy it was to make Starr interject.

  "Tell me what she did then." Starr turns to Luna before looking back at me.

  "Have you not seen the video?" Video? Is this a girl thing, or has it been locked down tight?

  "Talk, Starr." She groans at my demand. Before she can say anything, another girl walks into the css. Naomi Odili—Matthew's girlfriend and Trisha's childhood best friend. Her father is just as loaded as Trisha's. He owns a pharmaceutical company.

  "Hey, Micheal." We aren't close or anything, but unlike Trish, Naomi has some human decency. Don't get me wrong, she's just as spoiled and entitled as Trisha is.

  "Morning. I think Trisha was flirting with Matthew." She sighs, squeezing her caramel frappuccino. At least I think that's what it is.

  "Bitch! Were you flirting with my mans?" Naomi screams from across the room.

  "It's all just pyful fun, Nay-Nay." Trisha's voice has taken a sweeter tone. Although everyone knows how cruel she can be if you cross her, Trisha is known as the perfect model student. A devil disguised as a saint. Her dad's influence lets her get away with a lot of things, but her prestigious reputation gets her into the teacher’s good graces.

  The two sit down, and Naomi starts to hug and kiss Matthew possessively.

  "Sooo…about the—"

  "We'll tell you at lunch." Luna cuts me off, and I groan impatiently. Why can't they just tell me now?

  "What's the big deal—" Starr presses her hands into my back and pushes me toward my seat before I can finish.

  "You heard Luna. We'll tell you ter." Starr fshes me another one of her smirks. I have a feeling she likes keeping me out of the loop.

  I slump into my chair, taking in my surroundings and letting out a sigh. Luna turns her attention toward me. What am I missing out on now? I took some time off school st week due to an injury. Did Trisha do something with the staff? She comes from a wealthy family—her father is an ambassador or something. Which means when she messes up, she usually gets away with it. Everything is handed to her too easily. She's captain of the volleyball team despite never having pyed for any team other than the school's.

  I run my fingers along the side of the desk, feeling a groove, probably carved by someone showing off their knife. Luna's on the volleyball team, she was team captain in middle school and, in all honesty, she's the best pyer I know. Despite her slim appearance, Luna is pretty athletic. She stands a chance against me in almost every sport we py. I still beat her, though. Every. Single. Time.

  Our teacher is always te. I gnce down at my white shoes to see my foot tapping. Matthew is consoling Trisha while Naomi seems to be pissed off. My elbow hits the hard wood of the desk as I prop my cheek up with my palm.

  It's a strange feeling when I think about how easy Trisha and Naomi have it. I wouldn't say I'm the best at everything, but I always stand a chance. When it comes to money though, I don't stack up—I'm not broke, I work two different jobs: one at a convenience store and the cleaning business Luna and I have. Sometimes I’ll move furniture for gigs, and I used to do deliveries too, but I'm not sure why I stopped. It's not easy making money from minimum wage jobs, but I'm not compining. Luna works a couple of jobs as well, so we earn enough to pay rent and live comfortably. Still, if I can save up enough, I want to invest and start a business. I'm pnning on opening a nightclub, and Luna's all for it: Club Moonlight.

  I'm pulled from my entrepreneurial reverie as Luna takes a seat beside me, followed by Starr ahead of us. Matthew gives my desk a little tap before heading up a few seats with his friends.

  "Morning, everyone. Did you guys all finish the reading st night?" I throw my notebook onto my desk and lean back.

  Now to deal with this. I love being a high schooler…