Chapter 8

The next day at lunch, I told Rhonda I needed to sit with Hanna and get some help on my homework at lunch, which was partially true. I was starting to really struggle in math, and I’d made a promise I wouldn’t start blowing my schoolwork off. The real reason, though, was I needed to talk to Jordan.

“Didn’t you just ask my sister out on a date?” Jordan said when I sat down across from her. “Why are you over here?”

“Partially, I was hoping I could talk someone into helping me out on my math, but mostly it was so I could talk to you.”

“Got a date with one sister and already here to pick up the other,” Fatima said. “Ballsy.”

“It’s not like that. This is weird, I know, but I was kinda hoping I could talk you into giving us a ride.”

“You think I want to be the third wheel on my sister’s date? Why not ask Hanna?”

“She can’t, she has her own date.”

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew I’d made a mistake. Hanna turned to glare at me while every conversation at the table stopped while every head at the table snapped around to stare at her.

“You have a date?” Jordan asked, her voice going up an octave in surprise.

She glared daggers at me for another few seconds before turning to Joanne.

“Yes. Marcus Holt asked me out yesterday morning.”

“And you said yes? I mean, I get it, Marcus is a snack, but you’ve turned other cute guys down.”

“Charlie convinced me that I was wasting my senior year. I think he called me a spinster at one point.”

“Really?” Jordan said, looking back at me. “I’m not sure if you realize it or not, but you’ve pulled off a miracle. We’ve all tried to get Hanna to get back out there, and she’s said no to everybody.”

“I guess I just made the right points.”

“Uh-huh. Well, I guess you deserve a reward, so sure, I’ll drive you on your date. You have to promise to not make out with my sister while I’m in the car, though.”

“No promises,” I said with a smirk.

“He’s going to be trouble,” Megan said. “First convincing miss ‘I don’t date’ to go out and now threatening to make out with your sister in front of you. Here we thought you were a straight-laced when Hanna brought you over with your ‘aww shucks, I’m just a homeschooled kid’ story.”

“So, where were you planning on taking Rhonda out on your date?”

“I hadn’t figured that part out yet. Dinner and then, I don’t know, somewhere we can talk but is still casual and enough of an activity to keep the pressure off.”

“Growing up, we used to go bowling every weekend, right up until she hit middle school. The sharks she became friends with would have seen it as uncool, so she started finding reasons to not go, but I know she missed it. I guarantee you she’d love the idea.”

“See, I knew it was smart asking you for help, now I’m getting all the inside scoop.”

“Just be careful what you ask. I may not like my sister that much, but if I think you’re just trying to take advantage of her, I will pound the shit out of you.”

“I’m not like that,” I said in all seriousness.

“Which is the only reason I’m helping you out now, but as the older sibling, it’s my job to threaten her dates.”

“Consider me threatened then.”

“Now you,” Jordan said, turning her attention back to Hanna, “need to spill.”

Hanna glared daggers at me once more before telling Jordan about her upcoming date. I never did end up getting help with my math.

“It’s nothing,” she said after giving me one more death glare. “It’s not even a real date. We’re just going to get something to eat and talk for a while. If he doesn’t annoy me too much, then I’ll let him take me on a real date.”

“Still,” Laura, one of the seniors in the group, said. “He’s nice on the eyes, and he has a great ass.”

“Bitch,” Jordan said, “you’ll hop on anything with a pulse. Hanna has more ... refined ... tastes.”

“Don’t hate me because the boys like me more than you.”

“If that were true,” Megan said, “you’d be sitting somewhere else. The guys you hook up with only want to sleep with you and brag to their friends about how easy you are.”

I think Megan knew as soon as the words were out of her mouth that she’d gone too far. I didn’t know Laura very well, and I was too new to know any of the gossips, but from her reaction, that shot hit a little too close to home.

“Well, I’m glad you get to sit here,” I said. “You’re nice on the eyes, and you have a great ass.”

She looked up at me, trying to see if I was making fun of her since I’d just quoted what she had said about Marcus. I made a point of taking a big bite of the nasty bologna sandwich that had been part of today’s voucher lunch bag and gave her the biggest shit-eating grin I could muster. I chewed nonchalantly, trying very hard to not let my disgust with the food show and ruin my otherwise perfectly moronic expression while she looked at me, evaluating.

She gave in finally and let out a chuckle, which caused several of the other kids around us to laugh, breaking the tension.

Jordan rolled her eyes at me and said, “See, I give you tips on how to win over my sister, and you’re here trying to pick someone else up.”

“I’m just saying facts,” I said, choking down the sandwich. “Doesn’t every girl want to hear how great their ass is?”

“Jesus, you’re hopeless,” Jordan said, throwing down her napkin.

“I don’t know,” Laura said, waggling her eyebrows. “I kind of like him.”

Lunch devolved into more teasing and shit-talking, although this time it was less pointed and hurtful. Hanna caught my eye and gave me a wink, telling me she recognized what I’d done.

All in all, I’d felt pretty pleased with myself.

Although I was starting to fall into a rhythm, the week seemed to drag as I waited for Saturday and my date. School continued to be hit or miss. Hanna continued to breathe down my neck about getting my homework done, so that was at least getting taken care of, but I was spending way too long on math.

We discovered that Hanna didn’t have the patience to help out. While she understood the concepts, she had trouble explaining it in a way that I could understand. Jordan had helped me out a couple of times and was better at answering my questions, but I didn’t see her that much. I continued to each lunch every day with Rhonda and her friends, none of whom seemed to have the slightest interest in school.

To be honest, other than Rhonda, the whole lot of them got on my nerves a bit. While none were as bad as Camille, who continued to be the most shallow human being I’d ever met, they were all way too concerned with others’ looks or social status. I was happy that Rhonda mostly stayed on the sidelines in those conversations, but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why she hung out with these people. For whatever reason, though, she liked them, and it wasn’t my place to say who she should be friends with. Since school was really my only opportunity to see her and I still wanted to spend time with her, I just kept my feelings to myself and tried to avoid telling any of them what I actually though.

Friday, I was going through the exercise routine when Chef’s voice called out from behind me.

“If you don’t want to do this, you can stop. I’m only going to do this if you’re willing to give your all.”

I stopped mid-sit-up, hands wrapping around my knees and craning my neck around so I could see him. Chef had taken to giving me a list of what he wanted me to do and then go back into the kitchen, popping out every now and then to correct my form or push me to go harder.

“Chef?”

“You’re going slow, and it’s clear you’re not focused on your form. I’m happy to spend my time getting you physically ready to learn to fight when that boot comes off but only if you give me one-hundred percent. So, what’s going on?”

“Sorry, Chef, I have something on my mind.”

“Either spill it, ignore it, or just go get ready for your shift.”

“I supposed to have a date on Saturday night, and I’m supposed to come in tomorrow night. I know I’ve only been here for a week, and I shouldn’t be asking for any nights off, so I was trying to figure out how to ask without sounding incredibly ungrateful.”

Chef just stared at me for a minute before putting his head inside and shouting.

“Tommy, come out here.”

After a few beats, one of the line cooks came out. With an unruly mob of shaggy brown hair barely contained under a bandanna, I’d met Tommy, but only briefly. I knew he was in his twenties, but that was about it.

“You said you needed to switch your morning shift next week, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Charlie’s offering to take your shift if you take his evening shift tomorrow night.”

“Are you sure, Chef?” Tommy asked, looking down at me.

“You think I’m confused?”

“No, Chef, I’m just surprised. He’s kinda new, but yeah, I’ll switch with him.”

“Good. No better time to learn the ropes. Now get outta here, you’re bothering me.”

Like everyone seemed to do, Tommy reacted to Chef’s gruff nature the opposite way it was presented, giving him a big grin and ducking back inside. I hadn’t been with Chef long enough to put my finger on what it was, but whenever he said something like that, it was clear ‘you’re bothering me’ meant ‘I like you’ or ‘good job.’

“Thanks, Chef.”

“Ohh, it’s not going to be that easy. Tommy normally goes with me to the market on Saturdays and then helps me prep the special. I’ll be at your place at six next Saturday morning to pick you up. You’ll go with me to the market, work morning prep, do your exercises, work lunch, and, after your date, work dinner. It’ll be a long day for you, so I hope she’s worth it.”