Instead of You(34)

“Hey, McKenzie,” he said with an easy smile.

“Hi, Nate.” I was a little confused. Nathan had never spoken to me before and he definitely hadn’t ever sat next to me in class.

“We don’t have school on Friday. District in-service, or something like that.”

“Yeah, three-day weekend,” I replied, still unsure as to why he was speaking to me.

“Well, Thursday night everyone is going over to Ryan Holstater’s house. You’ve been there before, right?”

“Yeah.” Ryan’s house was the same place Cory and I had gone camping. Where the picture in my locker was taken.

“Well, I’m officially inviting you.” He said the words as if I should have been grateful to him for the invitation.

“Oh,” I stammered, unused to boys I didn’t know inviting me to go places.

“Yeah, it’s no big deal, just bring a tent, or, ya know, share one.” He winked at me and I had to hold back a grimace.

“Can Holly, Becca, and Todd come too?”

He shrugged. “The more the merrier. Just make sure if you guys want to drink anything, you bring your own. BYOB.”

“Mr. Patterson, I need you to go back to your seat. I’d like to start class.” Hayes’s voice was authoritative and stern. Nate just leaned back in his seat, getting comfortable.

“I’m good here, Mr. Wallace.”

The room fell silent as a hush spread through, everyone waiting to see how Hayes handled his first insubordinate student. I watched as Hayes practically burned a hole through Nate with his gaze, the muscle in his jaw twitching. A few seconds felt like forever, but finally Hayes responded.

“Suit yourself, but the side conversations end now.”

With that, the class began, and we all got our first taste of Mr. Wallace in a bad mood. He was short-tempered, snappy, and not the easygoing, playful teacher we’d enjoyed for almost two weeks.

When the bell rang the students practically jumped out of their seats, trying to get out of his classroom as soon as possible for fear he’d assign extra homework for stragglers. I packed up my bag and could feel the heat of his eyes on my back, knew he was watching me, and when I was just about to walk out the door I caught his gaze.

He looked angry, but not at me. He looked angry with himself.

I hurried to my locker and just as I was about to close it Ryan Holstater leaned his shoulder against the locker next to mine.

“Hey, McKenzie,” he said with a bright and friendly smile.

“Ryan, hi.” I closed my locker and gripped the shoulder strap of my messenger bag, trying to look as though I was ready to leave.

“I just wanted to invite you to my house tomorrow night. I’m having another campout and wanted to make sure you knew you were invited. I know you usually came with Cory, because he was on the team, but….”

His words faded away and so did my apprehension. Ryan was obviously trying to show me I was still a part of the group, still accepted by Cory’s friends, even though he was gone.

“Thanks, Ryan. That’s really nice of you. Nate just invited me last period too.”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “Don’t let Nate keep you away. That guy, if he wasn’t on the swim team, I’d totally kick his ass.”

I laughed, thankful that I wasn’t the only one who wasn’t impressed by him. “Do you think I could bring Holly, Becca, and Todd, too? They came with Cory and me to the last one, we all had fun.”

“Definitely,” he said, again with a friendly smile.

“Okay,” I replied brightly. “I’ll ask them if they want to go. Thanks for the invite.”

“No problem, it’d be great to have you there.” His words sounded sincere and friendly, nothing like Nate’s invitation.

I waved to him as I walked toward the doors leading outside, trying to hurry.

“Kenzie!” I heard Holly’s voice from behind me and turned to see her jogging down the hall, dodging between people, weaving her way through the crowded hallway. “Hey,” she said, out of breath from the sprint.

“Hey, is something wrong?”

She shook her head and let out a breathy, “No.” Then she took a deep breath and continued. “I just wanted to catch you before you left. What are you doing tomorrow night?”

“I don’t know yet, why?”

“Todd and I got invited to Ryan Holstater’s house. I wanted to know if you wanted to go with us.”

I laughed. “Man, this must be one awesome party. Ryan just invited me too.” Nothing spread faster through our high school than news of parties.

“Yeah, and Jacob Matthews just invited Becca.” Her eyes were wide, a fantastic smile on her face, and eyes sparkling.

“He did not,” I deadpanned, truly shocked. Becca had been crushing on Jacob Matthews since the middle of last year but had only been brave enough to ask him to dance at our winter formal a few months before. The fact that he’d invited her was huge news in our little circle of friends.

“He did. So we need a total intervention before the party tomorrow. We have to go to Becca’s house and do her hair, her makeup, make sure she’s wearing the right outfit. This is her shot, Kenz.”

“This is huge.” I was still a little shocked.

“I know!” Holly squealed. “So, you’re in? She’s gonna need all the backup she can get.”