The Thrashers(24)

Jodi hadn’t needed to make new friends. Ever. Sure, she met Lucy and Paige freshman year and had to get to know them, but that was all Zack.

The last person Jodi befriended had killed herself on prom night.

As she took a seat near the window, she realized she knew everybody in this class, but she wasn’t sure she actually knew anybody. If Zack were here, he could whisper to her information he’d retained over the years, like maybe why Michaela and Tom V. looked like they’d broken up, or ask Naomi when she’d gotten her braces off. But if Jodi were to ask Naomi about her braces, she’d probably say she got them off two years ago, thanks for noticing.

When Jodi walked into English, Paige was already seated in the front, chatting with the people in the desks around her. She gave Jodi a warm smile, but didn’t stop her conversation.

After class, Paige was waiting for her outside the door, and Jodi almost jumped in surprise.

“Hi, babe! First day okay?” Paige offered her a stick of gum. Jodi shook her head. “I’m going to find a nice, out-of-the-way space for Zack and me to have lunch. He’s had a really rough day so far. A lot of stares and whispers, you know. So, I’m going to be with him, but tomorrow, we can sit under the tree on the field if you want!”

Paige was gone before Jodi could respond, swept up in the crowd heading to the cafeteria.

Tugging a granola bar out of her backpack, Jodi fought against the current and headed to the front office to change her class schedule.

Miss Tamblen, the receptionist, was on the phone at the front, so Jodi bit into her bar and chewed while she waited. Her eyes flickered over the inboxes, the freshmen welcome packets, and corkboard that stated merrily, Welcome Back!

“Jodi, what’s up?”

She snapped her gaze back to Miss Tamblen and found her hanging up, grinning at her.

“Hi, I wanted to switch out of my fifth period class. It’s an elective, and I just wanted to see what else I could take.”

“Ooookay,” Miss Tamblen typed her name into the system and rearranged her computer glasses back on her nose.

Oliver Burns drifted out of the side office, carrying a stack of freshly stapled packets that he laid with the other freshmen materials. His hair was yellow now.

“Oh, drama? Are you sure? New Helvetia’s department is very good,” Miss Tamblen hedged.

Oliver snorted, and she hushed him with a snap of her fingers.

“Let me check with Mrs. Yaris.” Miss Tamblen stood, and moved toward the back of the office.

Jodi watched Oliver as he filled binders with a flourish, tucked pamphlets into front sleeves, and hole-punched with grace.

“Are you taking an office assistant semester?” she asked.

He only nodded at the binder he was working on.

She shifted her weight and picked up a flyer for Back-to-School Night. Not that her dad would go …

“Why did you sign up in the first place?”

He was still staring down at the binders, clicking and unclicking the rings. She wasn’t even sure he was truly speaking to her.

“Paige and Lucy wanted to. And now they both had to drop.”

He didn’t react to her. She was just about to apologize for an swering a question that wasn’t even posed to her when he said, “It’s not that bad.”

She blinked. “Sorry?”

“Drama. The program is so small that the stage crew has to sign up for the same period. Mrs. Calloway asks on the first day if you’re a stage kid or a crew kid, and crew kids are only forced to do one-liners and ensemble stuff.”

“So I wouldn’t have to play a boy?” She grinned.

“Maybe. But you also could work in the shop all semester.”

He pulled his cell phone from his pocket, and at first, she thought he’d lost interest in her as he flipped through pictures. But then he extended his phone to her and lifted his eyes for the first time.

“Did you see The Miracle Worker last year?”

She shook her head.

“This was the backdrop.”

She took his phone and stared at a painting of a blurred white house with green shutters. A tree branch curved over the top, like a picture frame.

“You worked on this?”

He nodded. “It’s mine. I do the backdrop and wigs for every show.” He took his phone back and shrugged. “We always need artists.” He grabbed the binders and disappeared into the side office.

Jodi stared after him. They hadn’t had a proper conversation since eighth grade. They used to be good friends, and she wasn’t sure what changed back then, but he’d reached out today. She thought of her schedule for the next semester. She’d never seen Oliver on any of the posters for the shows or forced into tights for Romeo and Juliet. Could she actually get away with just painting?

In comparison to the rest of her days full of lonely classes and no further after-school hangouts with her friends, it sounded pretty nice.

“Right,” she said, as Miss Tamblen returned to the front. “I think I’ll actually stick with drama.”

“Wonderful!” Clapping her hands, she bounced on her heels. “You know, Mrs. Calloway is such a professional. She was on the West End!”

Jodi waved and headed to the vending machine near the cafeteria to grab a soda and a bag of chips, planning to eat them in the bathroom before heading to art.