A girl with medium blonde hair and dark blue eyes was sitting on one of the benches, looking through her phone. Though she was wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt, she looked nice enough. The minute Emmanuel had blocked the sun out of her face, and she looked up, giving him a smile. He smiled back to her and then sat down, forcing me to stand.
“Sam, this is Ezra. Ezie, this is Sam.” Emmanuel turned away from me to see the girl - Sam’s - reaction. I gave her a friendly smile, as she looked up and gave one back to me. She actually looked me up and down, which caused me to feel a bit insecure. I wasn’t wearing anything out of the ordinary or anything, but she was looking at me oddly.
Sam gave me a nod. “Hey,” she said, trying to make her voice seem lower than it actually was. I smiled at her.
“Hi,” I said. “How’s your morning been?”
Sam shrugged. “My brother’s an idiot,” she said, still making her voice sound low. “But I guess it was okay.”
Weird, but I won’t judge. “I get it,” I said, giving her a smile. “Siblings are like that.”
Sam didn’t really say anything. Instead, she just kept her eyes on me before turning back to Emmanuel. “You’re here early,” she said.
“My mom had to work today,” Emmanuel said, being honest. “So my brothers had to take me to school.”
“What happened to Evelyn?”
Hang on. “You know our sister?” I asked Sam.
She gave me a look as if she’d forgotten I was even there. “Yeah,” she said. “Emmanuel introduced me to her, too. Along with another really tall guy. Your brother too, right?”695Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcnl9vPYaGu
I nodded. Eric’s height wasn’t unusual to me at all, but to others it was insane. Delcan was only 5’11, and Eric was almost 6’6. I was seen as tall too, but it probably was the other reason why I always felt so awkward. The only other guy closest to my height was Adam, and he was close to 6’1. But Sam was probably 4’11. 5’1 at most.
“Yeah,” I smiled again. Maybe I smiled whenever I felt weird-I’m not really sure.
Emmanuel glared at me as if I was stealing his spotlight, then turned back to his friend. “Anyways,” he said. “Samantha, we should probably-”
“Don’t. Call me. That,” Sam said in sudden rage. Her face and turned bright red, and she’d quickly grabbed her bags and walked inside the school. Emmanuel looked at me, and I could see how hurt he was. But it wasn’t like I could exactly do anything about the issue or...whatever was happening.
I patted my younger brother on the back. “Sorry, bro,” I said to him. “I know how bothered you are, but just leave her alone for a bit. Okay?”695Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOPQbEmsJ78
Instead of putting up an argument, Emmanuel slowly nodded. “K,” he muttered. I left my brother alone, and went back to the car, knowing that he knew what time we were picking him up from school. I went back to the car and sat back as Eric muttered something under his breath before starting the car and driving off.
About a minute after we’d left the school, Eric spoke aloud. “Did you not hear me?” he asked, annoyed.
I shook my head.
“We’re late.”
“I don’t really care,” I said, being honest. “When’d you meet Emmanuel’s new friends?”
Eric didn’t use the turning signal, which bothered me to a whole other level. “I can’t remember,” he muttered. “Weeks ago, maybe. He seem weird to you?”695Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpCXwEe2n2I
“She,” I corrected.
Eric paused before he started speaking again. “Sorry,” he said to no one. “But it’s not like anyone is really keeping up with anything. Emmanuel just has a crush. It happens to everybody.”695Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEU2slNNfuz
I didn’t comment. Instead, I just nodded.
My brother and I spent the last three minutes in the car in silence, and even though both of us were late, we didn’t make any rush to get out of the car and grab our things. Eric had gotten finished faster than I did and left me alone, but I continued to take my time getting my binders and homework out of the back seat.
But when I walked into first period, I wasn’t expecting my teacher to act the way she did.
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