Double Black Diamond
might be able to handle this subject. How hard could it be? The Mayflower, the Revolutionary War, Civil War, a couple of World Wars. Done.I nodded to Cooley, who was emptying a trashcan outside the room, pointed at a crumpled sandwich wrapper on the ground, and winked. “You dropped something.”
Inside, the teacher, a plump blond wearing jeans and a sweater, plus the eight students in the class, stared at me all the way to my seat. Laptops open, they lounged at three long tables set up in a U-shape facing a screen on the wall. Veena had saved me a spot. As I sat, Jake the player grinned at me cheekily over his computer.
“Hey, I’m Nicole Rossi. I go by Nic,” I said to the class.
“Welcome, Nic. I’m Ms. Pope,” the teacher said. “Please make an effort to be on time to class in the future.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said, a little too buoyantly for the situation. I couldn’t stop smiling.
“Everything okay?” Veena whispered.
“All good.” I pulled out my own computer.
She smiled knowingly. “Good.”
And that’s when I knew.
Xene hadn’t saved my job. Veena had.
I turned all the way around to her, my mouth open.
“Did you—?” I whispered.
“Shh.” Veena peeked at Ms. Pope, who glared at me over the projector. When the teacher went back to talking, Veena typed something and nudged her laptop screen my way.
Yes
Damn. Veena saved my ass. My earlier resolve grew even stronger. I needed to do better for her.
I spent the next forty-five minutes trying to type as fast as Ms. Pope talked. Did I say AP American History would be easy? Um, no. Other than one mention of Abe Lincoln and the Civil War, I’d never heard of half the laws, amendments, policies, or politicians she talked about.
After a while, I gave up trying to keep up and studied the kids in class instead. Everyone wore sweatshirts or hoodies, jeans and sweatpants, and strictly speaking, personal hygiene wasn’t a priority. A few glanced curiously back at me. Jake caught me looking once and checked out my boobs.
One of the girls captured my attention. She had shoulder-length brown hair and pale skin, and she was built like the shot-putters at my old school. Gram would have called her sturdy. She looked like she could handle herself. When she spoke, she had an accent. Russian, maybe, although her English was good.
When the bell rang, I leaned over to Veena. “How’d you know I was in trouble?”
“I could hear you on the phone last night in the bathroom.” She wrinkled her nose. “Sorry, the door is pretty thin. You said you thought you’d be fired.”
I nodded. “Thanks, Veena. I’m not sure why you did whatever you did, but you clearly saved my butt.”
She grinned. “Had to. You’re the right woman for this job.”
I was tempted to hug her. No. Professional distance.
“Hey, new girl.” Jake had wandered over. “Where have you been hiding? I looked for you at breakfast.”
“I wasn’t hungry,” I said.
The Russian girl stood to one side, packing up. I could tell she was listening. Her eyes were dark and flat, like two black beans on a white plate.
“Yeah, I bet. I heard you puked yesterday,” Jake said. “Altitude sickness sucks.”
I sighed and glanced at Veena, who held up her hands. “It wasn’t me!”
“Ali?” I asked.
Veena looked sheepish. “The way she told the story was really funny.”
“See you at lunch,” Jake said. “Just don’t hurl on me, ’K newbie?”
I didn’t answer, but it didn’t deter his cocky grin. The Russian girl stayed. For some reason I couldn’t put my finger on, I positioned myself a little closer to Veena.
“You ride?” Russian girl looked me up and down.
“Mostly I walk,” I said. “Oh, I can roller skate, too.”
Veena laughed. The girl’s face didn’t even flicker.
“Are you training today, Veena?” Her voice was as flat as her eyes. The only color on her was her bright red backpack.
“Yeah. You?”
“You haven’t landed the double V yet.” The way she said it was more fact than question.
Veena stiffened. “Not yet.”
The girl smirked. “Tick tock, tick tock. Olympics are coming.”
“Oh, shut up, Darya.” Ali busted through the door behind us and clearly heard the conversation. “Leave V alone.”
Veena’s expression clouded. “Why do you have to be like this, Darya? Just be chill and leave riding on the mountain like everyone else.”
“No one leaves riding on the mountain.” The girl stepped toward Veena.
To be fair, we were between her and the door, but it got my hackles up anyway. I slid closer to Veena myself. A few intriguing ideas came to mind involving a sharp pencil lying on the floor by my toe, or the bottle of dry erase cleaner a few steps away, but I imagined what Brown would do if I injured a student less than an hour after I told him I’d get my act together. It wasn’t worth it. Instead, I touched Veena’s arm.
“We should go.”
Darya’s eyes flickered to me, then back to Veena. With a smirk, she pushed past us out the door.
“What’s her problem?” I asked after she left.
“Um, she’s a bitch?” Ali pulled lip moisturizer out of her pocket and opened the lid. It was covered in fuzz, which she picked off.
Veena shook her head. “I just don’t get that girl. She’s a great rider, but she’s got serious attitude. We’re all competitive on the hill, right Al?”
Ali snorted in obvious agreement.
“But at school, we put it aside. We’re friends.”
“She’s just jealous of your skillz.” Ali drew out the z.
“She’s beaten me tons of times.”
“Twice,” Ali said to me while raising an eyebrow.
“Well, she threw down some sick runs when we were in Japan,” Veena said. “She’s peaking right on time for the Games.”
I held the door for them. “Where’s she from?”
“Belarus,” Veena said. “Her family owns like half the oil supply there or something.”
Gage jogged up in a sweatshirt and plaid pajama pants, his hair pulled up in a spiky ponytail on top of his head. “C’mon, kids. Class is about to start.”
No time to ask