Transcendence Read Online Free

been
staring at me a moment before. He didn’t appear to be looking at
Chelsea, either.
    “Isn’t that the new guy you were talking to
at the end of French?” Jeremy broke into the conversation. “The
transfer from New York?”
    I looked down at my plate and moved a tomato
around with my fork. “Yeah,” I said, shrugging like it didn’t
matter.
    Chelsea widened her eyes and leaned over the
table. “You talked to him?”
    “He just had a question about the homework,”
I lied, wishing she would let it go. “No big deal.”
    Jeremy laughed, looking at me in shock. “And
he asked you ?”
    I paused, not knowing how to reply. It did
seem unlikely that anyone would ask me for help in French, but
Jeremy didn’t have to announce that to the entire table.
    He took a bite of his sandwich and resumed
talking about the upcoming vote for co-captain with the guy next to
him before I could say anything. Aware of the fact that the entire
table had listened to our conversation, I sat back in my seat and
tried not to look at Drew again. I doubted that he would ever
embarrass me in front of everyone like Jeremy had just done.
    Chelsea popped a grape in her mouth and
rested an elbow on the table. “Since you know Drew, maybe you could
introduce us,” she said, looking over at him without bothering to
be inconspicuous. “He’s totally my type.”
    “Sure,” I said sarcastically. “He asked me
about the homework, and now we’re best friends.” I managed a small
laugh, but her comment bugged me. She couldn’t know if he was her
type—she’d never even had a conversation with him. Then again, it
wasn’t like I knew him, either.
    I spent the remainder of lunch trying to act
engulfed in listening to Shannon Henderson, one of the senior
girls, tell everyone about her month-long trip to Europe this past
summer. She took full command of the table, speaking loudly and
making huge gestures to get attention. Her stories were only
vaguely entertaining, but her two best friends Keelie and Amber
hung onto every word like she was giving a presidential speech.
    At least listening to her talk provided an
adequate distraction from Drew and prevented Chelsea from
discussing him any further.
    I checked my schedule at the end of lunch to
see what class I had next, glad to find that it was drawing.
Chelsea and Jeremy weren’t in the class, and it probably wouldn’t
be one that Drew would sign up for either, since it tended to be
mostly girls.
    When I arrived at the art room it was only a
quarter full, and I smiled when spotting Hannah Goldberg sitting by
herself at one of the four tall tables. Her peasant shirt looked
like it came out of the sixties, and she barely wore any make-up.
She was a quiet girl—short, with mousy brown hair and a few
freckles. She used to be best friends with Chelsea and me, but in
the beginning of freshman year she started dating Sheldon, the star
of most of the school plays, and the two of them started to isolate
themselves from everyone else. I missed talking with her, but at
least she seemed happy in her relationship.
    I sat on the stool next to her, saying hi as
I placed my bag on the ground.
    “Hey,” she said, smiling and placing her
pencil on her desk. “Where were you at lunch today?
    “Jeremy decided to sit in the cafeteria with
the guys from the team, so Chelsea and I ate there today,” I
explained, hoping she didn’t take it the wrong way. Last year we
always ate together in the commons.
    “Oh.” She looked disappointed. I felt bad,
since the only times we saw each other any more were during lunch
or classes we shared, but at least we had drawing together.
    We discussed what we did over the summer
until our teacher entered the room and handed us all empty
sketchbooks. He told us that by the end of the semester we had to
fill them up however we wanted. It didn’t matter what was in them
as long as they were full, which wouldn’t be a problem for me. I
knew it would be easy for Hannah as well;