Page 8 of Fortunate Miracles
“Yes, good idea. Come into the office with me. I want to give you something.”
I follow him and take a seat opposite his chair at the deck. Zander reaches into the bottom drawer and pulls out a small bag and a knife, setting them on the desk. “This is a folding knifewith a clip. You can clip it onto whatever you’re wearing,” he says, handing it to me. “Not for school, obviously, but I want you to wear this as much as you can outside school. You can stash it in the guy’s vehicles in the morning before class and grab it after school again.”
I pick up the knife and look it over. It’s really light. Flicking it open, I see it has a black serrated edge to match the handle and clip. “Get familiar with it. Hopefully, you never need to use it, but I’ll feel better if you have it available.” Nodding, I lift the edge of my shirt and clip the knife to the waistband of my shorts.
“These,” he says, holding up the little bag, “are trackers.” He dumps two flat discs into his hand. “They can be tracked anywhere. How would you feel about wearing these?”
I lean forward to take one from him. They remind me of a small button battery, but thinner. “How do I wear them?” I ask.
“Put it in your pocket, your shoe, bra, or in your locket. Wherever you want, as long as it’s somewhere, you won’t easily take it off. They are waterproof, but expensive. You only need one, but if you have to go away or aren’t with Nick or me, you can wear both of them in two different spots. I suggest you tell the guys in person about those, in case your phones are being tracked.”
“I can do that.” I open my locket and place one inside, then snap it shut. Since I wear the necklace every day, I figure it’s a good place to keep it. Zander hands me the other one in the little bag. The idea of my phone being tracked is unsettling, though. “How do I stop my phone from being tracked?”
“From what I know, it’s hard to do. That’s a question better answered by Nick. He may be able to tell if it’s happening. I hope it’s just paranoia, but I don’t want to take any chances after what happened. Thank you for indulging me, darling,” he smiles.
“The safer I can be, the better. I don’t mind at all. How was your weekend?” Zander shows me the work he did on the siding while I was away. He wants to paint next weekendwith the help of the guys. We harvest some flowers and veggies before going back inside. I spend the rest of the day cleaning, preserving, and storing the herbs, veggies, and flowers.
That evening, I print off my class schedule and get my backpack ready. I send a group text to the guys to meet in the parking lot in the morning, then talk to Seb before bed. He had dinner with Beth today and said it was good.
Chapter 5
Summer
Tuesday morning, Zander drops me off at school for my first day of senior year. He insisted on a photo this morning outside the house before we left. Alex was kind enough to help Nick and me with our schedules again this year. I’m enrolled in AP Psychology with Seb and Nick, AP Environmental Science with Bay, regular Physics by myself, AP European History with Seb, E, Bay, and Nick, and AP Math with precalculus in the fall and statistics in the winter. It’s a loaded schedule, but I think I’m ready.
Everyone is waiting by their vehicles in the parking lot this morning for me. After explaining the knife and trackers, I put the knife in Bay’s Honda. I get hugs from Seb, E, and Bay as usual, then we head inside. We have new lockers this year, all next to each other. That may be because of Alex too, but I didn’t ask. After we’re ready for first period, Seb gathers us around for a group photo.
I’m pleasantly surprised to find Jaxon in my physics class when I enter. “Hey, can I be your partner?” I ask, walking up to the bench he’s sitting behind.
“Hey Summer. Sure, have a seat.”
“How was the rest of your summer?” I ask him. We haven’t seen each other since the trackmeet.
“Not bad. I worked too much, but it’ll be worth it for college,” he shrugs. “Did you keep up your running after the meet?”
“Yeah, I ran three times a week. Are you in gym again this year?”
“Yup. I’m keeping the job part-time, so the gym will give me time to run every day.”
“Makes sense. Just to warn you. I don’t think physics will be my strong suit.”
Jaxon smiles. “No problem. I find it easy,” he says as the teacher calls the class to order.
Similar to last year, we have a lecture, then a lab. The pace seems less demanding than advanced placement courses, so I should be able to keep up. Fingers crossed.
In precalculus, I take a seat behind Bay, with Alex and E on my left in the next row. The teacher is an older man who turns out to be rather unfriendly. He yells for the class to be quiet, then hands out the syllabus. After that, he launches right into it, and I’m lost after 5 minutes. That’s not good. The teacher talks quickly while scribbling on the board, and I copy everything down, but I don’t understand it. He continues without addressing or answering questions, despite raised hands. When the bell rings, I sit there stunned for a minute. “Come on, Summer,” Bay smiles. “Lunch is next.”
Gathering up my things, I follow the guys out into the hall. We head for lunch to meet up with everyone. “I’m gonna need a lot of help in that class, guys,” I say.
“The teacher will not be very helpful,” E adds, looking concerned. “I understood some of it, but not all of it.”
“Don’t worry. I understood it,” Bay smiles. “You could switch classes if you wanted, Summer.”
“If I want to take science courses in college, I need the precalculus class, so I’m designating you as my tutor, Bay.”
He smiles at me. “Sure. I can dothat.”
We take our usual table and chat about our morning classes, Seb and Nick joining us a few minutes later. Reesa walks in behind them.
