Page 69 of Lost
Ms. Lowe caught his eye briefly after she said this, but the look lasted too short a period for him to decipher.
He took up his pen immediately after she had given him a sheet of blank paper, but the words weren’t coming quite as easily as they had every other time he’d done this. This was, no doubt, due to the fact that his own words had in some ways been used against him. Despite the fact that this had in the end been the reason that he was only suspended instead of expelled, having so many people know his innermost thoughts just didn’t sit well with him.
But now that they were already out there, what more did he have to lose?
I always used to think being suspended was no big deal. It always seemed like a good thing — a holiday away from school. But it’s not like that. You’re still expected to catch up on all of the work that you missed while you were gone, and being stuck at home while all your friends are busy gets boring pretty fast. So no matter what people might think, I’m glad to be back at school.
I hated not knowing what was going on with Jack. I know he can take care of himself, but I feel like I started a war the day that I hit Jeffery Hallon, and it’s my fault now if the guy gets bullied by those losers. But he says he was fine the entire time I was gone and I believe him. It makes me hope that things are improving around here, but I’m not sure I’m stupid enough to believe it.
Lysander could feel Eliza Beth’s eyes on him throughout the entire lesson, but he never once looked her way — not even when they were told to get into their groups and she moved into the empty seat beside him. He kept his eyes to his right, on Jack or even George Moore, and if ever he had to turn to the left he made certain he only looked to their teacher.
He could tell that it pissed the girl off, but he really couldn’t have cared less.
What he did care about was the way Ms. Lowe was most definitely keeping an eye on him. He had noticed Mr. Bailey doing it in first period as well, though the two teachers appeared to be doing it for entirely different reasons. His U.S. History teacher had looked at him as if waiting for him to crack and draw a gun on all of his classmates; his English teacher watched him as if she pitied him.
He wasn’t sure which was worse.
Come lunch, he was surprised to find himself running into Loralie. She’d been heading one way down a corridor and he and Jack the other, but she’d stopped when he’d intercepted her and pulled her aside. She’d looked surprised to see him at first, but had recovered quickly and greeted him with a smile.
“Lysander,” she said. “It’s good to see you back.”
She’d been on his mind since he’d seen her at the fight, and he knew she’d been helping him out from behind the scenes. She was no doubt the reason that Marina had come around to explain to Zack about the day at the beach, and was therefore responsible for Zack’s improved attitude when it came to him talking about and defending his fans.
“I wanted to thank you,” he told her, “for getting Marina to explain things to my dad. And for stopping the fight that day. You didn’t have to do it.”
“You were getting your butt kicked. Somebody needed to stop it.”
“Masters could have seriously hurt you,” he said. “You should have kept back.”
“I can take care of myself, big boy.” She punched his arm lightly as if to emphasise her point. “A normal person would just say thank you and leave it at that. So you’re welcome.”
She waved to somebody in greeting as they passed, giving Lysander a moment to really look at her. And then she was back to focusing on him and their conversation, all smiles.
“Anything else I can do for you?”
“Ah... No. I just wanted to say thanks.”
He almost felt foolish under her gaze, like he should have come up with something more interesting to say to her than a simple thank you.
“I’ve gotta meet my friend in the library so we can finish an assignment,” Loralie said, “but we should hang out again sometime.”
“Absolutely,” he agreed. “I’ll come and find you tomorrow and we can work something out.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you around, Lysander.”
“See ya…”
He watched her go down the corridor in silence, unaware of Jack’s raised eyebrow until he turned back to his friend.
“Moving on a little fast, aren’t you?”
It took him a moment to understand what the boy was saying.
“No,” he said at once. “Absolutely not. It’s not like that. We’re just friends.” And then, almost mortified, he added, “Is that the way it came across?”
“No.” Jack gave him a reassuring smile. “I was just checking is all. It’s my job as your friend to look out for you.”
Lysander could believe that, but now he couldn’t help but wonder if he hadn’t been sending the wrong message to Loralie.
