Hic!
Mrs. Timble’s gaze snapped from her paper-strewn desktop as giggles peppered the freshman algebra classroom. I always got the hiccups when I was scared.
“Way to go, Molly,” Kit Benson blurted from the back.
Bianca rolled her black-lined eyes, breaking the stare she’d fastened on me. She tossed her red hair over her shoulder, and then ran her hands over her black top, smoothing the lace.
Relief washed over me. Lenni said Bianca couldn’t read minds without making eye contact. I guess if she did read my mind, she’d know I’d never intended to intrude on the friendship she shared with Lenni. Then again, she’d also find out about my grasshopper phobia and I might end up with a lunch tray full of them. I shuddered.
The bell sounded. Mrs. Timble raised her pen, waiting out the long ring. “Chapter eight over the weekend. Zero credit for late work.” She lowered her gray eyes, along with her red pen, and continued her assault on a worksheet. I hoped it wasn’t mine.
I scribbled an eight on the back of my hand and hurried from the room. The click of Bianca’s boots against the floor gained steadily on the slap of my flip-flops. Heart pounding, I swung full speed into the main hallway and rammed into mountainous Jake Hughes, knocking his Band-Aid-covered notebook from his gigantic hands.
“Sorry, Jake.” I knelt and pinched the corner of the notebook, not wanting to touch it.
“They’re not used.” Jake slid the disgusting spiral from my fingers and lumbered down the hallway.
Something pricked my scalp. “Ouch!” I stood and whirled. Bianca held one of my hairs between her fingers. She shot a cold glance at me, chilling my blood. She was going to put a curse on me.
Hic!
