Thaddeus, but he’s studying a book on my grandmother’s coffee table.
Right. How could I think he would care?
“Um, he’s with someone else. And it turns out they’ve destroyed Mom’s root-and-herb garden to make space to grow pot.”
“Well,” my grandmother says, growing noticeably paler at the mention of my mother, “that is the world we live in. Everyone is addicted to drugs, and no one has any respect for the past. Are you on this Facebook? I heard on the news that two out of every ten teenagers on Facebook wind up either murdered or pregnant or both. I do not like to live in fear, but those are sobering statistics.”
I pray someone will change the subject.
“How was the weather?” Thaddeus asks.
“Nice and cool,” I say gratefully. “Thanks for asking.” He nods but doesn’t catch my eye.
“So, Alex,” my grandmother says, “you look like something the cat dragged in and the dog dragged back out again. You are positively dripping stress. Hayes, don’t you think she’s just about on the verge of a nervous episode?”
“I think she’s been under a lot of pressure,” Hayes says.
“Which can lead to a nervous episode. So I believe it’s time.”
“Time for what?” I ask, not liking the way this conversation is going.
“Time for these girls to take you out somewhere wonderful so you can relax and forget about Reggie and California and… all those other things. Hayes, what’s next on the social calendar?”
“Well,” Hayes says, carefully, “there’s a bonfire out at the Field tomorrow night.”
“There you go,” my grandmother says. “A bonfire at the Field, whatever that is. Exactly what you need, Alex.”
It’s exactly what I don’t need, but I don’t have the energy to say so.
“Madison,” my grandmother calls out, “I have a mission of mercy for you two girls. Come on down here, honey.”
I look pleadingly at Hayes, but she just smiles. “We’re going to have so much fun,” she says.
I want to die.
The next morning, the MGs pick me up for school. Hayes insisted, and I was too tired to argue. They look perfect, of course; Hayes is wearing a fitted navy top and little plaid skirt, and Madison is in a mustard-colored dress that only she could pull off. I wait for Madison to start in on me about my look—the standard T-shirt and my new jeans. But if she notices, she doesn’t say a thing.
The kids also seem nicer today. No one stares or says anything rude; I don’t get called a fat hippie; no one shoves me in the hall. Even Gilroy keeps his distance. My grandmother—or someone—seems to have called ahead about my homework, because there are no demands for assignments I missed.
But then I go to Constance’s class, and suddenly she’s looming over my desk.
“Alex,” she says, “are you ready to take your summer-reading test today?”
Fully aware of the eyes of my classmates boring into my head, I nod.
“I’ll have you know there are no favored students in this classroom,” she says. “I don’t care what society you—or your grandmother—belong to.”
I shrug. “Okay.”
She narrows her eyes. “If you fail this test, you can’t take it over.”
“It’s fine. I read the books. I’ll take it now.”
She nods and drops the test on my desk. I take it while the rest of the class continues. As I fill in the answers, I shake my head. Why exactly is she so friggin’ angry?
At lunchtime, Hayes finds me in the bathroom.
“How’s it feel to be back?”
“Everyone’s been cool, except in Miss Taylor’s class. She’s all mad at me or something.”
“We call her C.T.,” Madison says, joining us in front of the mirror. “But I think we’re two letters short. She gave me a bunch of crap when I tried to get you out of that test.”
“You tried to what?”
“We went around to the teachers to get you out of last week’s work. Said you were doing emergency charity work for the Magnolia League.”
“And that would be a legitimate excuse?”
“Because everyone knows that being an MG is important,” Madison says. “We cut school all the time for ‘emergency Magnolia events.’ The only one who gives us any flak about it is C.T., who clearly has something lodged up some unmentionable body part.”
“It didn’t matter. I read the books.”
“Of course you did,” Madison says. “Nerd.”
“Shall we hit the bench?” Hayes says. “I’m starved.”
“Uh… I was actually going to eat with Dex.”
“Bring him,” Hayes says cheerfully. “He’s totally invited.”
“He is?” Madison asks. “When did we start doing outreach work with losers?”
“Dex is not a