Free Sanctuary by Alan Janney Page A

my friends, which was surreal but enjoyable. Excitement was already building for Friday’s football game and even the principals wanted a high-five.
    Both Samantha and Mitch were in my first period Science class. I stared them down suspiciously. Mitch (or Croc) was creating mayhem wherever he went, just by smiling. Two girls got into an actual fistfight over being his lab partner! Even the teacher shamelessly adored him. Samantha fumed.
    Samantha had given me the intel on Mitch. He was the only known Infected in Australia, and long-time chums with Carter. During the 90’s he’d been a championship rugby player, and now he raced dirt bikes. He never lost, she said, unless he crashed on purpose, which actually he enjoyed. His permanent home was deep in the outback, where he owned a colossal and prosperous cattle ranch.
    “So he’s handsome and fascinating and rich,” I said.
    “Yeah. So?”
    “And he asked you to marry him?”
    “Twice. So?” she asked, a dangerous glint in her eye. I dropped the subject quickly.
    Next, second period. I walked into my new English classroom…and found Samantha and Mitch. Again. Already there. Waiting on me.
    “You two,” I hissed through clenched teeth. They smiled innocently from their desks. “Out. Get out. This is my English class.”
    “We’re enrolled in this English class too,” Samantha shrugged, palms up.
    “Strange coincidence, mate,” Mitch grinned and all the surrounding girls sighed loudly. I stormed out of the classroom and dialed my least favorite computer hacker.
    He answered and I said, “I’m going to kill you, Puck.”
    “Don’t be mad at PuckDaddy. Samantha made me. And then Croc made me. They’re worried the Chemist will find you.”
    “Are they in all my classes?” I asked.
    “……maybe.”
    “Find me another senior English class. This very second, Puck.”
    He sighed loudly and dramatically. “Fine, fine, hang on. No big deal, I’m just coding some bitching software that’ll access cellphone cameras, but whatever.”
    “Get me another class, and transfer them out of my third and fourth periods. I’m not playing with you.”
    “You’re worse than Carter,” he grumbled under his breath. I waited impatiently while his keyboard clicked. Traffic flowed around me in a mad dash toward second-period classrooms. “Okay, here we go. Hmmmm, not a lot of options, your majesty. All the other low-level English classes are in the afternoon.”
    “Low-level??” I yelped. “I’m not low-level !”
    “Well…you’re not smart.”
    “Yes I am!”
    “Chase, you’re a badass. You kick butt. I’ve never seen someone move like you. But you’re kinda dumb. Your GPA is pathetic.”
    I stared wide-eyed at the phone. “No it’s not. It’s like a 3.5!”
    “Exactly. I graduated with a 4.5 when I was fifteen, stupid.”
    “Yeah, but…I’m very busy, and… Just put me in another English class!!”
    “Fine. I’m force-adding you to the honors class down the hall.”
    “Thank you. And get those two goons out of my other classes.”
    “Hmm. Maybe. Maybe not. We’ll see.”
    I hustled to the classroom, furious that everyone thought I needed a bodyguard, and tried to sneak in. I failed. The students buzzed when I entered, and the befuddled teacher asked if I’d completed the summer reading list.
    Whoops. Hadn’t expected this.
    “The summer reading list,” I repeated, thinking fast.
    “Right,” the teacher smiled, her hands tightly clasped together. “The list of novels?”
    “The list of novels,” I repeated again, turning red. Maybe I should just start running.
    “Yes, he read them,” someone chirped from the back. “We read the novels together.”
    Katie. She sat smoldering in the middle of her giggling friends, queen of the nerds, watching me with predatory eyes. With the teacher’s permission, I took the seat behind her.
    “What are you doing here??” she whispered. “Not that I’m complaining.”
    “Just a strange