Free Reject High (Reject High: A Young Adult Science Fiction Series Book 1) by Brian Thompson

but wouldn’t it be rude not to?
    Rhapsody and I would see each other after-school, anyway. Once I’d shoved a couple of French fries into my mouth, the nervousness building in my belly settled down. Asia joined us, and when she wasn’t chatting to some boy, she sucked her teeth at pretty much everything I said. 
    “That’s a nice energy crystal, Jason,” Sasha said, eyeing my necklace. “Didn’t picture you being into stuff like that. Where’d you get it?”
    I pulled down my t-shirt collar and dropped it underneath my shirt. “It’s from a friend.”
    “That Goth girl?” she asked, her eyes narrowed. “You two are. . .”
    “. . .nope, just friends.”
    “Do you kiss all of your friends?”
    She’d seen our performance last week. I stared down at the ketchup blotted on my plate. While I’m sure she might be a professional at the last item on her hobby list, I didn’t need to find that out. “Not all of them.”
    “I’m gonna go.” She leaned into my ear and said her phone number slowly . “Call me.”
    Sasha picked up her tray by the edges, stood up, and walked away. Asia followed her. I didn’t know where they went, but I hoped Sasha didn’t give another guy the same attention she had given me. She’s not too selective with guys, especially if I made the cut.
    When the bell rang to end lunch, I hoped that Peters wouldn’t say anything about yesterday during class, and Rhapsody would be available to deflect any extra attention he might throw my way. Sure enough, she bolted in at the last minute and propped herself up on her stool.
    I opened my spiral notebook without looking in her direction. “Took you long enough.”
    “Not everyone can leap towns at a time. I had to thumb it.”
    She’d saved my butt, so I kept the wisecracks to a minimum. “Find out anything else?”
    Rhapsody shushed me. Before I could protest, Peters stared us both down. His black eyes glinted, like he’d figured out something about us. “Problem, you two?”
    We looked at each other. “No,” we said at the same time. 
    Peters taught the lesson. Thankfully, it had nothing to do with me falling out of the sky yesterday and everything to do with rare earth minerals and radioactive isotopes.
    We’d almost made it to the end of class and everything seemed normal. Which, of course, meant they were about to be epically bad. “Is he going to say anything?” I blurted out under my breath.
    “Like what? ‘I was hiding in your trees last night.’ You know he’s up to something.”
    Yeah, I did, but what? Say something instead of beating around the. . .well. . .bushes. “He doesn’t know anything, ” I decided. “That’s why he’s sneaking around.”
    Rhapsody bit her lip. “He suspects something. That might be worse.”
    She’s right. The scientific method starts with a question. What was his? Did Rhapsody and I have anything to do with the event yesterday? If he followed the steps, Peters intended to research us.
    How far would he go? He could have broken into my room and taken his time going through my things last night. The biggest piece of condemning evidence hung around my neck.
    As if she read my mind, Rhapsody stopped my hands from lifting the necklace over my head. “Don’t take it off,” she whispered. “You don’t know what’ll happen.”
     

 
    CHAPTER NINE
     
    my science teacher wears ugly jewelry
     
    Dungeon duty gave Rhapsody and me an opportunity to talk without the constant interference of a parent or teacher. Problem was, by the time three o’ clock finally rolled around, I wanted out of there. Worrying about someone dissecting me or giving myself away with an accidental show of strength was exhausting.
    My thoughts strayed to Debra. She’d sent me a voicemail from the hospital telling me she’d meet me at home. Sleeping in my own bed instead of Aunt Dee’s old couch tonight would be a good thing.
    It’s wrong to think so, but with her short-term amnesia, I hoped Debra forgot