Free I.D. by Vicki Grant Page A

thinking, “This just might be my lucky day.”

Chapter Two
    Nothing makes me happier than pissing Oxner off. I felt so good. I almost liked school. I didn’t skip any classes. I didn’t make any smartass remarks. I even managed to stay awake all through Modern European history. That was a first.
    It didn’t hurt that Alexa was in that class too. Concentrating on her was way easier than concentrating on some dead king or something.
    After class, a bunch of guys said they were going to Joe’s Big Slice for pizza. Alexa was going too. She said, “Are you coming, Christopher?”
    It really burns me when Oxner calls me by my full name, but it didn’t bother me at all when Alexa did it. I shrugged and said, “Sure, why not?”
    It was a dumb question. If she thought about it, Alexa could probably have come up with lots of reasons why not. Like, for starters, my stepdad is a truck driver for her dad’s construction company. She’s rich. I’m not. She’s smart. I’m not. She lives in this big fancy house. I don’t.
    Believe me, I don’t.
    But I wasn’t thinking that then. I was thinking, Alexa Doucette is hot for me. I was all right with that. I wouldn’t be skipping any classes for a while.
    I never go to Joe’s after school. I can’t stand the frigging lineups. That day, I didn’t mind them. Alexa was standing right beside me.
    She hates Oxner too. “He’s such a dork,” she said.
    I laughed.
    She said, “What’s so funny?”
    I said, “I bet
dork
is the worst thing you’ve ever said about anybody.”
    Her neck got all red and blotchy. She looked away.
    â€œIt’s true, isn’t it?” I said and poked her with my elbow. She didn’t say anything. I poked her again. She slapped my arm away and laughed, even though you could tell she was trying not to.
    She said, “Well, what am I supposed to call him?”
    â€œI could give you lots of suggestions,” I said. I opened my mouth like I was going to let rip with a couple of good ones.
    â€œShhh,” she went. “I don’t want to hear them!” She was pretty cute.
    â€œOkay,” I said. “So tell me why you think he’s a...dork then.”
    She really got into it. Her face went all serious.
    â€œRemember that assignment he had us do on famous mathematicians? I did a lot of research on it. My mother’s a professorand she checked it all for me. I thought I was going to do really well, but then Oxner went and took five points off just because I printed it on the wrong size paper. Five whole points! Just for that! It’s going to totally blow my average.”
    â€œGee,” I said. “I wonder how many points he’s going to take off my assignment for not turning it in at all?”
    â€œYou didn’t turn it in?” she said. She was all shocked. Rich kids are so funny. She looked at me like I’d just told her I’d kidnapped an old lady or something. “How come?”
    â€œDidn’t get around to it.”
    She stood there just shaking her head at me until Joe asked what we wanted.
    â€œExtra pepperoni and a Coke,” I said.
    â€œVegetarian and a spring water,” she said. I should have known.
    â€œIs this together?” Joe said.
    I said, “Yeah.”
    Alexa said, “No. No.”
    I put my hand up and said, “Yeah. How much is it?”
    I should have found that out first. “Eight dollars and fifty-six cents—before the tip,” Joe said, like he always does. The guy’s got one joke.
    I forgot he charges more for vegetarian. I had maybe six bucks and change in my jeans. I put it on the counter. I checked my jacket, both pockets. I found four cents. I was getting nervous. I don’t like looking bad. Alexa was making these little noises like she was going to say something. Joe— Mr. Funny Guy—wasn’t laughing anymore. He