Naomi narrowed her eyes at me. “Drea, it’s room 305. Top floor. Like it’s that hard to find.”
“I don’t want that Justin guy to see us.” I lowered my voice. “You invited him, remember?”
“Aw—he was a little preppy looking, but he seemed really sweet.” She nudged me. “And cute.”
I glanced back at the doors of the main building. A tall guy with dark hair and a white T-shirt put his hand over his eyes and looked in our direction. “Let’s get out of here.” I grabbed Naomi’s wrist and tried to pull her away from the fountain.
“Don’t be so mean.” She twisted out of my grip and nodded in his direction. “He sees us.”
“I’m leaving.” There was no way I could face him, not after what he saw and Roger’s comment.
Naomi grabbed my shoulders and pulled me backward. “Whoa, girl. Tell me why you’re freaking out.”
I tried to break free, but she held on tighter, laughing. “He saw my underwear—”
“He
“No, not like—shut up, okay?” I glanced at the students around me. “He’ll hear you.”
“Relax, he’s too busy talking to Kari McBitch.” She nodded behind me with a sneer.
I glanced over my shoulder and saw Justin talking to one of those common-denominator girls. Blond highlights were mixed in with her brown hair, and she was dressed like a mannequin at the mall. “She’s got really big boobs,” I said before I could stop myself.
“Yeah, it’s kind of funny how much they grew over the summer.” There was an odd edge to Naomi’s voice—one I’d never heard before. “So tell me, what happened with you and the new guy?” She poked me, all smiles.
I looked over my shoulder again. Justin was pointing at us. Not good. “Nothing. I fell, and my skirt flew up.”
She crinkled her brow at me. “So?”
“Well, Roger was—”
“Don’t tell me she’s coming over here,” Naomi said through her teeth, peering over my shoulder.
When I turned around, Justin was approaching us with that Kari girl in tow. He was smiling, but she definitely wasn’t.
“Hey, Justin,” Naomi said. “I was just about to split. But maybe I’ll see you later.” Naomi walked right into Kari, bumping her arm.
“Yeah, that’s right. Keep walking,” Kari said.
“See you at lunch, Drea!” Naomi called over her shoulder.
Justin raised his eyebrows at me, and I shrugged. Naomi really sucked for leaving me alone with him.
“Hi, I’m Kari.” Her dark eyes scanned my body until they reached my feet. “You’ve got dirt on the bottom of your skirt.”
“Oh.” Part of the hem was caught under my boot.
She smiled, flashing her white teeth. “It’s Drea, right?”
“Yeah.” That’s me. Drea with the grannie panties. I bet Justin didn’t waste any time telling her either.
“What classes did you get?” Justin asked, moving closer to me. His warm breath hit my cheek as he peered down at my schedule. “We’ve got the next one together. And I’m in the film class too.”
“Cool,” Kari said. “Guess we’re all going to the same place, then.”
I did my best to imitate a polite smile and walked ahead of them, hoping Kari would keep Justin occupied.
“What instrument do you play?” he asked, appearing alongside me.
I tried to walk faster, but he had much longer legs than I did. “Guitar mostly. But I’m more into production and sound design.”
He held the door to the main building open for Kari and me. “What do you use—Pro Tools, Logic?”
“Logic,” I said, surprised that he’d heard of either recording program. A lot of people assumed I used GarageBand—which was fine for beginners. But I was beyond the days of putting a bunch of premade loops together and calling myself a musician.
“You must do electronic music mostly, huh?”
“Yeah. Do you produce?” I asked.
“Nah. I laid down some piano tracks for a producer friend of mine in Chicago.”
“You play the piano?” Kari asked, moving to the other side of Justin.
He shrugged. “Yeah—started with ‘Jingle Bells’ when I was two and haven’t stopped since.”
“That’s so cute!” she said.
I let them go ahead of me on the stairs. “Why is it cute?”
Kari glanced over her shoulder and wrinkled her nose at me. “It just is.” She moved closer to Justin, nudging his ribs. “You should play for me sometime.”
He mumbled something I couldn’t hear as we reached the classroom. I nudged past them and scanned the class for an empty seat. Back row, corner desk. Perfect.
