“Find what?” he said. They sat at the table behind Hayley and Amity. The girls turned around to face them.
“Keiiii, you said you were going to help me find my bracelet,” Hayley pressed coyly.
His name was Kei. My heart gave an awkward lurch. “Oh that?” he said offhand. “Completely forgot. I wanted coffee so I went to the teachers’ lounge.”
“If they ever catch you you’ll be done for,” Hayley admonished. “But I’m really worried about my bracelet.”
“What if someone stole it?” Amity added.
“Rhys, make him help us find it,” Hayley told the other boy.
“I can’t make him do anything, you know that,” he said flatly, filling in lines on the worksheet.
“I’m sure he wishes he could,” Kei said.
“The world would be a much quieter, less annoying place,” Rhys grumbled. Was he writing in the answers? We hadn’t even started the experiment yet...
“Alright, I think that’s everyone, let’s get started,” Ms. Miller said, shutting the door. “Ladies, face the front of the room please.” Hayley and Amity turned their chairs around reluctantly. “Boys, put down your pencils, I can see you writing notes.” Mac and Destin sat up straighter. “Jacques, give me your phone. You can have it back after class is over.” She held out her hand. A boy across the room with bleached hair trudged up to her desk, handed her a sleek phone with a sour look on his face, and returned to his chair muttering in what I assumed was French.
“That’s better. Today we’re going to be testing the pH of various substances,” Ms. Miller said. “I’ve already dosed out the solid ingredients you’ll be using, and I’ll bring around the liquids in a minute. Do not play with the materials - I’m looking at you, Brandon.” A boy at one of the front tables sat back in his chair, trying to look innocent. “You’re all going to want to pay attention, because this will be on the test next week, in some form or other. First, let’s go over some basic stuff. Who remembers what pH actually means?”
She held a sort of an interactive mini-lecture, covering what I assumed everyone else had already read. Having no textbook to speak of, I was about to follow Camille’s example and start doodling on my workpapers. Though I’m not sure the flowers I would draw would have teeth. I was trying not to stare, but she drew some weird things, and she was actually really good.
But then Ms. Miller announced that it was time to start the experiment, and I went to collect our little test tubes of liquid in their rack. I had learned about this stuff last year, but we’d never gotten to do this experiment.
I was getting kind of wrapped up in it - the careful measuring, sifting the powders into the liquid, soaking the strips, waiting for them to change color, marking them off a chart. It was soothing. Measurable. Predictable. I smiled down at my worksheet, feeling accomplished. One last sample to test. I picked up the final strip of pH paper and bent over the tubes, holding up the plate we were drying the paper on.
“You’re pretty good at that,” said a calm voice at my shoulder.
It was Him.
My nerves exploded. I dropped the plate and it shattered on the floor. My hand swung out reflexively as I stepped away from the breaking glass. I knocked over the beaker and the contents poured all over the table.
“
My face flamed. Ms. Miller stood, grabbing a broom and a dustpan from the corner.
“I’m so sorry!” I babbled. “I was just startled, I didn’t, I-I...”
“Accidents happen,” Ms. Miller said to me, with an understanding smile. “I’ve learned to expect them. Kei, go back to your table and focus on your own work, please?”
He merely looked mildly amused. “I got bored,” he said, and returned to his seat.
From the corner of my eye I caught a glare from Hayley in my direction. Looked like I had officially lost her sympathies. When class was over, she promptly snatched Kei’s arm and the four of them left together.
So that’s how things were.
Camille was still gathering up her stuff. If we were going to be sitting together for the rest of the year, I should probably try to smooth things over.
“I’m um, I’m really sorry about the, you know, getting all your stuff wet,” I said.
She shrugged.
“The drawings especially.”
Her cheeks colored slightly. “It’s ok. I’ll make more.” Again I was struck by her unusual accent.
“So, um, where are you from?” I blurted.
“Tokyo.”
I laughed. “No, seriously. Where are you from? I can’t place your accent at all.”
Her brow creased. “Tokyo.”
I gaped. “What, you’re serious? I mean, not that you don’t, um, seem like a serious person.”
She snorted; I think it was a laugh. “I’m serious.”
I let that sink in a second. I’d thought I had it bad. Half a country away was nothing like half a world away. “So this must be like, some major culture shock, I bet.”
She considered that, and gave a nod.
Maybe I had been right after all. Maybe she really was like me. Heartened, I went on, “I’m definitely not any kind of expert about the area...or the school...or anything, really...but if you um, ever need help with anything...”
“I don’t need help,” she said flatly, hoisting her bag over her shoulder and striding swiftly out of the room.
“Oh. Ok then,” I said to her empty chair.
Chapter 5
Camille
They wanted her to stay after class. Camille was not happy about that. She didn’t care about completing evaluations for classes she didn’t want to take in the first place.
If she did badly enough, would they get to go home? She could just throw the evaluation. How mad would Gabriel be if they had to go back to Japan? It might be worth it. He could just start a cafe there instead. None of these people who hated him were there.
The other students had left for the day. The pretty, awkward girl. The boys who wanted to be near the awkward girl. The stylish ones who ignored her. She didn’t have time for any of them. All this social dancing seemed so pointless. And she was sick of all this English. The teachers - all but Charlotte, Gabriel had been right - hated her. All in all, this had not been one of her better days.
They had penned her in Rin Umino’s office. Awaiting the arrival of the principal, she slumped in her chair, arms folded into her hoodie. She shouldn’t have snapped at Jul. That had been rude. The other girl had clearly been trying to be kind and accommodating. Guiltily, Camille had avoided her for the rest of the day. In truth, Jul seemed like a really nice, friendly person. But friends complicated things. She didn’t need anyone else. She and Gabriel could handle whatever came at them on their own. She certainly didn’t want to be responsible for getting someone innocent like Jul hurt. She still didn’t know what had precipitated their leaving home -
The door opened, but it was not the principal who entered. The boy who’d startled Jul in science class stepped in, his eyebrows rising slightly when he caught sight of her. Kai? Kei? Something forgettable.
“Sent to the principal’s office already,” he intoned. “That might be a new record. What was your name again? Chamomile Tea?”
Camille would not dignify that with an answer, just returned to looking at the wall behind Umino’s desk. One of the frames held a blank piece of parchment, and she was trying to decide its significance.
“Oh yes, you’ll go far here,” he said. “Can’t even take a joke. I’m Kei, I’m sure you’re dying to know.
