Exhausted yet jumpy. Nervous yet relieved. She’s hard to read. I sit at the side table in calculus while Mortimer drones on, leaning over enough to see Julianna. I feel a tap on my leg. Candace gestures to her notebook. A stick-figure version of Mortimer stands at the whiteboard, his back to the class of stick-figure students with their heads on their desks. Little zs float up from each sleeping student. I chuckle. Candace bursts into laughter. Everyone looks our way, including Mortimer. “Settle down, Candace,” he says and turns back to the board. Julianna’s piercing blue eyes rest on me. I straighten up. She never looks at me in class. It’s like I don’t exist. Julianna shifts her gaze away, not in an uncomfortable, edgy sort of way. More like she’s bored. Almost annoyed. Frustration settles in as I lean back, propping my textbook open.
