Althena Book 2

9. Risky

I sit down in my science class on Monday and Akmae turns around. "Did you get in trouble for going out this weekend?"

"No. I probably should have told someone though. They weren't happy."

"I never talked to Clayton before. He seems pretty cool."

"He's alright. At times, I guess."

He laughs as turns back around.

"For today, you're not going to have a lab partner. Everyone needs to do this on their own. We will be using this for several labs this year." She points at someone. "Listen to the instructions before you move. You'll be in the same lab cubicle you were last time. You will get 7 of these large glass containers. You are going to grow seeds into a flower. 1 seed per container. However, each container must be filled with something different. There are lots of options back there. You must pick 7 different things to fill your jars with. Go fill the jars."

She has big buckets of different stuff labeled in the back of the room.

"What are you thinking?" Akmae smiles at me.

"I think biodegradable table scraps would be good, but there's no way I'm putting my hand in it."

He laughs. "Yea, I'm not touching that either. That bucket labeled fiber is fruit fiber. That might be more your style."

"Yea, I can put my hand in that." I get one of them full. "Rice is food too, but I don't know how many nutrients are in it."

"I'll try rice. If it fails, I'll still have 6."

We fill the rest of the jars. I picked water, water beads, potting mix, fiber, soil, gravel, and paper towels.

The teacher comes back, and we put 1 seed in each of the jars. Then put them on the window sill. After that we have to fill out a journal entry saying everything we know so far. Scientific writing is boring.

"That's all the time we have for today. See you tomorrow."

My next two classes are boring, then I sit by Lila for choir.

"Someone likes you."

"Who?"

She shrugs her shoulders. "Amber can't get it out of Matt. He only told her someone likes you."

"Is it him?"

She cracks up laughing. "Probably. That's probably why he won't tell. They're together now."

"Well, I hope it's not him."

"Me too. That'll be awkward."

The teacher smiles at us. "The songs we sang last week are going to be in the spring concert in 10 weeks. Those songs will have solos in them. Everyone is going to try a solo spot today, so I can figure out where I want people."

I think my stomach drops out of my ass. I don't know why I never thought about solos before. This is not what I wanted.

Lila grabs my arm. "You only have to sing 2 lines. If you don't want a solo for the concert, sing off-key."

"Good idea." I take a deep breath and try to relax.

This is like a try-out. We keep singing the same song over and over again. Each person takes a turn singing the solo spots in it. I can tell who doesn't want solos. Others seem shy and like their whispering.

I nudge Lila with my elbow. "Why aren't there more people in the choir?"

"No idea. You would think everyone would do it. Sing some songs and get an easy A. We do 4 concerts a year, but they're for parents and grandparents mostly. It's not like we're on TV or in front of a huge crowd."

"Thena, it's your turn."

I go up to the microphone and shake.

The music starts and everyone sings. Halfway through the song, I'm kind of getting into it. I like the microphone in front of me. I relax and really sing. Then I run back to Lila.

She shakes her head. "Girl, you can sing. But that's not how you don't get a solo. I'll show you how not to get a solo." She goes up for her turn.

She sings so off-key it's hilarious. I try to sing and not laugh at her.

The teacher crosses her arms and stares at her. "Lila, I know you're not trying. Let's try you and Thena together."

I go up to the microphone and lose it. I laugh so hard that everyone else starts in.

The teacher nods. "Start again."

Lila and I get into a singing battle halfway through. We keep trying to out sing each other.

"Thank you. Take your spots. Solos will be posted on the door after lunch. I also want to let you know that signup sheets for the school play are located in the hallway. You're free to go."

We walk to the lunchroom. "Are you going to be in the play?"

"I want to see what it is. The last 2 have been stupid. And the same people get the lead parts every time. One is the principal's daughter. 2 more have parents that are friends with the director. It's never a fair tryout."

Lauren sits down with us. "I can tell you exactly who will get each part right now. Auditions are pointless for that thing. I brought it up to the director. He told me they have real talent and to stop being jealous." She rolls her eyes. "People won't even audition because it's that unfair."

"How come you're not in choir?"

"You don't want to hear me sing. Trust me. I would make everyone plug their ears and run."

Lila and I burst out laughing. "I almost had to do that when Lila sang today."

She nods. "I was showing you how not to get chosen for a solo."

"It worked."

We laugh and eat for a while.

Then Conner kisses my head and hugs me from behind. "My babygirl."

"DETENTION." Someone throws a red paper on the table in front of us.

"What the fuck." Conner picks it up.

"Well, stop feeling her up in the cafeteria." Lauren and Lila laugh.

He shakes his head. "I wasn't."

Mr. Penn comes over laughing and takes it. "I'll get rid of it. But stop doing that."

Lauren about falls off her chair. "Yes, you were. You can't do that in school, Conner."

"Fine. Thank you."

Penn walks away rubbing his eyes.

Conner plops down. "I didn't..."

"Yes, you did. You squeezed my boob when you hugged me."

"Sorry, I'll try to pay more attention to my hands."

Amber sits down and a guy sits beside her. "This is my boyfriend, Josh. Why is Conner pouting?"

"He got yelled at for feeling boobs." Lauren and Lila lose it again.

Conner gives them a dirty look. I pat his leg. "Go get some food. You'll be fine."

Amber nods. "He's getting territorial because someone likes her."

"Who?" He crosses his arms.

Then Amber laughs. "I don't actually know."

He rolls his eyes at the same time Jenna sits down. She's about to bawl. "Greg is going around telling everyone I'm easy. I've never even had s*x. How am I easy?" She lays her head down and cries.

Josh nods. "He wants everyone to think he gets all the girls. We know he's full of s**t. I'll tell him to shut his mouth."

There's a big crash and some girl face plants the ground behind me and Conner. The table behind us cracks up laughing.

"DETENTION." That guy is back and throwing red papers at them now.

I help her up and Conner gets her stuff. She's about to cry too.

"You're ok. Sit down and take a breath." I put her beside me.

"Thank you. They are always trying to trip me and stuff. I thought if I hurried, they wouldn't notice it was me."

"Why do they do that?"

"They can. That group likes making fun of people for any reason at all."

"I'm sorry."

Conner puts a tray of food in front of her, then sits on the other side of me with his food. She tears up and he rolls his eyes. "Just eat."

I crack up laughing. "Ignore him. He's having a bad day."

She starts eating. "What happened?"

Lila loses it again. "He got yelled at for feeling boobs in the cafeteria."

He growls and stabs his food.

I sit back in my chair and laugh. Then I rub his leg to calm him down.

Josh smirks. "In the cafeteria? That was risky."

Conner nods and winks at me. "If you keep doing that, I'm not going to be able to walk out of here."

I yank my hand off his d**k and cross my arms. "We may have to put an empty chair between us."

"That would be a start. You are awfully touchy today." Lila points at the choir door. "The list is up."

"What list?" Lauren is looking all over.

"For our spring choir concert."

"When is it? I'll put it in my calendar." Conner types into his phone.

"I don't know the date. It might be on the paper."

"I'm gonna go check, then I have to get out of here. I have a meeting in half an hour." He kisses my head and drags his fingers over my n****e.

"Boy."

He laughs and winks as he leaves.

I glance around the table. "We seem to be pulling it together finally. Good job."

Amber laughs. "Conner was stressing everyone out. We're going to blame him."

"That works." Jenna's finally eating and stopped crying.

Then some of Josh's friends come over and sit with us. They talk about basketball. I tune them out.

"Thank you for letting me sit with you."

"No problem. Seemed like you needed to sit and relax for a minute."

Lila nods at the girl. "We're not usually so dramatic. The boob issue threw everyone off."

She laughs and takes her tray up.

Then Lila pulls me up. "Let's go check the paper."

We get to the door and I scratch my head. "We're singing 12 songs for the concert?"

"Yea. She likes them to last around an hour and a half. The band plays a few songs before we start."

"There we are. We have the last song."

"That won't be so bad. We're going to sing it together and the choir will do the backup."

"Yea, that's better than singing by myself. That makes me nervous."

"Just remember it's mostly parents and grandparents. They're going to clap no matter how bad it gets."

"Please don't sing like you did today."

We laugh and go to get ready for the afternoon stuff.