"You just need to focus, that's all." It went in one ear and out the other. I stared blankly up at my teacher and step-father, whom I had learned to both love and hate depending on the situation. My blonde hair was pulled back in a lazy bun today, as I had come in late for school due to my alarm clock's personal problems. I guess it hadn't wanted to wake me up either.
"Okay," I replied, my eyes coming to a close as my mouth opened for a yawn. I wanted to go to bed more than ever. I hadn't been able to fall asleep until around two the night before, and trust me, that was not an Emma-bedtime. But, of course, JT had just had to keep me up, talking about his math homework. Sometimes I hated the telephone. Alexander Graham Bell should have invented something less tiring.
I stared at the computer screen, when suddenly, my stomach let out a growl more fierce than a lion. I looked up at Archie, who nodded knowingly. "Just don't take too long," he said quickly as I walked out of the room, venturing to the vending machine across the school.
Our school was too big sometimes. I got lost in it. It was like when I was little, and I'd get lost in the grocery store, separated from my mom, who would spend the next ten minutes looking for me until I ran into her shopping cart. But our school was bigger than the nearest Food 2U. Arriving at the vending machine, I dug around in my sweatshirt pockets for two dollars.
Great. I was broke.
"Having trouble?" I heard a voice call from behind me. Just as I was about to turn around, I felt something being inserted into my hand. "You can pay me back later, Emma."
I was about to look behind to see who had given me the money, until my eyes met the back of a head that I almost immediately recognized. The guy on the bus – here? Whatever. "Thanks… Ben," I shouted across the hall, fiddling with the buttons on the machine. "See you later."