Chapter 3: Detention, Disappointment, and Different Paths

3

To disrupt my studying, Derek first kept talking to me during class to distract me, then deliberately hid my notes and test papers.

At one point, I saw him sliding my binder behind his chair, grinning like he’d just pulled a prank for TikTok. Because I couldn’t find my test paper, I got chewed out by the teacher. After class, Derek pulled my math test out of his desk pocket, acting all casual.

“Oh, I forgot to give it back after copying it.”

He shoved it into my hand, smirking.

“Rachel, it was just a joke. You’re not mad, right?”

I ignored him.

He tossed his pencil in the air, waiting for me to laugh, but at this point, nothing about what he’d done was funny anymore.

During break, I went to the office.

I tactfully told the homeroom teacher I didn’t want to sit with Derek anymore.

The homeroom teacher took a gulp from his World’s Okayest Teacher mug, then spat coffee grounds back into it. He looked at me, clearly unimpressed.

He ran his hand through thinning hair and sighed, giving me that classic adult look of disappointment—the kind they must practice in the mirror. “Rachel, I had you sit with Derek so your good grades could help him. Now that his scores are finally improving, you want out already?”

“And ever since you two started sitting together, he’s gotten into fewer fights.”

“You can’t just be selfish because you’re good at school, you know?”

So there was no hope of changing seats. Before I left, he even complained to the teacher next door.

“I really don’t like teaching classes with too many girls. Too much drama.”

The next class was homeroom. When the teacher walked in, he shot me a cold look.

He said, “Some students shouldn’t look down on those who aren’t as good at school just because they are.”

The class buzzed with whispers. Derek lowered his eyes, unreadable.

He sneered, “Rachel, you’re really boring, you know that?”

“Is studying really that important to you?”

It stung more than I’d admit, but I just stared at the graffiti on my desk.

Derek and I grew up together—a classic childhood friends trope. I was the kid other parents used as a benchmark, the public enemy of all the neighborhood kids. Derek was my only friend, always standing by my side, proudly telling everyone,

“Rachel is smart and hardworking, of course she gets first place.”

But now, he didn’t seem to think that anymore.

When the bell rang, Derek went straight to Lily’s desk, leaning down to whisper something that made her laugh out loud.

She threw her head back, hand covering her mouth, laughter like windchimes. I ignored him, grabbed my backpack, and left.

Ever since Derek left me waiting at the school entrance for an hour because he was walking Lily home, I’d stopped going home with him.

I’d counted every crack in the sidewalk while the sky faded from orange to bruised purple. Derek chose to protect Lily as a friend, while I kept being the cold-faced top student in everyone else’s eyes.

When Derek got in trouble for fighting again and his parents were called in, I was in the office helping the math teacher grade papers.

The story went like this: a boy from another class harassed Lily. Derek, unable to stand anyone bothering his goddess, got into a fight.

Mr. Mason kept promising the homeroom teacher it wouldn’t happen again, and before leaving, he glanced at me quietly grading papers and sighed,

“If only you could be more like Rachel.”

He sounded tired, like he’d given that speech a hundred times. I said nothing. After grading, I saw Derek laughing with his friends outside the office.

They were tossing a football, jackets slung over their shoulders, voices echoing down the hallway. When he saw me, his buddies elbowed him, teasing.

“Dude, your nerd girlfriend’s gonna roast you if you keep skipping study hall.”

Someone imitated me in a nasal tone:

“Derek, can’t you focus on your studies?”

Derek cut them off, sneering, “Who is she to control me?”

“Honestly, Rachel is so boring. All she cares about is school.”

He stretched lazily, his voice casual.

“High school is about living in the moment.”

Easy for him to say when he’s not the one trying to ace AP Bio.

I didn’t stop, just kept walking.

Anyway, Derek and I have been on different paths for a long time.

Behind me, I vaguely heard Derek’s panicked voice.

“Crap.”

“Why didn’t anyone tell me Rachel was coming out?”

“Whatever, if she heard, she heard.”

“What, is she going to eat me or something?”