26

                                    

                                          
Being back in school after a weekend at home felt different. Good different. 
My mother dropped me back at school this morning, sad that I couldn't spend more than a weekend at home. I promised her that I would be home the next weekend too and we could go shopping – that had appeased her. She had also made me carry a bag full of homemade snacks – that I was supposed to share with my friends. Honestly though, even with all the sharing, I'm thinking the snacks that she has packed for me are going to last me for over a month. She was driving Alice to one of her regular doctor's appointments this morning and had to drop me off at school earlier than she usually would have on a Monday. Alice was slowly getting better after her very recent scare and I couldn't be happier.
Anika unwrapped one of the caramel toffees that my mom had prepared and popped it into her mouth, a loud moan escaping her mouth as soon as she did. Chuckling, I shook my head as we walked out of the dining hall towards the main building. Evie had some yearbook things that she had to take care of and Lacey and Jessica were yet to return from their weekend visit home. Anika thinks they'd be late – they should probably be back by the time the first hour ends, or maybe they'll be here in the second half.
"I love your mom's toffees," Anika huffed, "Please, can I have some more."
I chuckled. "I've been back an hour and you've already swallowed more than your fair share of toffees," I told her rolling my eyes, thinking about the small bag of caramel toffees that I had in my bag for everyone else, "I only have some for the others – maybe next time."
She groaned, pushing at my shoulder playfully, "Why didn't you bring more?"
"I'll get you more the next time I go home," I promised.
"You better."
Anika then started to talk about her weekend, about how she had talked to her mother on a video call and about how she had stayed the night in Evie's room over the weekend, and about how different a sleepover with only her was. "I mean, don't get me wrong – Evie is great! But having a sleepover when it's just her is difficult. If you and the girls were also there, it would've been more fun."
"So, you mean Evie was no fun?" I teased, my lips twitching into a smile.
Anika pointed a finger at me, waving it at me, her eyes narrowed, "I did not say that. Don't put words in my mouth, Adeline Kingsley," she grinned, "But yes, she was no fun."
Laughing, I looped my hand into hers. "Maybe the next time, we'll plan and have a sleepover – all five of us, together," I said, "Alright?"
Anika's grin widened, "That sounds great."
A thought struck me and I paused thinking about everything else. Should I invite Dawn too for this still-in-plan sleepover? After all, she too was one of the girlfriends that I had made in this school. An image of Dawn wearing a pink, frilly dress, letting Lacey paint her toenails any color other than black while she scowled at the rom-com we were watching flitted through my mind and I chuckled. Not that that was what I had envisioned for a sleepover – nobody wears anything other than comfortable sweats to a sleepover and we didn't typically braid hairs and paint nails the whole night, we also won't be watching rom-coms – but still the image of it all was funny.
As soon as we got into the hallway though, all thoughts of Dawn and her scowling face in a funny outfit escaped left my mind, panic filling me. Everyone was staring at me. This was not new. I have been the talk of this school since the day I came here – I was the girl who got shit poured over her in the middle of the hall, the girl who somehow got the bully suspended even when he had a big connection to this school management, the girl who had somehow penetrated through the impenetrable armor of the Rebels, who came out of nowhere and became friends with the people who kept to themselves and couldn't be befriended. But this time, it was different, there was something different with the way they were staring at me.