The Phobia of Renegade X by Chelsea M. Campbell

Author:Chelsea M. Campbell [Campbell, Chelsea M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Golden City Publishing
Published: 2017-08-07T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 27

RILEY SEEMS SURPRISED TO see me when I show up at his house Monday morning before school. Surprised, but also relieved. His hair’s still wet from the shower and he’s shoving the last bite of a piece of toast into his mouth when he opens the door. He looks me over, his eyes flicking to mine, and asks, “Are you okay?”

“Come on, Perkins, of course I—” I stop myself from lying to him. “No, not really.”

“I can’t believe what happened on Friday.”

“I know. Like, what were you and Sarah thinking?”

He scowls at me. “No, I meant what happened with Zach’s friends kind of mobbing you and making that video.”

I follow him into the kitchen. He holds up a box of cereal, but I shake my head.

“I had no idea,” he says. “About what was going on. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have… I mean, me and Sarah wouldn’t have—”

“Been about to do it in your room?”

He flinches. “We weren’t doing that.”

“Yet.”

“Will you shut up? I’m trying to say—”

“I know what you’re trying to say. You didn’t know Zach’s crazy friends were going to harass me or that I was going to end up zapping one of them.”

He sighs. “You could have come back.”

“I went to Kat’s.”

“You could have at least answered my texts.”

“I had my phone off.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t know what had happened to you.” He sounds kind of pissed about that. And maybe kind of hurt.

“Perkins—”

“You ran out of here without even telling us what happened!”

“You were obviously busy!”

“And then Amelia said you got in a fight with your dad and ran off. Nobody knew where you were, X!”

I take a step back, running into the counter. “I was at Kat’s. Everybody else figured it out.”

“No, everybody else hoped you were at Kat’s. You can’t just disappear like that! You obviously weren’t okay when you left here, and I didn’t know if something had happened to you, or if you weren’t speaking to me, or—”

“Geez, Perkins. Calm down. I’m okay.”

“You just said you weren’t.”

“Yeah, but… it doesn’t have anything to do with you. We’re okay. You can stop freaking out.”

“That’s not—” He takes a deep breath. “Just answer my texts next time.”

“Yeah, alright. If it’s that important to you.”

Zach comes running into the room. He doesn’t have his shoes on, just socks, and almost slips and falls on the linoleum. He manages to catch himself and looks up at the microwave clock. “Crap! I’m going to be—” He stops mid-sentence when he realizes I’m there. Then he kind of gapes at me.

I hold up my thumb. “Let me see it.”

He holds his up to show me his H. His eyes meet mine real quick, then dart away. “I’m so sorry about what happened on Friday!”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. It’s— Crap.” He glances at the microwave again and then tears open the fridge.

“Dude,” Riley says, “we can give you a ride.”

“I’m already counting on you giving me a ride and I’m still going to be late! You better be ready to go.

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