If the library was my favorite place at JFK Prep, my least favorite place was the gym. Middle ground would have to be the cafeteria, where I was now currently sitting, face buried in a book while I pretended to eat lunch.

The student body at this school was ridiculously large, so it was easy enough to blend in when we were all shoved into one place. I was kinda fond of the table I'd found at the back of the cafeteria at this point, and I was happy to hide away there during the half hour lunch period.

Sure, trudging my way through some sappy Shakespeare play wasn't my idea of a good time, but my other alternative was to respond to the latest text message from my aunt, Rebecca.

Hey, Archer. It's been a while. How are you, kid?

Every time I scrolled back through the message history with my dad's sister, it was glaringly obvious how one-sided the conversation had become. Even if I wasn't biologically related to her, Rebecca always liked to say I was her favorite nephew. At one point in time, we'd been close too, and if it hadn't been for her support after everything happened, I doubted my mom would've made it through Rosie's birth or the trial.

I was very quickly losing focus on the words of the stupid play in front of me, instead wondering when I'd become so standoffish. What was the problem in texting Rebecca back?

Because she'd immediately notice something was wrong and tell my mom, which meant I --

My mind suddenly went blank when I heard a chair scraping back across the floor, and I looked up to find Hadley Jamison taking a seat, setting her lunch down like this was something she'd done a thousand times before. She'd already popped the top on her container of salad and was taking a bite of lettuce, cool as you please.

On the one hand, I was impressed at how quickly Hadley had rebounded after our squabble in the library yesterday. I personally thought I'd done a good job of amping up the rude behavior. But on the other hand, I was also annoyed.

"What are you doing?"

Hadley chomped down on a tomato and swallowed before answering. "I'm eating lunch. What does it look like?"

Bugging the shit out of me, I thought.

"Like you're about to go eat your lunch anywhere else but here."

Hadley shrugged, spearing some more lettuce with her fork. When she didn't offer up any further explanation, I flapped my hands at her in a shooing gesture, just in case she needed the visual.

Her eyes narrowed. "I can sit wherever I want, you know."

"So go do that somewhere else," I said, flipping my book open again.

And my hopes of Hadley leaving me alone were dashed when she leaned across the table to snatch my book out of my hands. "What're you reading?"

I was halfway out of my seat, leaning across the table toward Hadley, but she artfully held the book out of reach.

"Romeo and Juliet?" She shot me a surprised look. "You're reading Romeo and Juliet? I didn't peg you for a Shakespeare kind of guy."

"You don't know anything about me," I snapped. "And I have to annotate it for AP Lit. Give it back." 

Hadley returned the book after taking another moment to scan the pages in front of her. I watched the corners of her lips turn down as she read and I wondered whether that was because of the passage or the note I'd scrawled at the top of the page. I hadn't made my distaste for the sappy love story a secret in my annotations. 

I quickly shoved the book into my backpack and zipped the thing closed, hating the way my fingers were trembling. "Are you normally this obnoxious or are you just putting on a show for my benefit?"

Hadley scowled. "I'm not trying to be obnoxious."

Well, you're failing spectacularly, I wanted to say. 

"But look," she continued, leaning forward to rest her elbows on the table. "Remember when I said I was thinking we'd make good friends? Well, here's proof: we both hate Shakespeare. Can you imagine what else we might have in common if we hung out?"

It took a second for me to realize that the noise trying to escape from me was a laugh.

Well. That was certainly different.

"So compelling," I said sarcastically.

Hadley grinned. "But it's a place to start."

I felt myself start to frown as I stared at Hadley. She was staring right back, drumming her fingers on the tabletop, something like a hopeful smile on her face.

That's what it looked like to me at least. Hopeful. 

My desire to know why she would be looking at me like that, spouting something stupid about wanting to be friends, was suddenly stronger than my desire for her to leave me alone. 

Now I saw this going one of two ways: really badly, or it was going to be one of the most interesting things to happen to me in years.

"Fine. Let's hang out."

Hadley's eyes went wide, her lips parting in surprise. "Fine? Really?"

I leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest. "Unless you don't want to anymore. Personally, I'm hoping that's the case."

"No! No, that's not it," Hadley said quickly. "I'm just...surprised, that's all. That you actually agreed."

"Agreed is a strong word," I said. "Meet me outside the front doors after the final bell. And hurry up. I'm not gonna wait around for you."

The bell conveniently rang as soon as I finished speaking and I was on my feet, grabbing my backpack. Hadley quickly followed suit.

"So, I'll see you after school then," she said, and for the first time since this conversation began, she looked a little nervous.

"Right," I said after a moment. "Whatever."

I left without waiting for a response, wondering what I'd just gotten myself into.

A classmate of mine -- one I hadn't spoken to in years, no less -- wanted to hang out with me. I had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but I was already formulating ideas on ways I could shake Hadley if I needed to.

I was technically scheduled to work tonight, something I conveniently forgot to remember until after I'd agreed to these after school plans with Hadley. I didn't see any reason to change that. Maybe it would even be funny to drag Hadley all the way out to Mama Rosa's only for her to realize that I had absolutely no intention of spending any time with her.

Was this a dick move? Yes, kind of. Was that not enough to stop me though? Also, yes.

For a few hours that day I almost managed to forget I even had it. But now the letter in my left pocket, folded up into a neat little square, felt like a white-hot poker against my skin.

To do it this way would barely take any effort on my part. As easy as breathing, really. One step off the curb, a few more into the street, and some impatient motorist with a lead foot could finish the job for me. Certainly a messier way to go about it, however easier it made things for me.

Messier, and a lot more painful for my mother, seeing as she'd be the one who would need to identify my body -- probably too much then. 

I bit down on the inside of my cheek, squeezing my stupid copy of Romeo and Juliet so tightly I might end up ripping the thing in half. 

I knew all this. I'd gone over the details a thousand times in my mind. And yet it still didn't make those nagging, intrusive thoughts disappear. They seemed to have made a perfect home in the most screwed up corner of my brain and I wasn't sure if it would even be possible to get rid of them at this point.

Sometimes I wasn't sure if I even wanted to -- they were one constant in my life.

"Hey, Archer!"

My head snapped up at the sound of my name.

 I wasn't exactly sure if it was dread I felt when I saw Hadley Jamison headed my way with a little skip in her step. Her smile was big enough this time for me to notice she had a dimple. Given how skittish she'd become earlier, stumbling over her words, I was surprised she'd even shown up.

"Hi," I said flatly.

"So." Hadley rocked back on her heels, hands clasped behind her back. "What would you like to do?"

I swung my backpack around to stuff my copy of Romeo and Juliet away. "I have something in mind. This way."

I took off down the sidewalk without waiting for Hadley. Almost at once I could hear her huffing to keep pace with me.

"Hadley! Wait up! Hey, Hadley!"

Turning back around, I saw one of Hadley's friends sprinting toward us. This one I knew as Brie (like the cheese) and I'd had the misfortune of sharing an art class with her last year. 

It was funny in a twisted kind of way seeing Brie's face slip into a mask of shock when she saw Hadley standing beside me. Hadley clearly noticed this and snuck an anxious look my way, probably wondering if I was about to make a break for it -- still a possibility at this point.

"Hey, Brie," Hadley said when she reached us.

"Hi," Brie said, breathless. "Um. Yeah. I was just...I mean, we were wondering..."

I figured getting a better look at me up close was what had Brie so tongue-tied.

"Aren't...you're going over to Chelsea's tonight, right?" Brie said to Hadley. "Since Taylor's grandparents are in town, we were going to order take out and binge Netflix. Remember?"

"Er." Hadley bit her own lip, her expression turning nervous. "No, sorry. I'm actually --"

"Yeah, sorry, Brie," I cut in, unable to help myself. I could see where screwing around with these girls could quickly become a favorite pastime of mine. "Hadley and I are hanging out tonight."

"Oh. Right." Brie closely resembled a real-life version of The Scream as she looked back at Hadley. "Okay."

I saw her mouth text me later at Hadley before she zipped off down the sidewalk again like a bat out of hell.

"I had an art class with Brie last semester," I told Hadley conversationally as we set off again. "Super smart girl."

Hadley scowled but kept quiet. She tried once or twice to keep the conversation going as we walked, but my monosyllabic replies shut her down fast.

Despite knowing the train schedule by heart, I'd purposefully picked this route to the coffeehouse because it was a long one, but Hadley kept pace with me the entire time, and without a single complaint. 

"Wow." Hadley's eyes were round as she looked up at me, standing outside my family's coffeehouse. "What's this?"

For the first time today, I hesitated. 

There was no getting around it: from the outside, Mama Rosa's looked pretty shabby. Inside was a different story, but there had to be some truth to the whole first impressions matter thing.

If Hadley was anything like the stereotypical rich girl label she probably didn't know she carried, I was doubtful this place was up to her standards. And if I so conveniently forgot to mention that I was scheduled to work tonight, the better my chances were of losing her. Right?

However... when had my brain ever held on to much rational thought?

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Because I am horribly impatient to share this story, I've decided to post updates on Mondays and Fridays rather than just Friday. I hope no one will object. Happy Holidays!