Last Train Home by Megan Nugen Isbell Page B

He glanced up at me and then made his way to his seat.  He turned around and waved, but before we could talk, Mr. Barry stood up and began lecturing about the second amendment. 
    After an hour of debating the founding fathers thoughts on the right to bear arms and getting paired up with Jesse for a project on the subject, the bell rang.  I gathered my things and headed towards the door , where I met up with Jesse.
    “How was your weekend?” he asked me as we made our way down t he hall.
    “Not bad.  What about you?”
    “Eh…” he said, shrugging his shoulders and then he turned and looked at me. “I saw Alex walked you to class this morning.”  I nodded at him. “I take it things went well Saturday night?”
    “Yeah, I guess you could say that,” I said and I could feel my lips turning up into a smile as I thought back to our date.
    “Are you going out again?” 
    “We haven’t made any plans, but we’re definitely hanging out again.”
    “Just be careful.”  His voice was low and serious and I looked over at him and laughed.
    “What are you talking about?”
    “I’m just saying you don’t know Alex very well.”
    “And you do?” I huffed.
    “Well…no, but…” he stammered until I interrupted.
    “Thanks for the concern, but I think I’ll be just fine.  You guys are too hard on him, just because he’s popular and hot.”
    Jesse burst out laughing.
    “Yeah, that’s exactly why we’re hard on him.  See ya at lunch.”  He patted me on the shoulder and then turned to leave.  I just shrugged at his sarcasm and headed to my locker.  I quickly exchanged my Constitution book for my chemistry book and headed to the bathroom. 
    When I walked inside, a girl I didn’t know was applying some lip gloss in the mirror.  I ducked into a stall and when I walked out, the girl with the lip gloss was gone, and I was startled to see Adrienne had taken her place.  I stopped for a moment as our eyes met, but then I continued to the sink to wash my hands. 
    “Riley, right?” she finally said as she stared at me with her harsh blue eyes as I was drying my hands.
    “Yeah,” I said , throwing the paper towel into the garbage can
    “I’m Adrienne,” she said in a voice that in sinuated I should be impressed.
    “ I know.”
    An arrogant smile spread across her face at my r ecognition of her.
    “I saw you out with Alex Bettencourt this weekend.”
    “You saw correct,” I said as my patience was thinning.
    “So you had fun then?  You and Alex?” she said with a derisive grin.
    “I’m sorry, but w hat business is that of yours?”
    “ I just want you to know that while he may be having fun with you right now, he’ll always come back to me.”
    “Excuse me?” I said , having to hold back the laugh that was trying to escape my throat.  This girl couldn’t be serious.  She wasn’t actually confronting me in a bathroom over a guy.  It was all very reminiscent of a John Hughes film from the eighties and completely ridiculous.
    “You heard me.  I just wanted you to know how things are around here…since you’re new here and all.”  Her voice was stern and snotty and I wanted to r each up and slap the stupid smile off her face.
    “Well, thank you for the advice, but I think I’ve got things under cont rol,” I said as I tried to go around her, but she stepped in my path, blocking me.  I just folded my arms and rolled my eyes as I waited for her next idiotic remark.
    “ Ya know…everyone might be intrigued with you now because you’re like a shiny new toy or something, but soon they’ll just realize you’re just some stupid guidette and they’ll get over you.”
    She was openly sneering and I seriously couldn’t be lieve my ears.  She was insane!
    “First of all, I think you’ve been watching too much Jersey Shore,” I said as I laughed. “I’m not even Italian, I’m Greek.  But seeing how diverse this backwards hick town is, I guess we all look the same to you.  And