The Edge of Nowhere by Elizabeth George Page A

warily at the teacher to see if he was why.
    His name was Mr. Powder. He shot one look at Becca and another at Tatiana. His expression said that he hated them both, but it also said that he hated anything having to do with South Whidbey High School. He was going to be a lousy teacher.
    Tatiana handed over Becca’s schedule, which Mr. Powder signed. He looked at the class in front of him and said to Becca, “Take that seat over there. Class, this is”—he referred to the schedule before he handed it back—“Becca King. Thank you, Ms. Primavera.”
    He’d said that last part because Tatiana hadn’t left the room yet and he wanted her to, that much was obvious. But she was looking around and she said, “Good. Take the seat next to Derric. Derric, will you show Becca around the campus today so she can find her classes?”
    Becca looked up, absolutely horrified. There had to be more than one Derric, she thought. The first Derric had looked too old to be a freshman.
    But it was the same Derric from the ferry, she saw, the very same Derric from in front of Carol Quinn’s house, the Derric who was Josh Grieder’s Big Brother and who would probably be hanging around the Cliff Motel.
    “Some things are written in the stars, hon,” Becca’s grandmother would have said about all this.
    Becca’s response would have been, “ What things?”—a question she wanted desperately to have answered as she crossed the room to take the vacant seat next to this boy.

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    EIGHT
    F or Becca, it was the oddest sensation. For the first time since that terrible moment in the kitchen in San Diego when she’d heard Jeff Corrie’s whispers and she’d known what he’d done, she felt safe. Sitting next to this boy to whom she’d barely spoken, she felt perfectly safe, and she didn’t know why.
    She couldn’t stop herself from shooting glances at Derric’s arm. It was bare, it rested on the side of his desk, and it was roped with muscle. An athlete, she decided.
    Her feeling of safety didn’t last long. The classroom door crashed open as Becca was opening her notebook. A girl entered and Becca recognized her with an internal uh-oh . It was the girl from the ferry, the girl who had tried to cheat the cashier.
    At the front of the room, Mr. Powder took one look at her and said, “That’s your second tardy, Jenn. One more and it’s detention. Got it?”
    Jenn didn’t answer him because she’d seen Becca, and what came out of her was a galloping horse of astoundingly dirty whispers, audible even over the AUD box. She said to Becca, “You’re in my seat.”
    Mr. Powder said, “So tomorrow try being on time. Do something really amazing: Try being early. Go to the back.”
    Becca dropped her gaze. She looked at her notebook, which was crisp and new, and she could feel how much Jenn wanted to snatch it from her and rip off its cover. But instead, she stomped to the back of the room and flung herself into her seat. So much for safety, Becca thought. Obviously, she’d made an instant enemy out of this girl.
    Next to her, Becca sensed Derric moving, and she glanced at him quickly. She saw him make the A-OK sign with his fingers. They were long and sensitive looking and the sign they were making was intended for her. Don’t worry about it , his fingers were telling her, as if he knew what she was feeling.
    Mr. Powder resumed his lecture. No one wanted to listen and who could blame them? He was boring, sounding the way cold oatmeal tasted. When the bell finally rang at the end of the class, Becca felt as if she’d been in the room for more than a week.
    As the students began to leave, Derric spoke to her. He was over six feet tall, and he towered above her so he leaned toward her to say with a grin, “I’d tell you it’s not always this bad, but it is. What’s your next class?”
    She looked at her schedule. “Physical Science,” she said.
    “Come on, then. I’ll show you where it is.”

    LUNCH CAME AFTER second period, at