Upgrade (Augmented Duology Book 2) by Heather Hayden (the top 100 crime novels of all time .TXT) 📕

halt next to the bus stop. I let the others crowd on first, finding seats with their friends, laughing and joking about how they already missed summer vacation. As I boarded, I caught a glimpse of Neela, but the moment our eyes met she turned and stared pointedly out the window. Her head bobbed to music, light brown bangs swishing across her forehead.

It took a lot of willpower to keep my shoulders from slumping. My breakfast began to turn to stone, and I let its weight drag me down the bus aisle. I found an empty seat near the back of the bus, where I wouldn’t feel as if everyone was staring at me. For the rest of the trip, I gazed out the window.

Even though the bus was crowded by the time we reached the school, no one sat by me. My jaw clenched, but I refused to cry. School was about learning, anyway. I had Halle waiting for me at home, my ever-loyal and patient friend. What did I need anyone else for?

I got off the bus and pulled up my schedule on my phone. First period was calculus. The room was on the third floor, so I headed for the staircase, dodging around other students. The less time I had to spend in the hallway, with its groups of friends greeting each other after summers away, or reminiscing about this or that event, the better.

Mr. Todd hadn’t arrived yet, and the classroom was almost empty. I took a seat at the back of the room, shoving my backpack under my desk. I didn’t want to spend the entire class feeling everyone staring at my back. I pulled out my notebook and began to doodle random swirls and shapes.

Chairs clattered and the door hinges squeaked incessantly as students started to file into the classroom. Still no sign of Mr. Todd, though he tended to be late anyway. Other than glancing up occasionally to see if he’d arrived yet, I kept my attention on the paper on my desk, the random scribbles now becoming a cat that was slowly filling my paper. A few whispers carrying my name caught my ear, but I ignored them. I wonder what Halle’s up to.

“Is anyone sitting here?”

At first, I didn’t realize that the question was directed at me. A slight touch on my shoulder made me jump, and I looked up to find a blond guy with green eyes looking down at me. Very green eyes—he was probably wearing contact lenses.

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“I asked if anyone was sitting here,” he said, gesturing toward the desk next to me.

“No,” I replied, surprised by the question. He had to be a transfer; I didn’t recognize him, and he was speaking with me. James’s words came back to me, make new friends. I took a deep breath and held out my hand. “My name’s Viki. What’s yours?”

“Dan,” he replied. “Nice to meet you.”

“You’re new to this school, right? I haven’t seen you before.”

He nodded and offered me a tentative smile. “Just transferred in. I don’t suppose you’d mind showing me around during lunch? I tend to get lost in new schools. Took me two months to get used to the layout of the last one.”

I nodded. “Sure.” Two months? Just how big a school had he been attending? And did he travel a lot, if he was attending new schools regularly? I envied him, moving to a new place where no one knew his past. “What classes are you in?”

He pulled up his schedule on his phone. By the time Mr. Todd arrived, I had determined that we also had the same history class and English class today; he had a different art class, Advanced Ceramics. Better him than me. After my disastrous attempts at working with clay last fall term, Ms. Robins had all but forbidden me to take another class with her.

“You can follow me to history,” I said. “Then we can grab lunch and I can show you around before English.” I gave him my number in case we got separated.

“Thanks, I really appreciate it.” Dan tucked his phone into the back pocket of his jeans and took a seat just as Mr. Todd called the class to order.

I did my best to focus on the intelliboard, but I couldn’t contain a smile. Maybe making a new friend wasn’t that hard after all. Dan seemed nice, and he hadn’t recognized me. My smile slipped a little. Someone’s going to tell him eventually, and then he might change his mind about hanging out with me. I snuck a glance toward him, but he was busy writing down notes. Well, there wasn’t much I could do about it right now. In the meantime, I’d do my best to be friendly.

Class ended, and I led the way to our history class. Dan didn’t talk much in the hall, which was fine by me. I was getting stared at even more now, and it was making me jumpy. I wanted to ditch my backpack and sprint for the front doors.

“What P.E. class do you have?” Dan asked as we maneuvered through the crowd of students finding seats.

I settled into an unclaimed chair, again in the back of the room—thankfully, Dan didn’t seem to mind where we sat—and hesitated for a moment. I’d almost answered “track” automatically, but P.E. this year wasn’t going to be track, because the coach had kicked me off the team. “General,” I said, doing my best to hide my bitterness, and failing.

His eyebrows raised a little, but he didn’t say anything.

“What are you in?” I asked.

“Track.”

Another twinge of jealousy. I forced a smile. “It’s a good team. I’m sure you’ll fit in fine.”

“Thanks.” He glanced down at his phone, then back at me. “Are there any sports you enjoy?”

My fingers tightened around my pencil.