To be honest, it didn’t matter, because all I wanted to do was get lost in the familiar blur of the first day of school so I could forget about the crazy message in my binder.
I guess there’s nothing like a crappy summer filled with near-death experiences to make the first day of school seem great in comparison. Until I got to the cafeteria, where it was sloppy joe day. Of course it was. Nothing said first day of school like sloppy joes.
I found Lena and Ridley easily enough. They were sitting alone at one of the orange lunch tables, with a steady stream of guys circling like vultures. Everyone had heard about Ridley by now, and all the guys wanted to check her out.
“Where’s Link?”
Ridley tilted her head toward the back of the lunchroom, where Link was moving from table to table like he was the MVP at the state championship or something. I noticed her tray, full of chocolate pudding, red Jell-O cubes, and slices of dry-looking angel food cake. “Hungry, Rid?”
“What can I say, Boyfriend? Girl’s got a sweet tooth.” She picked up a bowl of pudding and dug in.
“Don’t tease her. She’s having a bad day,” Lena said.
“Really? That’s a shocker.” I bit into my first deflated sloppy joe. “What happened?”
Lena glanced back at one of the tables. “That happened.”
Link had one foot up on the plastic bench, and he was leaning over the table, talking to the cheer squad. His attention focused on one cheer captain in particular.
“Aw, that’s nothing. Just Link being Link. You don’t have anything to worry about, Rid.”
“Like I’m worried,” she snapped. “I could care less what he does.” But I looked down at her tray, and four of the pudding bowls were already empty. “I’m not coming back tomorrow, anyway. This whole school thing is moronic. You move around from room to room like herds or flocks or—”
“Schools?” I couldn’t resist.
“That’s what I’m talking about.” Ridley rolled her eyes, annoyed that I couldn’t keep up.
“I was talking about fish. A group of fish is called a school. If you went to school you’d know that.” I ducked to avoid her spoon.
“That isn’t the point.” Lena shot me a warning look.
“The point is, you’re sort of a solo act,” I said, trying to sound sympathetic. Ridley went back to her pudding with a serious level of sugar dedication I respected. She didn’t take her eyes off Link.
“Actually trying to make someone like you is totally demeaning. It’s pathetic. It’s…”
“Mortal?”
“Exactly.” She shuddered, moving on to the Jell-O.
A few minutes later, Link worked his way over to our table. He dropped down next to Ridley, and the side of the table where Lena and I were sitting lifted right off the ground. At 6′2″, I was one of the tallest guys at Jackson, but I only had an inch or so on Link now.
“Hey, man. Take it easy.”
Link eased up a little, and our side of the table smacked down against the linoleum. People were staring. “Sorry. I keep forgettin’. I’m Transitioning. Mr. Ravenwood said this would be a rough time, when you’re the new kid on the block.”
Lena kicked me under the table, trying not to laugh.
Ridley was less subtle. “I think all this sugar is making me sick. Oh wait, did I say sugar? I meant sap.” She looked at Link. “And when I said sap, I meant you.”
Link smiled. This was the Ridley he liked best. “Your uncle said no one would understand.”
“Yeah, I bet it’s really tough being the Hulk.” I was kidding, but I wasn’t far off.
“Dude, it’s no joke. I can’t sit down for more than five minutes or people start throwing their food at me, like they expect me to eat it.”
“Well, you did have a reputation for being a human garbage disposal.”
“I could still eat if I wanted to.” He looked disgusted. “But food doesn’t taste like anything. It’s like chewin’ on cardboard. I’m on the Macon Ravenwood diet. You know, snackin’ on a few dreams here and there.”
“Whose dreams?” If Link was feeding off my dreams, I was going to kick his ass. They were confusing enough without him.
“No way. Your head’s too full a crazy for me. But you wouldn’t believe what Savannah dreams about. Let’s just say she’s not thinking about the state finals.”
No one wanted to hear the details—especially not Ridley, who was stabbing at her Jell-O. I tried to spare her. “That’s a visual I can live without, thanks.”
“It’s cool. But you’ll never guess what I saw.” If he said Savannah in her underwear, he was a dead man.
Lena was thinking the same thing. “Link, I don’t think—”
“Dolls.”
“What?” It wasn’t the answer Lena was expecting.
“Barbies, but not the ones girls had in elementary school. These puppies are all dressed up. She’s got a bride, Miss America, Snow White. And they’re in this big glass case.”
“I knew she reminded me of a Barbie.” Ridley stabbed another cube.