Bad Luck Hannah

"I think they're doing drug tests today," Mr. Turner sighed as he unlocked the front doors of the library a little earlier than usual, and I raised my brows where I cleaned the computer tables, swiping at the dust with a rag aimlessly.
"Those are always really annoying," he grumbled, more to himself then me. "They make them all sit around here for an hour, taking up valuable space that classes could be using. It's not like they couldn’t just call them out during lunch or something!"
Yeah, they were annoying, I could agree with him.
I glanced at the back door as I heard laughter, and then quickly down.
Ugh.
Worst. Date. Ever.
And I didn’t even have anything else to compare it too.
I sighed.
My parents had been in their room when I'd gotten home, and I could hear Hayley and Jason laughing in his until like twelve that night, so I hadn't had to answer any prying questions about how it had went.
I'd just told Mom it went okay so she would stop asking me; she'd be so disappointed if she knew how awful it had really went and how much I wished that I had never gone on it in the first place. She would think it was my fault, and she would be right.
Such a major disaster.
I never wanted to go on a date ever again.
The bell rang, and I grimaced, lifting my books up into my arms. This was going to be another day of awful, I just knew it. The drug tests were always "randomized" as they liked to call it, though I knew Principal Harris was always eyeing the students who could be possible smokers so he could nail them.
He was going to be especially hard on the transfers, weeding them out until he was satisfied that his school was drug free again.
he'd never tested me, I dont believe he even knew I existed, and that was a relief.
It must be incredibly uncomfortable to pee in a cup in front of someone.
I dont think I could.
I looked back in surprise as I heard the back door open, and I cringed, ducking immediately behind Mr. Turners desk as Chris and his friends started through, Mr. Turner greeting them as they did; he was nice to everyone until you gave him a reason not to be.
And apparently he didnt think it was very weird that I was hiding under his desk from them.
"Oh, hey, is Hannah already gone?" I heard Chris ask, and I winced, hoping he didnt look over and see me hiding here like a complete loser.
"Yeah, she left a few minutes ago."
"Oh, well, thanks anyway," Chris sighed, and then I heard the door open and more shuffling as all of them filed out.
"You can come out now, they're all gone," Mr. Turner told me dryly, looking amused as I slowly raised my head, peeping over the desk to make sure before rising fully to my feet, my cheeks flushing with embarrassment.
What was that smell?
I frowned, sniffing slightly.
"Yeah, smells like pot to me," Mr. Turner sighed, plopping down in his rolly chair and rolling over to his desk. "The lot of them were probably smoking out back, I figure. Harris is going to have a field day with that little group."
"They'll get expelled, won't they?" I asked, chewing my lip. There was a zero tolerance policy here about drugs of any type, so I knew if they failed the test, they were goners immediately.
And I'm sure none of their parents were going to be happy about that.
"Of course they will. Harris is very strict about that, it doesnt matter who you are or if it's the first time or not." Mr. Turner shrugged. "And you're going to be late."
"What?" I glanced up at the clock, then gasped, hastily running around the row of computer tables that conjoined to Turners desk and then flying out the library doors; I practically sprinted to class, and made it inside just as the bell rang, quickly finding a seat by the window.
I glanced outside as the teacher started to pass out sheets of papers. It was dark, the clouds thick and just waiting to let loose a torrent of rain.
Today was going to suck.
And Chris and his friends were going to get in so much trouble, because I didnt doubt one second that Harris didnt have every single one of them on the list.
And that would look horrible on their record if they were trying to get into a good college or something, considering most of them were seniors except for Josh, and I think Devin, but I wasnt sure.
Either way, it would ruin them, and they would be blacklisted here and have a really hard time.
And i really did like Chris, he was nice.
I chewed my lip nervously.
Should i tell them, maybe? I mean, they deserved a fair warning, so maybe they could skip today or something to get out of it. Of course tomorrow Harris would just call them up to the office, but at least then they'd have a fair chance.
But then I would have to face Josh...
But not if I could get Chris alone. I knew what direction he went to lunch from, so maybe I could stop him in the hallway or something before they started calling out names?
They always waited until lunch was almost over so that everyone would have a chance to eat and a full bladder before their victimizing began.
Crap.
I couldnt know about it and not do something.
So when lunch time came around, I stood anxiously at my locker, watching all the students stream by in the cramped space on their way to the cafeteria with its green and white streamers and the picture of the giant rodent on the wall that served as our lame mascot.
I mean, come on, a gopher?
That really instilled fear in the hearts of our opponents, huh?
And where the hell was Chris?
I'd been standing here like ten minutes at this point and he hadnt come through, and it was kind of hard to miss a hulking giant like him coming through the hallways.
So where was he?
This made me nervous.
Maybe I had just missed him?
I hesitated, then started for the cafeteria, stepping inside slightly and letting my eyes rove to the table they regularly sat at. All of his friends were gathered there except for Chris.
God, even Josh was there.
I grimaced, hesitating in the doorway. I could walk over and just tell him, I guess, that would be safe enough, right? But I really didn’t want to voluntarily talk to him in case he thought we could be friends or whatever the hell it was he wanted.
Not after the other night.
That’s why I like Chris so much, he didn’t want anything from me, or smirked at me like the one named Ryan did all the time, or make me nervous. He was just kind of there, not really doing anything.
But he definitely wasn’t here now, and I had to make a decision fairly quickly instead of just standing here in the doorway like an idiot.
Oh, if I couldn’t tell Chris, I would have to tell Josh, wouldn’t I? He was the only other one I'd ever actually talked too.
Josh it was.
I sighed, feeling literally pained, them glumly walked over to their table. Ricky noticed me first, and he practically spit milk all over Josh, who just stared at him across the table like he had absolutely lost his mind.
This was one of the worst things I think I had ever decided to do.
But it was too late to change my mind.
I stepped hesitantly to Josh's side, and I swear his eyes widened like ten times when he realized I was standing there, his reflexes a little slower then usual.
I wrinkled my nose.
They all smelled like smoke.
"Er, Hannah? Do you... need something?" Ryan was staring at me too, his drink halfway to his mouth but hovering.
Could they make this anymore awkward?
"I..."
I didn’t want to just blurt it out for everyone to hear, especially the teachers. I wasnt even supposed to know about it, and Mr. Turner would get in so much trouble if anyone knew that he had mentioned it to me.
My eyes flicked to all the teachers in the room, and I sighed, leaning down so I could just whisper it in Josh's ear, cringing at how close to him I had to get; I hated being this close to people, where they could so easily reach out and grab me if they wanted.
"They're... doing drug tests today. You guys .... are basically the list. And you all smell like you stepped out of a smokestack." I muttered, and then leaned away hastily before someone thought I was telling him something... intimate.
His face flushed.
I stepped away from him, wrinkling my nose; I really hoped that scent didn’t stick to me since I'd leaned so close to him.
ew, it was so awful.
"Er, guys, we better go," Josh suddenly mumbled, looking a little embarrassed. "Like right now."
"Go where?" Ricky frowned, and I took another step away before hastily heading for the door. I didnt need to linger around with them any longer then necessary, but they didn’t need to skip immediately either because that would look entirely suspicious.
I really wish Chris had just been there so I could have talked to him.
Even though he was probably as bad off as the rest of them were.
I didn't even realize they did drugs, though I suppose I should have suspected it considering... well, just considering who they were, though that did make me sound incredibly stereotypical.
Great.