Page 5 of Unexpected Prejudice

“What the hell, Chica?” Diesel snapped when Andrei took his phone from him.

“It’s Jess’s turn to pick the music.”

“Fuck you,” Diesel muttered angrily and sank into his seat, crossing his arms over his chest.

“C’mon, Jess, I need some good music to start the day,” Andrei said, sending me a wink through the rearview mirror.

Thrilled I could once again pick the track, I put on “Cheap Thrills” by Sia.

I sang along with the lyrics, at least the ones I knew, and enjoyed the moment. Excitement tingled inside of me whenever I thought about us starting a new school. From what Andrei told me, it was very fancy. It could’ve been scary, starting in a new place, if it weren’t for all of us being together. The most important part was that I’d be there with Levi.

I already learned that no matter what I did or where I was, as long as Levi was by my side, I didn’t care. He made everything better.

Levi

Our first few hours in Beverly Bay High weren’t bad, but they weren’t good either. Aside from the snobbish looks every other student sent our way, the facilities were impressive. Rational thought was always better than emotional whims, so rationally speaking, a year in this place would help our future. Maybe our old school burning down wasn’t such a bad thing, at least from an academic point of view. I knew Andrei thought the same way I did about keeping our heads low, doing our best, and finishing this year with a good grade point average to help us get a scholarship.

Going to college had always been my goal, my way to promise Jessie and myself a good life.

I wasn’t good at anything in particular. I wasn’t athletic like Diesel, a natural-born leader like Andrei, or a talented artist like Jessie, but I was smart with a photographic memory that helped keep me ahead in school.

My dad always told me that knowledge was power, and learning was a privilege owned by the curious. He was a smart man; the smartest one I had ever known. Despite being a professor back in Russia, when he came to the United States, he was forced to work in construction due to the language barrier and an urgency to earn money. From sunrise to sunset, he worked every day, seven days a week, and yet, no matter how tired he was, every night when he came back home, we would sit down and read a book together. A fairy tale, biography, adventure story, or literature written by great writers, poets, or philosophers. It didn’t matter what we read as long as we did. Until one day, when he fell off some scaffolding and never returned home again.

Jessie nudged me softly with his hip and snapped me out of my thoughts. “Are you tired?”

“No, why?” I asked, looking around while standing in line for lunch.

“You looked like you dozed off, and you spent the whole night reading, so I guessed you were tired.”

“No, I was just thinking about what I’ll get for lunch,” I lied, not wanting to worry him with my thoughts.

“Mmm, how about a cake?”

“A cake?”

“Yeah.” Jessie pressed his palms together. “It’s our first day of senior year at a new school. We should celebrate.”

“A sugar rush is the last thing you need, especially when we have three more classes until we’re done for the day.”

“Fine,” he huffed, then grumbled as we reached the counter. “Oh, Diesel told me to buy him something while he’s smoking.” He pointed at the glass door that led to the lawns outside.

“Where’s Chica, by the way?” he asked.

Chica was Andrei’s nickname. Diesel had come up with it before we even knew the both of them.

“He’s still with the principal. He’ll join us after.”

I wasn’t surprised Andrei was the one who’d gone to see the principal. He was always the responsible one among us. I mean, I was responsible, too, perhaps too much, but no one ever really noticed me. I wasn’t as charismatic as Andrei and was sure the staff here had picked up on that already. After all, they needed to ensure one of us would keep the others in line.

“I wonder what they’re talking about,” Jessie murmured to himself while picking up a juice box and putting it on his tray. “You think Diesel will want apple juice or orange juice?”

Something about picturing Diesel drinking from a juice box didn’t sit right with me, so I grabbed the apple juice and put it back before picking a bottle of water for him. “I don’t think he’ll like either. You know how he always says those drinks are filled with too much sugar and chemicals.”

“You’re right. He’s a health freak.” Jessie chuckled. “But I like sugar. It’s tasty.”

Other than smoking like a chimney, Diesel truly was a health freak. At least when it came to his nutrition. He was also vegan, not that it mattered.

After paying for the food, we carried our trays into the main sitting area. It was hard to believe this place was actually a school and not a restaurant with its high ceilings, big windows, and decorated tables. It was all so extra and unnecessarily expensive.