Kalina glanced at the Sams, especially confused by the fact that, as far as she knew, neither of them had sisters, or any siblings at all, that went to the same school, before realizing Alice was looking at her. She turned around, and, sure enough, Crisanta was approaching.
“Kalina, we need to talk,” she whispered, before Kalina could ask her what was up.
“Okay,” Kalina whispered back.
When she hadn’t moved after a few seconds, Crisanta jerked her head towards the hall. “Somewhere else.”
“I just sat down,” Kalina sighed. “Can’t you just talk here?”
“I don’t think it…” Crisanta did the strange double-blink thing she did when she was surprised – Kalina was pretty sure -she- didn’t do anything like that, but she had never asked anyone to confirm that for her – as she noticed Sam The Boy. “Oh,” she said simply.
“You’ve met him before,” Kalina reminded her. “And it’s not polite to stare.”
“I’m not staring,” Crisanta lied. “Fine, we can talk here, since you’re probably all in on it anyway.” She glared disapprovingly at Kalina’s friends before settling her gaze on Kalina. “You need to confess to Mr. Matson.”
If it were anyone else, Kalina would try to feign ignorance, but that was pretty pointless with Crisanta. Instead, she just said, “Go to your own table, Crissy.”
“Don’t call me that,” Crisanta frowned. “This is serious!”
“No, it isn’t,” Kalina rolled her eyes. “It’s a stupid Chemistry pop quiz. The world’s not gonna end because I cheated. We’re not all perfect little angels.”
“I never said I was perfect,” Crisanta crossed her arms, “but you should know better. I can’t…”
“Yeah, you can’t believe me,” Kalina finished for her. “I’ll make sure to think real hard about what I’ve done, and I’m sure the guilt will be punishment enough.”
Kalina saw Crisanta’s fingernails digging into the flesh of her arms. “I was going to offer to help you, if you’re having so much trouble, but…”
“Oh, please. Like you’re going to have time to tutor little old me.”
“Huh?” Crisanta’s hands relaxed, her eyes widening. “What do you mean?”
“I -mean-, you should pay more attention to the bulletin board. And you probably shouldn’t be seen talking to us anymore… I’m pretty sure cheerleaders aren’t supposed to associate with geeks.”