I ’m sitting so close to the teacher I get to study her necklace. Today a silver tidal wave spangled with blue stones rests elegantly on Mrs. Teitel’s black blazer.
It’s arguably the worst seat in the classroom.
And it’s mine.
It was the only one empty when I slouched into class three minutes before the first bell of the first day of the year. Mom had driven me a half hour early but I’d stayed in the car until a moment before zero hour. So many girls and hairdos and new shoes streaming through the huge double doors. More girls than I’d ever seen in one place. Everyone was with someone or several someones but Leeba hadn’t answered the phone that morning.
And she hadn’t saved me a seat either.
