Cheaters Anonymous Read Free

student population in our high school blended with the aluminum whirr. I lowered my shoulders and leaned my head back against the metal stand that supported the seats above me. Nine and a half more months and this place would be abandoned. The dreaded summer break would begin, and without quiet places like these to hide underneath, I would be forced to leave this city. Maybe a fresh start at university was exactly what I needed? I’d only been at this school since last March. Dad’s job meant we moved from one big city to another, and my lucky draw this year was a private neighborhood of mansions on Long Island so that Dad could commute to Manhattan. We lived in what I assumed to be one of the more prestigious areas, where all the kids in the neighborhood went to the same private school.
    I opened my eyes as the smell of pot permeated the air. A few feet away, a boy I’d seen around school sat down and leaned back, pulling in a lungful from his joint. His eyes lazy, he let the smoke out slowly before turning my way.
    “Want a hit?” he asked.
    “Sure.”
    May as well live it up while I can.
    For me, by the end of the year this place would be history, and my social life would morph from non-existent to completely dead. But maybe we’d stay in Washington for a bit longer than a year – that was the plan, at least. This time we’d be moving with mom only. Dad was staying behind, though he’d promised “nothing would change.” Actually, tired of watching him lie and cheat, I had been praying for a while now that our life actually would change. Mom had finally smartened up.
    He shuffled his way toward me and hit his head on one of the bleachers. While he didn’t make a sound, I chuckled at the surprise in his eyes when he looked up with that expression of wonderment at how the metal seat had gotten there. For someone of my frame, crawling underneath the bleachers wasn’t an issue. But he totally didn’t look like he belonged here – which made him perfect company because I didn’t feel like I belonged anywhere.
    I took the flawlessly rolled cannabis and brought it to my lips. Feeling his gaze on me, I looked to the side at his Yeah, baby smile. He must have been smoking for a while now.
    Feeling moisture at the tip, I inhaled. Watching a football practice, we passed the shrinking doobie back and forth. It was a good thing we were sitting upwind; otherwise, one of the coaches could have caught us.
    “Look at those fools.” He pointed to a couple. Sherry, the cheerleading squad’s captain, was wearing her practice uniform as Bradley ran up to her in that bulky way, making each step look as if it had been rehearsed to perfection by every single football player in the world.
    “What about them?”
    “She’s completely oblivious that’s he’s cheating on her.”
    “How do you know?”
    “Guys brag.” He shrugged.
    It took a moment for the pot to kick in, but when it did, I saw the pair all over each other in slow motion. I laughed – but in my ears only heard a snort.
    “Good shit?” he asked.
    “It is.”
    “Watch this.” He brought my attention back to the field. A girl from the squad stomped over to the pair, jutting her manicured finger into Bradley’s chest. I didn’t know her name. They exchanged what looked like a few angry words.
    “Oh, oh,” I chuckled. “Cat fight?”
    “Nah, their claws are still growing. And they’re both hoping to win Brad over. Another three years, maybe we’d see some hair tugging and nail scratching.” He shrugged again. It seemed to be one of his favorite gestures.
    Brad was definitely on the top of the hotness scale, and I wasn’t surprised that every girl in the school wanted a piece of him. I’d do anything just to be part of the popular crowd for one short day.
    I felt bad for Sherry for only a moment. Then I remember her prancing around school inserting pamphlets of a photograph of me looking back at my own ass with a red stain on the back of my white