Carswell's Guide to Being Lucky (4 page)

Kate Fallow. He just wanted Kate Fallow to like
him
so he could swindle her out of her math homework.

Just like he swindled everyone.

There it was again. That peculiar tingle of shame.

“Ha! Suited triplets!” said Chien, laying out his cards. The other players groaned, and it took Carswell

a moment to scan the hands and determine that, indeed, Chien had taken the round. Usual y he could

pick out the winning hand in half a glance, but he’d been too distracted.

As Chien scooped up his winnings, Carswel determined that he probably should have quit while he

was ahead after all. He was back down to thirty-eight univs won for the day, forty-six behind his goal.

Boots would not be impressed.

“Wel done, Chien,” he said. “One more hand?”

“There won’t be time for it if our dealer goes out to space again,” said Anthony. “What’s wrong with

you?”

He cringed, the words reflecting his father’s question from just that morning. “Nothing,” he said,

shuffling the cards. “Just had something on my mind.”

“Oh, I see what he was looking at,” Said Carina. “Or should I say
who
.”

Chien and Anthony followed Carina’s gesture. “Kate Fallow?” said Anthony, with a curled lip that

said he highly doubted
she
was the person who had caught Carswell’s interest.

Ducking his head, Carswell redistributed a new round of cards, but no one picked them up.

“He was flirting with her in lit class this morning,” said Carina. “Honestly, Carswell. Do you really

need to get every girl in the whole school to fall under your spell? Is this some sort of manly conquest

you’re on or something?”

Cupping his chin in one hand, Carswell leaned toward Carina with a suggestive smirk. “Why? Are you

feeling left out?”

Rol ing her eyes, Carina shoved him away, at the same time that the speakers announced the end of

lunch hour. A groan rose up from the courtyard, but was hastily fol owed by the sounds of footsteps

padding back into the buildings, and friends bidding each other good-bye for the whole ninety minutes

they were about to be separated.

Carswell gathered up the cards he’d just dealt and slipped them back into his bag, “I’ll tally the

winnings,” he said, shooing away a fly that was buzzing around the pile of food.

“How do we know you won’t take a little extra for yourself?” asked Chien, with unhidden distrust.

Carswell only shrugged. “You can stay and count up your own if you’d prefer, but then we’l both be

late to class.”

Chien didn’t argue again. Of course, a lost univ of two was nothing to any of them, so what did it

matter if Carswell skimmed a little off the top?

By the time he’d entered the balances into his portscreen and put in a reminder to shuffle the

money between their accounts when he got home, the courtyard had emptied but for him and the

seagul s that were creeping in to pick at the scraps of abandoned food. Carswell slipped his portscreen

back into his bag beside the deck of cards, and heaved it over one shoulder.

The second announcement blared. The hal s were abandoned as Carswel made his way back to

second-era history. He would be a couple minutes late for the second time that day, but the teacher

liked him, so he couldn’t bring himself to be worried about it.

And then, through the quiet that was laced with the padding of his own footsteps and the hushed

conversations behind closed classroom doors, he heard a frustrated cry.

“Stop it! Give it back!” Carswell paused and traced his steps back to the hallway that led just off the

tech hall.

Jules Kel er was holding a portscreen over his head, grinning, with Ryan Doughty and Rob Mancuso

surrounding him.

And then there was Kate Fallow, her face flushed and her hands on her hips in a semblance of anger

and determination, even though Carswel could tel from here that she was shaking and trying not to cry.

“What do you keep on this thing, anyway?” said Jules, peering up at the screen and scrol ing through

her pages with his thumbs. “Got any naughty pictures on here?”

“She sure does stare at it a lot,” said Rob with a snort.

Carswell’s shoulders sank, first with embarrassment for Kate, then with that inevitable feeling that

something bad was about to happen. Bracing himself, he started down the hal . No one seemed to have

noticed him yet.

Kate squeezed her shoulders against her neck and held out a hand. “It’s just a bunch of books. Now

give it back.
Please
.”

“Yeah, sleazy books, probably,” said Jules. “Not like you could ever get a real date.”

Kate’s bottom lip began to quiver.

“Seriously, there aren’t any games on here or anything,” said Jules with apparent disgust. “It’s the

most boring portscreen in L.A.”

“We should just keep it,” said Ryan. “She’s obviously not using it right.”

“No – it’s mine!”

“Hello, gentlemen,” said Carswell, at the same moment that he reached up and snatched the

portscreen out of Jules’s hand. He had to get on his tiptoes to do it, which he hated, but seeing the flash of surprise and bewilderment that crossed Jules’s face made it worthwhile.

Of course, the look didn’t last long.

Carswell took a few steps back as Jules’s hand flexed into a fist. “What a coincidence,” he said. “I

was just coming to look for Kate. So glad you found her for me.” He raised his eyebrows at Kate, then

quired his head back down the hal way. “Come on.”

She swiped at the first tear that started down her cheek. Wrapping her arms around her waist, she

dodged around the boys to come stand beside him, but Carswell hadn’t taken two steps away before

Jules grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him back around.

“What is she, your girlfriend now or something?” he said, nostrils flaring with, if Carswell hadn’t

known better, a hint of envy.

Which just blasted figured. Mocking and bullying a girl
would
be the way that Jules attempted to

show interest. It just seemed to fit with that completely messed-up head of his.

Carswell stifled a sigh. Maybe he could start an afterschool Flirting 101 class. There were a lot of

students who could real y use the help.

What could he charge for that? he wondered.

“Right now,” he said, drawing his attention back to the numbskul in front of him and placing a hand

on Kate’s arm, “she’s the girl I’m escorting back to class. Feel free to spread whatever rumors you want

from that.”

“Yeah? How about the rumor that I gave you a black eye because you wouldn’t mind your own

business?”

“I’m honestly not sure people are going to by that one, given that-“

The fist collided with Carswell’s eye faster than he’d have thought possible, sending him reeling back

against the row of lockers with a resounding
clang
.

The world tilted and blurred and he thought Kate may have screamed and something clattered on

the ground – her portscreen, falling from his own hand – but al he could think was,
Spades and aces and
stars, that hurt.

He’d never been punched before. He’d always assumed it would be easier to bounce back from, but

now he had the instinctive desire to curl up into a ball and cover his head with both arms and play dead

until they all went away.

“Carswell!” yelled Kate, seconds before Rob grabbed him by the elbow and yanked him away from

the lockers, and then Jules’s fist was in his stomach and he’d probably broken a rib and Carswell was on

his knees and Ryan was kicking him and all his senses were made up of pain and grunts and Kate’s

shrieks and he real y would have thought that he’d have lasted a lot longer than this but. . .

A gruff voice bul eted through the haze of fists and feet and Carswell was left blessedly alone, curled

up on the school’s tiled floor. He tasted blood in his mouth. His entire body was throbbing.

As his senses began to register his surroundings again, he realized that Vice Principal Chambers had

broken up the fight, but Carswel was too woozy to make sense of his angry words.

“Carswell?” said a sweet, soft, horrified voice.

His left eye was already swelling shut, but he peeled open the right to see that Kate was now

crouched over him. Her fingers were hovering just off his shoulder, like she was afraid to touch him.

He tried to smile, but felt it probably looked more like a grimace. “Hey, Kate.”

Her eyes were filled with sympathy, her face still flushed, but she wasn’t crying anymore, and

Carswell liked to think he’d put an end to that, at least.

“Are you alright, can you stand?”

Flinching
, he forced himself to sit up, which was a start. Kate helped a little, although she still seemed hesitant to touch him.

“Ow,” he muttered. His entire abdomen was throbbing and bruised.

Aces, how embarrassing. He would be investing in some good martial arts simulators after this. Or

maybe boxing. Outnubmered or not, he’d never be on the losing side of a fistfight again if he could help

it. “Are you alright, Mr. Thorne?” asked Mr. Chambers.

Squinting upward, Carswel saw that they’d been joined by two of the tech professors, who were

standing with their arms folded over Jules and his friends. Everyone was scowling. Rob even looked a

tiny bit guilty, or maybe he just hated that they’d been caught.

“I’m grand,” said Carswell. “Thank you for asking, Mr. Chambers.” Then he cringed and rubbed at

the spot on his side where the jolt of pain had originated from

Mr. Chambers sighed. “You know that all fighting is against school policy, Mr. Thorne. I’m afraid this

calls for a one-week suspension. For all four of you.”

“Wait – no!” said Kate. Then, to Carswell’s surprise she laced their fingers together. HE blinked at

their hands, then up at her profile, and doubted she even realized she was doing it. “Carswell was

defending me. They’d taken my portscreen and wouldn’t give it back. It’s not his fault!”

The vice principal was shaking his head, and though Carswell could tell he felt bad about the

decision, he also had an expression that suggested there was nothing he could do about it. “School

rules, Miss Fallow.”

“But that isn’t fair. He didn’t do anything wrong!”

“It’s a no-tolerance policy. I’m sorry, but we can’t make exceptions.” Mr. Cambers glanced back at

the boys. “Mr. Keller, Mr. Doughty, Mr. Mancuso, you can follow me to my office so we can comm your

parents. Miss Fallow, why don’t you assist Mr. Carswell to see the med-droid.” He attempted sympathy

when he met Carswell’s one-eyed gaze again. “We’ll comm your parents later.”

Chin falling to his chest, Carswell cursed under his breath.

“Miss Fallow, I’ll ask your teacher to forgive your absence for this period.”

“Thank you, Mr. Chambers,” she murmured, full of resignation.

As Jules and his friends were escorted away, Carswell allowed himself to lean against Kate and push

himself onto his wobbly legs, which was another handful of curses and groans.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered as he draped an arm around her shoulders and she began escorting

him toward the med-droid office.

“Not your fault,” he said through his teeth. Although, now that he had the strenuous effort of

walking to focus on, the pain almost seemed to be dul ing. Almost. “You get your portscreen?”

“Yes. Thank you. And I have your bag.” Then she huffed. “I can’t believe they’re suspending you. It

isn’t fair.”

He tried to shrug, but it came out as vague flopping of his free arm. “I was already grounded for mid-

July break. A suspension can’t make it that much worse.”

“Grounded? For what?”

His glaze flickered to her, and he couldn’t avoid a wry smile, even though it pinched his throbbing

cheekbone. “Poor math grade.”

She flushed. “Oh.”

Carswell pressed a hand against his ribs, finding that by applying a slight amount of pressure he

could relieve some of the jarring as they walked. “Yep, I’m grounded until I bring my score back up. Of

course, that’s not going to happen now that I can’t even go to class.” He tried to laugh as if it didn’t

bother him, but quickly realized what a bad idea that was and the sound turned into something of a

pained cough. “Oh, wel . Just more time to catch up on my Joel Kimbrough reading, I guess.”

She tried to giggle, maybe to make him feel better, but it didn’t sound any more authentic than his

laugh had.

“When you’re done,” she said, “I’m sure you could write an amazing paper that explores the

parallels between the dangers of space travel as compared to navigating school hallways and social

status and . . .and . . .”

“And Parents.”

Her laugh was less forced this time. “And parents, of course.”

“I suspect that Martians have always been a metaphor for parents in those books.”

“They must, being that they’re so . . .otherworldly.”

“And terrifying.”

This time, her laugh wasn’t forced at all, and it gave Carswell a warm, tender feeling somewhere

under al the bruising. He wished he could have laughed with her, without it causing a flash of pain in his chest.

“Think Professor Gosnel would give me extra credit?”

“I’m sure she would,” said Kate. But then her sympathy was back. “It wouldn’t help with your math

grade, though.”

“True. If only studying algebra formulas was half as much fun as corny space adventures.”

“If only.” Pursing her lips, Kate glanced up at him through her cascade of hair. Then she took a deep