Page 42 of The Formation of Us

“Sorry, Melissa. I was talking with my new friend Adam Dearborn,” she said, making Adam sound as important as President Hayes. Rebecca introduced him to the girl and her brother Nicholas, both husky children about his own age with wheat blond hair.

He nodded to them, but when Melissa extended her hand like the Queen of England, he didn’t know whether to kiss it, shake it, or laugh in her haughty little face.

Rebecca whacked Melissa’s hand down. “For Pete’s sake, just say hello.”

Melissa’s face turned as pink as the ribbon in her blond hair, and she jutted out her chin. “I was just going to welcome you to school and tell you that there’s an empty seat at my desk if you want to sit with me.”

Adam’s heart plummeted. He wanted to sit with Rebecca.

“He’s going to sit with me,” Rebecca said, causing Melissa to glare at her, and Nicholas to scowl at him.

Nicholas Archer outweighed Adam by at least thirty pounds, and Adam had no desire to test the strength of Nicholas’s hefty arms. The boys in his old neighborhood had given him a healthy respect for big muscles and hard knuckles.

Melissa lifted her nose and turned away as if Rebecca didn’t exist. “I’m the best student in my grade,” she said to Adam. “Mr. MacEnroy will favor you if you sit with me.”

He didn’t care about pleasing the dumb teacher, and he didn’t want to be anywhere near Melissa Archer or her scowling brother. “I already promised ReBECca,” he said, cringing at the squawk of his voice.

Nicholas laughed, and Adam curled his fingers into his palms, wanting to cram his knuckles into the boy’s mouth.

“Go ahead then,” Melissa spat. “Sit with Rebecca. I don’t want to sit with a boy who can’t even talk.” She tried to shove past him, but Adam didn’t step aside quickly enough, and she tripped over his foot. He caught her elbows to save her a fall, but she kicked her hard shoe into his shin. “Let go of me!”

Nicholas shoved Melissa away from Adam. “Quit acting like an idiot, Melissa.”

“Don’t touch me.” She raked her fingernails across her brother’s neck, leaving a trail of red scratches. Nicholas bared his teeth and lunged at her.

Adam stepped between the pair and batted Nicholas’s hands down. “Don’t hit her,” he said, his voice far calmer than he felt inside. It wasn’t right to hit a girl, and it was worse to stand aside and allow someone else to do so.

Nicholas shot him a look of surprise just as Melissa kicked Adam in the shin again. “Don’t you dare hit my brother!” she hissed.

Rebecca shoved Melissa and knocked her to the ground on her backside. “Don’t you dare kick my friend!”

“What in blazes is going on here?” a thunderous voice demanded.

When Adam saw the stocky, balding teacher bearing down on them, he knew what was coming. He would get blamed for causing trouble. He always did.

Melissa burst into tears and struggled to her feet. “This boy hit my brother, and Rebecca shoved me.”

Rebecca gasped in outrage. “Adam didn’t hit anybody, Mr. MacEnroy.”

“Silence!” He turned to the boys and girls who’d gathered to watch. “Get inside, all of you.” As they beat a path for the door, MacEnroy turned his steely gaze on Adam. “Who are you, young man, and what are you doing in my school yard?”

“This is Adam Dearborn,” Rebecca said, “and he’s new to town.”

MacEnroy leveled a fierce scowl at Rebecca, which made Adam want to slug the man. “I was not addressing you, young lady.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Sheriff Grayson ordered me to come to school today,” Adam said, hoping the sheriff’s name would put the fear of God into the man.

But MacEnroy’s lips pinched. “Ah, you’re one of those boys I’ll need to keep my eye on.”

One of those boys. Adam had heard that comment so many times, he should be able to ignore it by now. But the insult cut through him like a dull hunting knife, ripping and tearing at his gut, making him want to slam his fists into every stinking person who’d ever insulted him.

“That’s right,” Adam said, knowing there would be consequences for being disrespectful, but he was too angry to care. “The sheriff wanted to teach me a lesson so he sentenced me to two weeks in your classroom.”

A laugh burst from Rebecca, and she clapped a hand over her mouth. Melissa gasped, and Nicholas bit his lip.

MacEnroy’s face turned beet red. He stabbed his finger toward the school. “Rebecca Grayson, get to your desk this instant. Melissa and Nicholas, go with her.” Rebecca cast a rebellious look of admiration at Adam, then dashed into the school behind the Archers.