Gabriel was standing outside the door to fifth hour, talking to one of his crew when I walked up.

“You can't seriously have this class?” he asked when I went past him.

“Afraid I do. Who on earth would put you in accelerated English? You can barely speak pig Latin.”

He pulled his phone from his pocket and looked at his schedule.

“Fuck my life,” he said.

“It won't be so bad,” I told him with an insincere smile. “I read the syllabus and we'll ...