A Good Kind of Trouble

Shayla spends an unhappy weekend without her phone. Monday starts no better until she gets to science; Mr. Levy assigns new lab partners, partnering Shayla with Jace. As they work on their assignment, Shayla is hyperaware of Jace’s movements, thrilled to be in such close proximity with him. As she moves to leave class, Bernard squeezes her shoulder and tells her he hopes they get partnered together again. Shayla wonders whether his squeeze will give her a bruise.

At lunch, Shayla hides her anger towards Julia and her happiness at her interactions with Jace. She tells her friends her phone was taken away, and Julia says she thought Shayla was “just bent” and shows off her Stacy-like highlights. Shayla lets her mind drift to Jace’s smile instead of focusing on Julia. She smiles through PE, prompting a comment from Yolanda about how much Shayla must like running. Yolanda pushes Shayla to be nicer to Tyler, so Shayla somewhat attempts to be less rude in shop class. At the end of class, Shayla hurries excitedly to track practice, happy to run. Running helps her release her emotions: the elation from Jace, her anger towards Julia, and her annoyance with Yolanda asking her to be nice.