Chapter 27
Billowy clouds took turns shielding Samantha from the mid-May sunshine as she sat on the outdoor patio of The Funky Chicken Bar and Grill in downtown Memphis, a restaurant specializing in live music and boneless chicken wings. Her Algebra I book was open along with her laptop and two notebooks. Pens, highlighters, and a calculator were scattered across the table. A brown-and-white bulldog lay on her sandaled feet snoring, drool from his open mouth dripping onto her toes.
When am I ever going to use this crap? She tried, again unsuccessfully, to add the polynomial on the paper in front of her. A low growl escaped her throat as she looked up the answer in the back of the book and tried to figure out what she was doing wrong. Absentmindedly, she fingered the silver locket hanging
