her pillow to her middle. She was just going to have to stay out of Molly’s way, that was all. She’d disappear into her room when Molly came. Take a bath. Take a nap. Become engrossed in some stupid TV show.
It shouldn’t be too hard to avoid Molly, Gwen thought glumly. Molly didn’t want anything to do with her either.
TEN
E very day I do my community work service. Prune the flower beds. Paint the trim on the porch. Dig the garden. Bridget’s form starts filling up. Every few days Cal comes to check up on me. Bridget tells him I’m doing what I’m supposed to, and he nods and says, “Good.” He looks like he’s hiding a smile. Like he’s rooting for me.
He checks in with my parents. They tell him I’ve been sober.
That I’m obeying my nine o’clock curfew. As if I have any choice. They practically guard the door to my room.
Cal fills out more forms.
My thirty hours count down, one by one.
School starts again after spring break. I don’t want to go back. I don’t want to see my friends. I don’t know what to say to them, or what they’re going to say to me.
They haven’t called. Or e-mailed. Or texted. I haven’t seen any of them since the arrest.
At first I expected them to come forward and admit that they were responsible too. It didn’t happen. And I realized that that wasn’t realistic. I mean, would I voluntarily turn myself in and say, “Hey, I’m guilty, punish me too?” Well, yeah, I would. But you can’t expect people to do that. Besides, I knew that Tony and Zach had already gotten in trouble with the cops, so getting nailed again would definitely be bad news for them.
So then I expected them to call. Say they were sorry for how things turned out. Thank me for keeping my mouth shut.
That didn’t happen either.
Now, as I walk into school, I don’t know what to think. I still can’t believe they meant to shaft me. We were too tight, having too much fun. Have they been afraid my parents might intercept their calls and find out who they are? Are they just lying low until I finish my community work service, and the cops and courts are out of the picture, and then they’ll come back and we’ll pick up where we left off?
I don’t know.
I walk into homeroom, and the first thing I see is that Nikki’s hanging with this girl Teresa. Teresa has a dragon tattoo on her ankle and chemically straightened hair. She’s also got an older brother who can score booze, and a family cabin in the mountains.
They’ve pushed their desks together and are laughing at something on Teresa’s cell phone.
I go over and stand beside Nikki’s desk. She looks up. Turnspink. “Hey,” she mumbles, not looking me in the eye.
I wait. When she doesn’t say anything else, I blurt stupidly, “How was your break?”
“Fine,” she says.
I wait for her to ask me about mine. To ask me how I’ve been. To ask about what I’ve been going through.
Teresa nudges her and, giggling, says, “Check this out.” Nikki bends over the cell phone again.
I stand there like an idiot, then walk to my desk.
Between classes, I spot Zach down the hall in a throng of guys coming toward me. I lift my hand to wave. I think he sees me, but he ducks into a classroom before I reach him.
At lunch I see Crystal. She gives me her blissed-out smile, but she doesn’t come over.
At the end of the day, I come upon the group of them, hanging in front of Tony’s locker. Tony, Zach, Gretchen, Crystal, Nikki – and Teresa.
I stand in front of them. They dart glances at one another, at me, away again. Tony puts in one book, takes out another. Gretchen checks her nails. Finally Zach smiles and asks, “How’s it going?”
“How’s it going!” I shout.
Tony glances up and down the hall. “Chill, Molly. Don’t make a scene.”
That’s exactly what I want to do, but I grit my teeth. “I’m not.”
There’s a silence, a lot of shifting from foot to foot. Eventually Nikki says, “We thought you were with us,
It shouldn’t be too hard to avoid Molly, Gwen thought glumly. Molly didn’t want anything to do with her either.
TEN
E very day I do my community work service. Prune the flower beds. Paint the trim on the porch. Dig the garden. Bridget’s form starts filling up. Every few days Cal comes to check up on me. Bridget tells him I’m doing what I’m supposed to, and he nods and says, “Good.” He looks like he’s hiding a smile. Like he’s rooting for me.
He checks in with my parents. They tell him I’ve been sober.
That I’m obeying my nine o’clock curfew. As if I have any choice. They practically guard the door to my room.
Cal fills out more forms.
My thirty hours count down, one by one.
School starts again after spring break. I don’t want to go back. I don’t want to see my friends. I don’t know what to say to them, or what they’re going to say to me.
They haven’t called. Or e-mailed. Or texted. I haven’t seen any of them since the arrest.
At first I expected them to come forward and admit that they were responsible too. It didn’t happen. And I realized that that wasn’t realistic. I mean, would I voluntarily turn myself in and say, “Hey, I’m guilty, punish me too?” Well, yeah, I would. But you can’t expect people to do that. Besides, I knew that Tony and Zach had already gotten in trouble with the cops, so getting nailed again would definitely be bad news for them.
So then I expected them to call. Say they were sorry for how things turned out. Thank me for keeping my mouth shut.
That didn’t happen either.
Now, as I walk into school, I don’t know what to think. I still can’t believe they meant to shaft me. We were too tight, having too much fun. Have they been afraid my parents might intercept their calls and find out who they are? Are they just lying low until I finish my community work service, and the cops and courts are out of the picture, and then they’ll come back and we’ll pick up where we left off?
I don’t know.
I walk into homeroom, and the first thing I see is that Nikki’s hanging with this girl Teresa. Teresa has a dragon tattoo on her ankle and chemically straightened hair. She’s also got an older brother who can score booze, and a family cabin in the mountains.
They’ve pushed their desks together and are laughing at something on Teresa’s cell phone.
I go over and stand beside Nikki’s desk. She looks up. Turnspink. “Hey,” she mumbles, not looking me in the eye.
I wait. When she doesn’t say anything else, I blurt stupidly, “How was your break?”
“Fine,” she says.
I wait for her to ask me about mine. To ask me how I’ve been. To ask about what I’ve been going through.
Teresa nudges her and, giggling, says, “Check this out.” Nikki bends over the cell phone again.
I stand there like an idiot, then walk to my desk.
Between classes, I spot Zach down the hall in a throng of guys coming toward me. I lift my hand to wave. I think he sees me, but he ducks into a classroom before I reach him.
At lunch I see Crystal. She gives me her blissed-out smile, but she doesn’t come over.
At the end of the day, I come upon the group of them, hanging in front of Tony’s locker. Tony, Zach, Gretchen, Crystal, Nikki – and Teresa.
I stand in front of them. They dart glances at one another, at me, away again. Tony puts in one book, takes out another. Gretchen checks her nails. Finally Zach smiles and asks, “How’s it going?”
“How’s it going!” I shout.
Tony glances up and down the hall. “Chill, Molly. Don’t make a scene.”
That’s exactly what I want to do, but I grit my teeth. “I’m not.”
There’s a silence, a lot of shifting from foot to foot. Eventually Nikki says, “We thought you were with us,
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