Been Here All Along by Sandy Hall Page B

leaning against the fence, watching the fire department activity.
    â€œI guess we’re going to be out here awhile,” Sawyer says.
    â€œYeah, something happened with a gas line?” Buster says, but he’s obviously not sure about that.
    Gideon ambles up, taking a seat between Lilah and Sawyer, but he barely even says hello to anyone.
    â€œDo you know what happened, Gid?” Maddie asks.
    â€œOh, uh, yeah. Actually, it happened in my chem class.”
    Everyone grows quiet and all eyes are on Gideon. It gives me an excuse to really look at him for the first time in days. He seems kind of tired and pale. Not words that I’ve ever used to describe Gideon in the past.
    â€œThat’s so scary,” Lauren says when Gideon’s done with his story. “I had no idea that could happen.”
    â€œI have a feeling it was a fluke,” he says.
    The topic turns back to the evening’s activities.
    â€œMy parents are going to a wedding tonight,” Maddie says. “So I’m up for whatever. They won’t be home until after midnight.”
    â€œSeriously?” Ruby asks. “Maybe we should all go hang out at your house.”
    â€œI could probably convince my sister to get us some beer,” Buster says.
    â€œThis could be a lot of fun,” Sawyer says, squeezing Maddie’s hand.
    â€œListen to me,” Maddie starts, and she makes direct eye contact with everyone sitting in the group. “I will allow it. But none of you can tell anyone else. This is not a party. This is not about getting wasted. This is not a way for you guys to completely screw me over. It stays between the eight of us. I don’t mind having people over. It will probably be fun. But if any of you so much as breathes wrong on one of my mother’s Hummels or my dad’s ships in a bottle, I will cut you.”
    I glance around the group, and everyone looks about as stunned as I feel.
    â€œThis will be an intimate gathering of friends,” Maddie says.
    â€œA minute get-together,” Lilah says.
    â€œA tiny shindig,” Ruby offers.
    â€œSo do you want us to take a blood oath?” Buster asks.
    Thirty minutes later they finally start letting us back into the school. I feel bad about how quiet Gideon was during the whole fire drill.
    I catch up to him as we walk through the front doors and squeeze his arm.
    â€œYou’re going to come tonight, right?” I ask. I feel like I need him there, but I don’t know why.
    He looks from my hand to my face. “Yeah, of course. Wouldn’t want to miss out on this minuscule nonparty.”
    â€œGood. It wouldn’t be the same without you.”
    Ezra
    â€œYou look like you just ate a bug,” I say.
    Gideon is lying on the couch in the family room after dinner, watching TV with a pinched look on his face.
    â€œWhy are you still here?” he asks, sitting up to face me.
    â€œUm.” I can’t believe he asked me that straight out. Not even our parents have asked. No one has asked. Which, come to think of it, is really strange. It’s not like I can just tell him that I got evicted and didn’t have anywhere else to go.
    â€œNo, seriously,” he says. “Are you just going to stay here forever?”
    â€œAren’t you happy to have me around?” I ask.
    â€œYou’re so glib. Why are you so glib?”
    â€œWhy do you insist on using SAT words?”
    â€œThat’s, like, barely an SAT word,” he says, throwing himself back down on the couch cushions. “Sorry. I don’t mean to be a jerk.”
    â€œYeah, what’s your deal? You’re so tense lately. Like, way more than usual.”
    â€œEverything just really sucks.”
    â€œAre people giving you a hard time about the gay thing?” I ask, taking a seat in the chair across from him.
    He covers his face with his arm. “No one is giving me a hard time about the gay thing, because no one knows