pale faces, black kohl-rimmed eyes, and everything that could be pierced had been.
“Hey, Grace,” one of the witchy Goth girls called out.
“Hi, Whitney,” Grace said. “Whatcha conjuring today?”
“Oh, you know, demons,” the girl said. “Evil spirits, that sort of thing.”
“Good luck,” Grace said. “Have you seen Tommy?”
The girl gestured toward the bleachers.
Further on, the stoners were passing a joint. The smoke blew over Grace’s face and caused her to cough. They all chuckled over that.
“Hola Grace,” one of the boys said. “Did you know there’s like this wild marijuana field out back of Possum Holler, like up on the hill? An old guy used to live there, like, some scientist type guy? He planted it like fifty years ago and the buds are like as big as your fist.”
“No,” Grace said. “I didn’t know that.”
“Well, we’re like, going to go up there this weekend? And look for it? You wanna go?”
“No thanks,” Grace said. “But good luck. Seen Tommy?”
He pointed to the far side of the field where Tommy was sitting on the top bleacher, looking out at the nearby highway, his face turned away from the field.
“Hey,” Grace said when she reached the top and sat down next to him, putting their lunch bags between them. “Talk to me.”
“I love her,” Tommy said. “How could she do that to me?”
Tears were streaming down his face. Grace felt a stab of sympathy for him along with a burning anger for Charlotte, who didn’t deserve his devotion.
“I know you do,” Grace said. “I’m so sorry.”
“It just really hurts,” he said. “Like, I have a real pain in my chest. I think my heart is actually being damaged by her.”
He wiped his eyes with the end of his T-shirt and sniffed a few times.
“God,” he said. “I hate feeling like this. Why is she doing this to me?”
“She’s making a huge mistake,” Grace said, when what she really wanted to say was, “This is what happens when you fall in love with a selfish person who picks popularity over a lifetime of friendship.”
“I tried to talk to her the other day, out on the quad,” he said. “She gave me this look, like I was beneath her and irritating her.”
Grace didn’t say what she was thinking. Even though he was hurt he wasn’t going to listen to a word said against Charlotte. Not yet.
“It’s all their fault, Jumbo and the Beals,” Tommy said. “They’re a terrible influence on her. If she could just see them for how they really are.”
They sat in companionable silence for a while. Then Tommy took out his sandwich and took a bite. Grace started on hers.
“Remember that time we sat on the third floor balcony at your house and threw chestnuts in the river?” he said.
“We threw them, but I don’t think any got as far as the river.”
“When you went downstairs to get the cards, I kissed her,” he said. “I kissed Charlotte, and she kissed me back. She did. It wasn’t all on my side.”
Grace knew about this because Charlotte told her, had laughed about it. She was just experimenting with kissing but he thought it meant she loved him.
It had been the beginning of the end, just after school started last fall. Charlotte got her braces off at the end of the summer and was wearing contact lenses. Suddenly all she was interested in was makeup, clothes, and boys. She also made cutting remarks about how Grace and Tommy dressed and acted.
“It’s time for us to grow up,” Charlotte said to her one day, after Grace tried to kid her about how pretentious she was acting. “We aren’t kids anymore.”
It wasn’t much longer before Charlotte was riding to school in an expensive SUV with an older group of girls, and eating lunch at the popular kids’ table in the cafeteria. Grace had tried to talk to her about it, but Charlotte said, “My mom says it’s totally normal to outgrow your middle school friends. We all mature at different rates, and you and Tommy are just maturing
“Hey, Grace,” one of the witchy Goth girls called out.
“Hi, Whitney,” Grace said. “Whatcha conjuring today?”
“Oh, you know, demons,” the girl said. “Evil spirits, that sort of thing.”
“Good luck,” Grace said. “Have you seen Tommy?”
The girl gestured toward the bleachers.
Further on, the stoners were passing a joint. The smoke blew over Grace’s face and caused her to cough. They all chuckled over that.
“Hola Grace,” one of the boys said. “Did you know there’s like this wild marijuana field out back of Possum Holler, like up on the hill? An old guy used to live there, like, some scientist type guy? He planted it like fifty years ago and the buds are like as big as your fist.”
“No,” Grace said. “I didn’t know that.”
“Well, we’re like, going to go up there this weekend? And look for it? You wanna go?”
“No thanks,” Grace said. “But good luck. Seen Tommy?”
He pointed to the far side of the field where Tommy was sitting on the top bleacher, looking out at the nearby highway, his face turned away from the field.
“Hey,” Grace said when she reached the top and sat down next to him, putting their lunch bags between them. “Talk to me.”
“I love her,” Tommy said. “How could she do that to me?”
Tears were streaming down his face. Grace felt a stab of sympathy for him along with a burning anger for Charlotte, who didn’t deserve his devotion.
“I know you do,” Grace said. “I’m so sorry.”
“It just really hurts,” he said. “Like, I have a real pain in my chest. I think my heart is actually being damaged by her.”
He wiped his eyes with the end of his T-shirt and sniffed a few times.
“God,” he said. “I hate feeling like this. Why is she doing this to me?”
“She’s making a huge mistake,” Grace said, when what she really wanted to say was, “This is what happens when you fall in love with a selfish person who picks popularity over a lifetime of friendship.”
“I tried to talk to her the other day, out on the quad,” he said. “She gave me this look, like I was beneath her and irritating her.”
Grace didn’t say what she was thinking. Even though he was hurt he wasn’t going to listen to a word said against Charlotte. Not yet.
“It’s all their fault, Jumbo and the Beals,” Tommy said. “They’re a terrible influence on her. If she could just see them for how they really are.”
They sat in companionable silence for a while. Then Tommy took out his sandwich and took a bite. Grace started on hers.
“Remember that time we sat on the third floor balcony at your house and threw chestnuts in the river?” he said.
“We threw them, but I don’t think any got as far as the river.”
“When you went downstairs to get the cards, I kissed her,” he said. “I kissed Charlotte, and she kissed me back. She did. It wasn’t all on my side.”
Grace knew about this because Charlotte told her, had laughed about it. She was just experimenting with kissing but he thought it meant she loved him.
It had been the beginning of the end, just after school started last fall. Charlotte got her braces off at the end of the summer and was wearing contact lenses. Suddenly all she was interested in was makeup, clothes, and boys. She also made cutting remarks about how Grace and Tommy dressed and acted.
“It’s time for us to grow up,” Charlotte said to her one day, after Grace tried to kid her about how pretentious she was acting. “We aren’t kids anymore.”
It wasn’t much longer before Charlotte was riding to school in an expensive SUV with an older group of girls, and eating lunch at the popular kids’ table in the cafeteria. Grace had tried to talk to her about it, but Charlotte said, “My mom says it’s totally normal to outgrow your middle school friends. We all mature at different rates, and you and Tommy are just maturing
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