Dream Things True by Marie Marquardt Page A

unless you counted strategies for avoiding the beautiful boy you have a massive crush on. She had learned lots of those. Most of them involved girls’ bathrooms, the only places where Evan couldn’t track her down. Even so, he often waited for her outside, and then she had to come up with other excuses—talking to her teacher before class, finishing math homework, taking gym clothes to her locker. With a knowing smile and a patient nod, Evan always let her pass, but never before finding a way to touch her. “All right, Alma,” he would say, resting his hand on her lower back or gently touching her shoulder. “I’ll just be right here waiting for you.”
    Once he even touched her face. That about did her in.
    Why couldn’t she forget him? Her family was falling to pieces, she had a precalculus test tomorrow, and all she could think about—all she could ever think about—was when she might see him again. So far, she had kept the promise she made to herself on the day of the raid—to avoid Evan and all of the complications he and his family would cause. But he was not making it easy.
    Alma slammed the heavy textbook shut, got up from her desk, and approached Mrs. Tanner.
    â€œCan I have a hall pass?”
    Mrs. Tanner glared at her.
    â€œUh, it’s that time of the month.”
    â€œAll right, Miss Garcia, but be sure to finish the problem set before the test tomorrow.”
    When had Alma ever not finished a problem set?
    Resisting the urge to point out her perfect record and perfect scores, Alma smiled and replied, “Yes, ma’am.”
    Alma left the building and set out across the football field. She needed to get some fresh air. She knew of only one place to gather the jumbled fragments of her mind, and she came here often. It was a small dock that jutted into the lake across the street from school. For Alma, there was something about balancing at the very edge of the water that soothed her nerves and eased her racing thoughts.
    Alma walked slowly out and stepped up onto a wood piling. She fixed her gaze to a point on the horizon and then slowly lifted one leg off the piling. She stretched her arms wide and balanced on the standing leg, carefully inching her raised leg out. Holding steady for a few moments, Alma felt a calm descend. She allowed herself to breathe slowly and deliberately. Her mind emptied and her body settled. She had read somewhere that stillness was strength. That made good sense.
    After a few minutes, she stepped off the piling and sat at the edge of the dock, dangling her feet over the water. She savored the stillness that lingered in her body and the new awareness it gave her.
    Suddenly, a jarring noise broke her serenity. A fire alarm—and she was off campus. Alma jumped up and sprinted toward the football field.
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    Weee-ooooh! Weee-ooooh! Weee-ooooh!
    A loud siren broke into Evan’s daydream. Since Alma featured prominently, Evan wondered whether her father was policing his mind as well as his actions. When everyone flooded out of the classroom, he realized it was a fire drill. Evan stood, half dazed, and followed the mass of people heading toward the football field.
    He saw Alma immediately, running across the parking lot on the other side of the field. Evan nudged Logan.
    â€œCover for me,” he said, and then peeled away from the crowd.
    As soon as she saw him, Alma stopped running. Her face was flushed, and thin tendrils of hair clung to her cheek. She watched him intently as he came nearer. When he approached, neither of them said anything. Alma leaned against the nearest car, which happened to be Conway’s Hummer. Evan grasped the roof rack with one hand and pressed in toward her, his face just a few inches from hers.
    â€œAlma,” he said softly.
    â€œYes,” she replied, so quietly that he barely heard her above the hum of the students gathered on the field.
    â€œWhy won’t you let me near