Fearscape by Nenia Campbell

got a picture of him in there, don't you? You do!” she said triumphantly, glimpsing Val's reddening face. “Ooh, I want to see.”
    “ Stop it, Lisa.”
    “ Does he pose for you?” Lisa paused, “Is he naked ?”
    Val leaped off the bench, yanking her backpack away as Lisa made a playful grab for it. “I said cut it out! Leave me alone!”
    Lisa dropped her arm. “Val…”
    “ Why are you giving me such a hard time?” Val demanded, ignoring James entirely. “Are you jealous or something?”
    “ Hardly! I just think you're way jumping the gun on this whole thing with Lover Boy.”
    “ I get that,” Val said, “and it's getting really, really annoying.”
    “ Come on, Val,” James said. “Lisa doesn't mean any harm. She's just teasing.”
    “ Well, I don't like that kind of teasing. And she knows I don't like it.”
    “ Excuse me for caring about you,” Lisa said, “and not wanting to see you get hurt.”
    “ Don't watch then,” Val snapped. “And for your information, Gavin has been nothing but a gentleman — ” sort of “ — and so far you've been way more hurtful and mean than he has. So why don't you do all of us a favor and mind your own business?”
    “ Maybe I will,” Lisa said, looking hurt.
    “ It'd be a first,” Val said.
    “ Wow,” said James. “That's really cold, Val.”
    She glared at him, then at Lisa, then turned her back and walked away. One of them called after her but she didn't look around, afraid that they'd see the tears sparkling in her eyes if she did. Keeping her head down, she headed for the nearest restroom.
    People were always telling her, “Val, you need to stand up for yourself!” They said that being empowered would make her feel good. And it did, in a way. She had gotten a savage sort of satisfaction from seeing Lisa's eyes open wide like that, with respect — and maybe a little fear.
    But mostly, it made Val feel like throwing up.
     

Chapter Eight
    Days passed, and time did nothing to alleviate Val's anger. She had trusted Lisa, tried to get her involved, and she had betrayed her — and for what? A stupid joke? She knew Lindsay and Rachel were curious about Lisa's continued absence from their table, but they never broached the subject. Probably afraid of looking the proverbial gift horse in the mouth, too. Their dislike of Lisa, and their disdain for James, was certainly no secret.
    On the days when Rachel and Lindsay had French Club she sat with Gavin in the grassy quad beneath the tree where they had drawn one another — and where he had kissed her for the first time. She sat with him after school, and before Art, too, if they were both early enough.
    She kept expecting him to kiss her again, or invite her out, but he didn't. He seemed perfectly content to relax against the trunk of the tree, or even just lie down in the grass, and hold her against him, with his hands clasped slightly over her midriff beneath the hem of her shirt.
    Should she ask him out? He certainly wasn't shy and had his own way of doing things, which made her wary. She didn't want him to think her desperate — but she also didn't want him to think that she was content with something purely physical, either.
    “ You run today, don't you?” His voice was worn velvet in her ear.
    “ Yes,” said Val.
    He stroked the side of her leg through his jeans. “I think you need it.”
    No arguments here , she thought, and sighed, leaning back against him.
    “ You should come running with me some time,” he murmured.
    “ If you can keep up,” Val said, with a lightness that surprised her.
    “ What I lack in speed, I make up for in endurance.”
    Val resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Talk like that got you slapped into long-distance running. “Are you in a sport? Do you still do archery?”
    “ I don't recall telling you about that,” he said dryly.
    Val's face flushed. “Oh — ”
    “ You've been stalking me,” he said, giving her a little squeeze. “However will I sleep