Firegirl by Tony Abbott Page A

the fire was too huge for people to get close to the car. I tried to get close, too, but kept being pushed back. Her mother was trying to get to the car, too. Then somehow Jessica was out of the car screaming. I turned and pushed my way through the crowd and ran away from her. I ran and ran and ran. Then I woke up.

Chapter 17
    Monday was class election day. Jeff wasn’t at the bus, and he wasn’t in his seat in class. Maybe he wouldn’t be in at all. I wished he wouldn’t be. But Jessica was. She was sitting quietly in the seat next to mine when I came in. The whole day before, I was worried she might call to ask where I’d been on Saturday after lunch, because she didn’t see me or any awesome sports car. But she didn’t call. Maybe she was at her doctor’s all day anyway. It didn’t matter.
    I was too mad to talk to anybody on Sunday. I barely said anything to my parents, even though they asked me a few times what was going on. But now, in the minutes before class got started, I couldn’t stand it. I turned to her.
    “The whole car thing didn’t happen,” I said. “Sorry.”
    “Neither did New Haven,” she said. “I was at home.”
    How stupid. “Sorry.” That was all we said.
    Mrs. Tracy came in, and we stood for morning prayers. When they ended, Jeff walked through the door and slid into his seat. His expression seemed hard and empty. His jaw was grinding as he stared off at the windows, and his legs were twitching. He seemed like some kind of animal ready to bolt up and out of there at any second.
    “All right, then. Today is the day we’ve been waiting for,” Mrs. Tracy said, starting the big business of the morning. “The election we’ve been preparing for.”
    Something cold dripped through me. It was like a trickle of ice seeping down my throat and into my chest. I glanced over at Courtney, who was sitting quietly in her seat. This was it. The moment. I tried to put the whole Jeff and Cobra thing out of my mind. And that stupid dream of Jessica. I didn’t even know what that was about. I tried to breathe deeply and slowly. My hands were trembling.
    Okay, Courtney. I knew it would be so awesome if I could really do what I had wanted to do for weeks now. Me and Courtney. It was like swords were suddenly flashing around me, explosions were everywhere, there was a boiling river below me, and an avalanche above. I breathed in and tried to stay calm.
    The door clicked as Mrs. Tracy closed it. “We’ve heard some speeches and seen some posters.”
    “Darlene’s is the best,” said Samantha Embriano.
    “Thanks,” said Darlene, a bright red dot on her chin.
    “And now the time has come for our primary,” Mrs. Tracy said. “When you nominate a candidate, it should be someone who has made a poster that made you think, given a good speech, or somehow proven that he or she would be a good president. Once we zero in on our candidates, we will vote by secret ballot. I’d ask you to keep in mind that this is not a popularity contest. It shouldn’t be. The winner will be our first elected class president, an office which carries a lot of responsibility. Lots of fun, I think. But whoever wins this morning will come to meetings, form groups, and help organize events, so there is a lot to do.”
    She looked around and everyone quieted down. “Are we all ready? Then let’s start. Who wants to be the first to nominate someone?”
    Everyone waited. It was perfect.
    My hand shot up, and Jeff shouted, “Courtney.”
    I gasped. “What —”
    But Jeff didn’t look at me. He just bobbed his head around to the back corner of the room. Courtney’s face turned red at hearing her name, but she was smiling. Lifting her own hand, she said, “I’d like to nominate Darlene Roberts.”
    I couldn’t believe it. Jeff had wrecked everything. Courtney was mine. He knew it was my idea to nominate her. I noticed Rich looking at me. He knew it was my idea, too. He was there when I told Jeff about it. It wasn’t