Gone Too Far by Natalie D. Richards

throat and force myself to step into the room. It feels like leaping a gorge. “Uh, are you okay with it? The breakup?”
    â€œThis is the fourth time, so I’ve adjusted,” he says. He smiles and comes to life, dimples curving his cheeks. “Honestly, we knew it was inevitable for months. Could have done without the drama though.”
    I should say something. “Well, you’ve both got a good…support network. I’m sure things will settle down.” Wow. How very Hallmark of me.
    I gesture vaguely at him when he doesn’t say anything. “I mean, you both have lots of friends, right?” Ugh, I really suck at this and just need to stop.
    Nick rolls his shoulders. “Yeah, that doesn’t always make it easy.”
    My goodwill vanishes. “Right,” I say. “The trials of popularity.”
    I see a flicker of irritation cross his features, but he pushes away from the table and stands up, obviously trying to stay unruffled. “Maybe we should talk about something else.”
    â€œLike what?”
    He moves slowly toward me, and I swear the temperature jumps ten degrees with every step he takes. “Like the pictures you took of Jackson last week.”
    My whole body—heart and lungs and just everything—stops. There’s this hollow silence in the room, and I want to fill it up. Finally, a tinny laugh dribbles out of me.
    â€œI…” Yeah, I’ve got nothing. Absolutely nothing.
    Nick moves around the last row separating us. He leans back on the table across from me, and I notice our feet again. Boots for me—tall ones today. Nikes for him. Of course.
    Nick looks utterly relaxed, completely at ease while I stand here twitching.
    â€œSomehow I don’t think you took those for the yearbook,” he says.
    â€œWell, it’d be a more honest look at senior year, wouldn’t it? A moment that illuminates reality.”
    â€œIlluminates?” He smiles. “Jackson might pick a different word.”
    I cross my arms. “I’ll bet he would.”
    â€œCan I see them?”
    â€œ Why , so you can try to get me to delete them?”
    His smile vanishes. I swallow hard as he stands up straight, and man, he is towering over me. I force myself to look up at him and ignore the fluttery, breathless feeling in my chest. I’ve got no clue why this guy’s eyes work voodoo on my lungs, but they do.
    â€œDo you really think I’d do that?” His voice is almost a whisper.
    â€œI don’t know what you’d do,” I say, just as softly, but I don’t tell him what I do know. Like how far his people will go to stick together. And what they’ve already done to me.
    â€œThen maybe you should ask instead of assuming.”
    â€œOkay, fine. Would you?”
    He just shakes his head and walks past me. I slump hard, trying to steal the strength from the wall. Nick stops at the door, the false light from the hallway casting yellow-green highlights over his face.
    â€œYou ever hear the saying, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’?”
    I scoff. “Of course.”
    â€œSame principle applies to football jerseys, Piper.”
    â€¢ • •
    In my entire life, I’ve never been this early to an assembly, but according to the text, this is where Kristen’s going down. I’ve always pulled the yearbook-team card for these. I snap some pictures in the hallway, and hope to slip away before the doors close. It’s easy to go unnoticed, especially if you’re holding a camera and generally viewed as a non-problem student. For the record, we still assemble, but we do it in the technology lab, usually after Manny sneaks out to bring us coffee.
    Speaking of Manny…
    He strolls up, looking at me like I’ve just grown a second head. I’m probably the first senior to get in line for assembly in the history of the school.
    â€œHey!” I say. Still too