Here by Denise Grover Swank

in my direction. “She’s trying to soften the news.”
    Mom’s face pales.
    I roll my eyes in exasperation. “Everything is fine, Mom.” I glare at my sister. “Stop acting like a jerk, Anna.”
    Anna grins with an evil gleam. “A boy brought her home from school. Her tu-tor .”
    Mom turns from Anna to me, her eyebrows stretched so high over her eyes I think they will meet her hairline. “Really?”
    “
Well.. uh…”
    Mom beams, the happiest I’ve seen her in ages. “Are you interested in this boy? Do I know him?”
    I groan. This interrogation is exactly what I hoped to avoid. “His name is Evan Whittaker. He’s a junior and he’s tutoring me for his community service hours. He happened to bring me home because the bus already left and it was cold outside. He only did it because he’s a nice guy.” I hate that I’m lying … well, partially. He’s all of those things, just …more.
    Anna covers her mouth with her hand and snickers, but Mom doesn’t notice.
    “
Whittaker? Why does that name sound familiar?” Mom scrunches up the side of her mouth as she thinks. “Oh! I know! His father made the news not too long ago. He’s a researcher for Simmons Industries. He made some big discovery. I just don’t remember what it was.”
    “
Yeah, I don’t know anything about that. I only know that Evan is tutoring me in three of my classes.” I try to act like it’s no big deal, just some after school activity.
    “
So you spend a lot of time with him…” Mom tilts her head toward me as though we’re about to share a secret.
    I roll my eyes. “Seriously, Mom.”
    Anna smirks. “You two spend a lot of time together. In a car. You just never know.”
    “
Shut up, Anna!” I shout wishing I could kick her without Mom noticing.
    Mom grips the side of her head and shuts her eyes. “Girls! Please stop arguing. I have enough to deal with right now.” She leaves the kitchen to change out of her scrubs.
    I wait until she’s out of earshot. “Good job, Annabelle.” I hiss, using her full name since she hates it. “Now you upset her.”
    “
Me? Maybe she wouldn’t be upset if you weren’t going around kissing boys.”
    “
I’m not going around kissing boys. It was one boy. One .”
    “
Sure it was. Why would I believe you? You’re the one who made Dad go away.”
    Everything within me protests, but it’s true. Dad left because of me. But it doesn’t mean I have to like what she says. “Then why didn’t you tell her that I kissed Evan?”
    “
I may be eleven, but I’m not stupid. I can use this to my advantage.”
    I put my hand on my hip. “Maybe I’ll just go tell Mom right now.”
    “
You would have told her already if you wanted her to know.” Anna smiles. “So why don’t you want to tell her?”
    I only wish I knew.

Chapter Ten

    After dinner, I escape to my room and throw myself on the bed. Why don’t I want to tell Mom about Evan? Mom will probably like him. But for now, until I know where this is going, I want to keep it to myself. If it should all crash and burn, I can suffer through it alone.
    But it’s more than that. Evan has lit a spark. Right now it’s a tiny flame, but I feel it growing, warming me from the inside out. I feel alive again. It fills me with a buoyancy that I’m still trying to adjust to. I don’t want do it under the scrutiny of my mother.
    Doing it under the scrutiny of the entire school is hard enough.
    I bury my face in my pillow. I can’t ignore that Evan never acknowledged my existence until a week ago and now… it doesn’t make sense.
    My cell phone rings, almost as if he knows I’m thinking about him. I stare at his name on caller ID, afraid to answer and find out he’s changed his mind.
    There’s only one way to know. “Hi.”
    “
Hi.” His voice sounds warm and buttery. “What are you doing?”
    Obsessing over you. “Getting ready to start homework. That’s all I do any more. Homework.”
    He laughs. “That’s what happens when