Inferno by Robin Stevenson Page A

walks in. My heart leaps, and I can’t help the huge grin that spreads across my face. It’s like the lights in the room suddenly got brighter. Like the sun came out from behind a cloud.
    â€œSorry I’m late,” she says cheerfully. “Did I miss much?”
    â€œNot at all.” Shelley claps her hands together like a little kid. “We’re just about to begin.”
    Parker drops into the seat beside me and bends close. “Nice going, Spider Girl,” she whispers.
    I’m still grinning as Claire begins to explain exactly how and why she feels like a spring shower.

THIRTEEN
    At break, Parker and I
head outside so she can have a smoke. It’s dark and a cold rain is falling, puddles shining around the scattering of cars in the small parking lot. We stand by the doors, pushing our backs against the wall of the church and trying to shelter under the overhanging roof. Parker lights her cigarette, and a fat raindrop splats against my cheek.
    â€œSo what happened at your school?” she asks. “Sorry I never called.” She gestures at her arm. “I took a shower and then I realized I never wrote your number down anywhere else. All I could read was a three and an eight. Anyway, did the sign get people talking?”
    I shake my head. “Not so much. Everyone is so wrapped up in their own little lives that they hardly seemed to notice. I swear, it’d take a bomb going off to get their attention.”
    â€œWe’ve talked about that,” Parker says. “It’s not as easy as you’d think.”
    â€œJesus, Parker. I was kidding.”
    She laughs. “Well, sure. Me too. You didn’t think I was serious?”
    I swallow. “No. Of course not.” Actually, for a second I’d wondered. There’s something about Jamie that I don’t quite trust. I don’t know how far he’d go. “So, are you planning anything else?”
    â€œAre you in?” I nod, and she grins at me. “Leo said you would be.”
    â€œHe did?”
    â€œYeah.” She looks at me like she might say something more, but then she just shakes her head.
    My heart quickens. I wonder if he told her about the kiss. “Um, Parker?”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œI don’t know. Nothing.” Another raindrop splats on the top of my head and trickles down my forehead. I wipe it away with the back of my hand. “What are you planning? Another sign or something? Or more flyers?”
    â€œI don’t know. Leo’s been going on about your school, wanting to do something else there.” She gives me a sideways look. “He went to GRSS, you know.”
    â€œYeah. So he said.”
    â€œHe’s never said much about school before. Not about his own experience, I mean.” Parker looks at me like she’s waiting for me to fill in some blanks, but I doubt I know anything she doesn’t.
    â€œHe didn’t say much to me. Only that he had the same asshole teacher that I have now.”
    â€œHe quit two years ago. I was kind of surprised at how intense he still is about it.” She flicks her cigarette butt into a puddle. “And he’s told Jamie, and now...well, you can imagine. Jamie’s not so much into talking, but he’s got a real hate on for your school. It’s his new obsession. He’s all, like, let’s do something already.”
    â€œLike what?”
    She shrugs. “I don’t know. Why don’t you come round sometime? We can hang out. Plan something, maybe.”
    Mom won’t like the idea of me hanging out with someone who has her own place. She’ll assume that Parker is trouble, just because she doesn’t live at home. “Okay,” I say. I don’t want to miss out on anything, and I want to see Parker again. So I guess I’ll just have to figure out how to swing it.
    The doors open beside us, and Shelley sticks her head out, tapping her watch. Parker and I