One Moment by Kristina McBride Page A

cheeks—all of which were about two seconds away from causing me to lose it.
    I wanted out.
    A free pass out of my body and mind.
    During the last nine days, I’d been continuously hoping for some escape.
    A way to release everything.
    If only I’d known that the wish might backfire, bring me more pain, I might have taken it back. But I didn’t know. Not as I sat there pressing the tip of my pen into the groove of the J . Not as the door behind me opened and another person stepped into the small conference room of the guidance office. Not as Nolan Holiday plopped his backpack next to me and sat on the rolly-wheeled chair to my left.
    “Glad you’re back,” he said, running a hand through his longish brown hair. “This whole office aide gig has been lame without you.” He ducked his head, meeting my eyes for a split second before deciding it would be better to stare at the floor.
    “Can’t say I’ve missed it,” I said, looking through the large windowed wall as a skinny freshman boy juggling a load of books walked in from the hall and up to the secretary’s desk.
    “You missed a lot of drama,” Nolan said, his eyes sparkling with deviousness before turning dark. “Oh. I didn’t mean … God, that was stupid.”
    “I coulda guessed that about the drama part.”
    “I was talking about our favorite budding romance. The one that was cut short.” He grinned, slicing a finger across his throat. Then his eyes dimmed again. “Shit, man. Should I just shut my mouth?”
    “Awkward is my new normal,” I said, knowing how to put on a well-rehearsed, I’m-just-fine face. It was worth it just to avoid everyone’s strings of questions ( How are you holding up? Are you taking care of yourself? Can I do anything? ) and the general awkwardness that Joey’s death had left behind.
    “That blows,” he said. “The whole thing just bl—”
    “It’s okay,” I said, leaning back in my swivel chair and facing Nolan Holiday head-on. “I know you’re talking about Mr. and Mrs. Sophomore Suck Face, and I’d love a distraction, so please fill me in.”
    “Sweet. I’ve been dying to tell you.” Nolan clapped his hands and rubbed them together, leaning forward. “Mrs. Suck Face’s father came in, demanding to know how a picture of his daughter being, and I quote, felt up in the school hallway managed to be taken and posted on Facebook.”
    “No way,” I said. “Did you see the picture?”
    “Hell, no,” Nolan rolled his eyes. “As if I have any interest in a flat-chested sophomore? But Mrs. Suck Face’s father was quite entertaining as he met with the guidance counselors and Principal Edwards, demanding to know how such behavior could possibly occur in an educational environment.”
    “What’d they say to that?” I asked, grabbing my purse and riffling through the contents.
    “The wall interfered.” Nolan tipped his head toward the wall separating the small conference room, where we were, from the larger one. “All I heard after that first part was mumbling. Until the end, when Mrs. Suck Face’s father stormed out, saying that the administration had better make it more of a priority to monitor the students in the building.”
    “Oh, God,” I said, plucking a pack of gum from under my iPod. “That’s pathetic. He’d rather blame someone else than face the problem that’s right in front of him.”
    “Thought you’d enjoy a detailed description.” Nolan smiled, his eyes catching mine as I unwrapped my piece of gum and popped it into my mouth.
    “Thanks. Nice three-minute distraction.” I smiled and held the pack of gum between us. “Want one?”
    Nolan grabbed a piece, his fingers grazing mine and pulling back as though he’d been shocked, like he was afraid he could catch death from me. The thought of electricity running between us sent a shiver of something familiar through my body. I shook it off, though, forcing myself to stay in the moment.
    “You okay, then?” Nolan asked as he slowly