Each time the train enters a station one of them gets up and leaves. I keep trying to leave too, but I’m stuck to my seat. There’s a bee sitting next to me that keeps buzzing. I swat at it, but it doesn’t go anywhere. It just buzzes and buzzes and buzzes. And then I realize it’s my phone. Groanin...
“I would like that very much,” he says. The two of us stand pressed together as another group of riders exits the Giant Dipper and heads back to the main path. Jordy hugs me so hard my insides feel squished. He lifts me a few inches off the ground and spins me around in a circle. “Careful,” I war...
—SUN TZU, The Art of War Coach Halstead’s words weigh heavy in my brain for the rest of the afternoon. If it weren’t for the breakup with Jason, I’d be playing competitive soccer this summer. Sure, just a recreational league, but better practice than one-on-one with Bianca. Maybe if we get back t...
THIRTY-THREE December 10th I DECIDE TO GO TO Preston’s funeral after all. The cemetery is on the other side of Vista Palisades, a ten-minute bus ride or a thirty-five-minute walk. I loiter at the closest bus stop, but when the bus pulls up, it is full of people I know: classmates, teachers, the g...
Jesse asks as soon as we’re back out in the hallway. “I’m not sure.” I step gingerly onto the escalator, one arm holding on to the railing while my other hand calls up the photo gallery on my phone. I stopped long enough to take a picture so I could study the man without having to vise. I enlarge...