Free Ripple by Mandy Hubbard

lighthearted on such an intense face. “Your battery terminals had a bunch of corrosion. I just used some wire brushes to get it off. That, and baking soda. Worked like a charm.”
    I hold my hand out, palm up, to give him the keys. When he grabs them, his fingers brush against my skin.
    Then he turns and looks at his SUV. “You washed my car?”
    Oh. I thought it would be dry by the time he got here. “Um, no, there was a sprinkler on in the neighbor’s yard this morning.”
    He snorts. “What a waste.”
    “Yeah, they’re automatic, or something.”
    He shrugs and tosses me my keys. He seems . . . lighter today, like someone lifted the weight off his shoulders. I don’t know what that means. “Walk you to class?”
    No.
    “Actually, I need to grab some stuff out of my car,” I say, turning toward it. “Thanks for helping me out. I’ll see you in sixth period.”
    But he ignores my dismissal. “No problem. I’ll wait.”
    Awesome. Because there’s nothing in my car that I need. I open the driver-side door and start digging around, looking for something, anything, worth grabbing, so he doesn’t see right through me. I find a pen and shove it in my backpack and then get out of my car and follow him to the sidewalk.
    We walk beside each other for a long silent moment, and I hold on to my backpack straps as if they’ll keep everything from blowing away.
    “Are you . . . okay?” he asks. He’s looking at me, but I don’t meet his gaze, I just stare straight ahead. The school doors are less than a hundred yards. A hundred yards, and I can ditch him and figure out a real plan for getting everything back under control.
    I purse my lips and nod.
    “You sure? Because last night . . .”
    “I’m fine,” I snap. I knew he’d do this. I need to fix this somehow, rewind time, and put the wall back between us.
    We reach the building, and Cole pulls the door open for me. I brush by him as if the gesture is meaningless. But the truth is, it isn’t; most people slam the door in my face.
    Something swells inside me. A mix of somethings: hope, guilt, despair. For the first time in a long time, I am dreading pushing someone away, and I haven’t even done it yet. “Thanks for your help,” I say, retreating into the crowd before Cole can say anything else. I rush away, glancing back once to see if he’s watching me.
    Just as I turn forward again, I smash right into something hard, and my backpack crashes to the floor.
    “Oh, God, I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking—”
    I glance up to realize it’s Erik, the new guy from my English class. He reaches down to pick up my backpack and then hands it to me, meeting my gaze as he stands.
    And just like that, he steals my breath away. His eyes are a shade of blue I’ve only ever seen in the mirror—my mirror. They’re a shimmery, Caribbean-sea sort of blue.
    “I—” I pause. “You . . . uh, thank you.” What is it with me these days? I’m a total train wreck.
    He smiles and it’s breathtaking. “Sure. See you in English?”
    I bite my lip and nod. His voice is deep, seductive. I take my backpack from his hand, blinking a few more times to see if his eyes change, but of course they don’t.
    How can his eyes look so much like mine?
     
    In English, it’s time for our debate. Sienna has typed up all of her notes from last night, and she’s leading us up to the front, where a table and three chairs await.
    I’m just glad this ends today. We can do the debate and move on. I can go back to life as it was. Maybe I can even get Mrs. Jensen to move my desk. But something needs to change. I can’t spend a whole year next to Sienna and Cole. A few weeks, and Cole is already getting closer. I can’t let him do that.
    Sienna takes the seat in the middle, and Cole and I sit at opposite ends, staring right at each other. He smiles at me, and I turn away. The gesture leaves me looking out at my classmates, and their hostile faces aren’t much better.
    So instead, I look at