Free Burn Girl by Mandy Mikulencak Page B

up before I got some answers.
    Mo laid the Oreos package between us on the bed and pulled back its resealable top. She wore plaid pajama bottoms and a sweatshirt. Her blond hair spiraled around chopsticks in a messy bun. Comfort obviously mattered more than fashion after 7 p.m. on a school night, and I wished I’d changed out of my jeans earlier.
    â€œHave one.” She stuffed a whole cookie into her mouth and chomped, sending crumbs onto my blanket.
    â€œI don’t like cookie texture. And stop getting crap on my bed.”
    She huffed her displeasure. “Eat them for the calories at least. We weigh the same and you tower above me.”
    Her stalling wasn’t funny. I needed to know what had happened with Cody. “Why do you think the fight had anything to do with me?”
    â€œJessica said she saw Cody get all up in Nick’s face after school. Supposedly he swung at Nick. Pow , right in the eye. Must have honed in on Nick’s voice.”
    I sat up. “Cody took the first swing? Your text said Nick hit Cody.”
    â€œHe did. He hit him back.” Mo’s smile revealed a perfect row of teeth dotted with chocolate cookie bits. She was enjoying this way too much.
    â€œWhy are you smiling? You look insane.”
    â€œBecause he was sticking up for you. Jess told me that Nick called you some name and Cody snapped. No words. No warning. Just fist to face.”
    Why would Cody come to my defense? Especially if I wasn’t even around to hear the insult. My cheeks tingled with heat and confusion.
    â€œThat’s not all,” Mo continued. “When Cody fell backward after being punched, Brittany went all Florence Nightingale on him, and he just pushed her away. Then she screamed that he was stupid to care about a reject like you.”
    Reject . Yep, that sounded like Brittany. I’d never done a thing to her, but she made her dislike more than apparent. At school and in choral practice, staring her down instead of looking away took everything out of me, but I wasn’t about to let her intimidate me.
    â€œBrittany can’t stand that Cody is interested in you.”
    â€œHuh?”
    â€œShe’d normally go for a dumb jock, but once Cody expressed an interest in you … well, challenge accepted,” Mo said.
    â€œChallenge? What are you talking about?”
    â€œFor some reason she’s made you a personal target. She probably thinks that hooking up with him would somehow hurt you,” she said.
    â€œWhy would I care?”
    â€œBecause you like him.”
    I started to object, but it was pointless to lie to Mo. I’d liked him for a long while now.
    â€œAnd why are we talking about Brittany?” Mo continued. “This is about you and Cody. Wow. A blind guy who can fight. How hot is that?”
    â€œI’ll be right back.” My hand shook as I slid open the plastic accordion door to my room and headed for the trailer’s kitchen sink. Tap water would do. My mouth had gone dry, and I had visions of choking if I didn’t have something wet immediately. I filled the glass and downed it, then filled it a second time.
    â€œWhere’s the fire?” Frank sat on the sofa, reading the newspaper. Mo used to be the only person in my life who could say the words “fire,” “flame,” and “burn” without immediately apologizing for saying something inappropriate, but Frank was getting better at it too.
    Mo pushed past me and plopped down next to Frank. She held out the package of Oreos and his eyes lit up. Suddenly, they were best friends.
    â€œA boy likes Arlie and she’s having some kind of weird reaction. I think she might faint.”
    This time both Frank and Mo smiled with chocolaty teeth.
    â€œFigures it’d take a blind guy to be interested in me,” I said to myself.
    They frowned in unison.
    â€œOh, I know you didn’t just say that. Don’t make me slap you,” Mo