Free Reason to Breathe by Rebecca Donovan

narrowed her eyes and
examined me.
    “Don’t worry, I’ll see you there. Okay?” I
forced a supportive smile to put her at ease.
    “Okay,” she said, still hesitating.
    “Really. Go. I’ll be right behind you.” Sara
gave me a quick excited hug and skipped back down the stairs to
Jason. I watched them walk off toward her car, already in
conversation.
    “Ready?” Evan asked from the bottom of the
stairs. I jumped again. “You honestly didn’t see me coming from the
locker room?”
    “I guess I wasn’t looking for you,” I bit
back.
    “Let’s go.” He held out his hand, inviting me
to take it. I creased my forehead in disbelief and walked past him.
My rejection didn’t seem to faze him as he walked alongside me to
the parking lot. Nothing about Evan made sense. But for some
reason, I kept finding myself with him.
    He approached a black BMW sports car. I never
really paid attention to the cars in the lot. Most of the residents
in town could afford luxury cars to complement their ginormous
houses – so of course their kids also drove cars to reflect their
parents’ success. Diversity in Weslyn came down to what you drove,
not your ethnicity. So, I was a minority, especially since I didn’t
have a car. Forget that, I didn’t even have a license.
    Evan opened the passenger door for me, making
me pause before I entered - not accustomed to the chivalrous
gesture.
    “Do you know where we’re going?” he asked as
he closed his door.
    “No, don’t you?”
    He laughed. “I just moved here. I don’t know
where anyone lives. I thought you would at least know that much.” I
didn’t respond.
    Evan rolled down his window and hollered to a
couple of guys he recognized, “Dave, you going to Scott’s?” I
couldn’t hear the answer. “Do you mind if I follow you?”
    Evan started the car and drove around to get
behind the silver Land Rover.
    “I didn’t ruin your night, did I?”
    “No,” I answered casually, removing the scarf
from around my neck. “But if you don’t mind, I’d rather not talk
about what other people think of me anymore, okay?”
    “Never again,” he promised. “So what are the
parties like in Weslyn?”
    I snickered. “Are you seriously asking
me?”
    “Okay,” he said slowly. “Well, I guess we’ll
both find out tonight, won’t we?” I didn’t answer.
    “If you want to do something else, I’m up for
anything,” he offered. I looked over at him, my lungs
paralyzed.
    “No, I want to go,” I lied, almost choking on
my words. “Besides, I’m meeting Sara there, remember?”
    The Land Rover pulled away from the school,
and we started down unfamiliar back roads. Evan turned on the
radio. I wasn’t expecting to recognize the voice of a female singer
bellowing about how life sucked to the strums of a heavy guitar. He
turned it down so he could talk. What else could he possibly have
to say to me?
    “Where did you live before you moved
here?”
    I hesitated to decide if I could tell him
without backing myself into a corner.
    “A small town outside of Boston,” I
replied.
    “So you’ve always lived in New England?”
    “Yup,” I answered. “Where in California are
you from?”
    “San Francisco.”
    “Have you lived anywhere else besides here
and San Francisco?”
    Evan let out a short laugh. “We’ve moved just
about every year since I can remember. My dad’s a lawyer for a
financial conglomerate, so his job takes him wherever he needs to
be. I’ve lived in New York, different parts of California, Dallas,
Miami, and even in several countries in Europe for a few
years.”
    “Does it bother you?” I asked, relieved to be
talking about him instead of me.
    “It didn’t used to. When I was younger, I’d
get excited to go somewhere new. It didn’t bother me when I left my
friends behind because I was convinced that I’d see them again,
eventually.
    “Now that I’m in high school, it’s not as
easy. I made some decent friends when we moved to San Francisco