Free That Night by Chevy Stevens Page A

kissed for a long time, him still sitting on my roof, the cool winter air wrapping around us and swirling into my bedroom, my hands on his warm back under his sweater. His hands on my face, my hair, our mouths desperate, needing to show each other how much we mattered, how this was all that mattered.
    *   *   *
    The next morning at school, Amy met me at my locker and said, “Oh, my God. I just heard. Are you and Ryan okay?” She’d been sick the day before and never saw what Shauna had done, but she’d already heard the rumors. When I told her what Shauna had written and how Ryan and I had made up last night, she gave me a big hug and told me not to worry about it, that Ryan was a good guy.
    “And don’t worry about Jason Leroy,” she said. “I’ve messed around with a few losers myself.” I laughed.
    At lunchtime, Shauna drove by me and Ryan while we were making out in the parking lot. I peeked at her from the corner of my eye. Shauna’s face fell when she saw us, and it was obvious she was trying not to stare, but she looked shocked. The other girls weren’t smiling either. I kissed Ryan harder.
    The next day at school Amy didn’t come to my locker in the morning, which was unusual. We always walked to our first class together—Ryan’s was in the other building. Thinking she might still be sick, I headed down to her locker, passing a few kids who gave me dirty looks in the hallway. One of the girls, Tricia, was someone Amy and I hung out with sometimes. She was a toughie like us, always wearing black and had lots of piercings. When she passed by, she gave me a shove with her shoulder.
    I stopped. “Hey, what’s wrong with you?”
    She turned around and said, “I can’t believe you did that to Amy.”
    “Did what?” I was getting a sick feeling.
    “Like you don’t know.”
    Then I saw Amy coming down the hall toward me, a few of our other friends behind her. Her face was angry but she also looked like she’d been crying. She stopped in front of me. “Thanks a lot, Toni.”
    “For what? What’s going on?”
    “I heard what you told Warren. He broke up with me.”
    “This is insane. I haven’t talked to Warren—I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
    The girls behind her were all shaking their heads and rolling their eyes. I heard one of them whisper, “What a lying cow.”
    “I know you called him last night and told him I cheated on him at Christmas with Nathan.” Amy looked around, saw how many people were watching. “Which is a total lie.”
    Amy had fooled around with Nathan, but I’d never said a word to anyone. Not many people knew, just Nathan and a few of his friends. One of them was Cameron, the guy Shauna was getting cozy with at the party. I had a feeling he’d told Shauna—and Shauna must have called Warren, pretending to be me. I remembered how good she was at mimicking people when we were younger, how she could copy the exact tone and pitch of their voice, how she even called home for me once and fooled my own mother.
    “I never called Warren, Amy. It had to be Shauna—she was pissed that she didn’t break me and Ryan up. Why would I do something like that?”
    “Warren swore it was you.” Amy’s voice rose. Now kids were stopping in the hallway to listen.
    I was too stunned to defend myself. I could only stand there and take it, my heart beating fast. But Amy was still going strong.
    “Warren told me the other stuff you said, about how my parents were poor and he could do better than me. That I dressed like a homeless person.”
    “I would never say that.” Amy bought all her clothes at the thrift store and tried to pretend it was cool, but I knew she’d rather have new stuff.
    “God, you can’t stop lying.”
    My shock and confusion were wearing off and now I was also pissed.
    “You’re nuts if you believe any of this crap. Think about it, Amy.”
    But Amy wasn’t thinking anymore, didn’t want to hear the truth. “You think your