Free Something Girl by Beth Goobie

Chapter One
    My boyfriend, Larry, was driving me back from a dance at a high school across town. He pulled his car up to the curb outside my house. It was past my curfew, so I opened my door and started to get out.
    “Hey,” Larry shouted. As usual his stereo was on loud, the bass booming.
    “What?” I shouted back, keeping my door open. I’d promised my dad I wouldn’tbe late. He was going to be mad about this, really mad.
    Larry rolled his eyes and turned down the stereo. “Well, uh, Sophie,” he said, tapping his fingers nervously on the steering wheel. Then he said, “I think I’ll be going out with Wendy from now on. So it’s over between us, okay? I’ll still see you around school, and we can talk if you want, but that’s all. Don’t get your hopes up and try to get me to change my mind, because I won’t.”
    I sat there, just staring at him. The fact that he was breaking up with me wasn’t a surprise. Neither was Wendy — he’d spent all night dancing with her. It was just that I didn’t know what to say. I never do. I’m completely dumb and boring — a waste of time to talk to.
    Stupid , I thought, looking down at my feet. Stupid, no good, nothing girl .
    “So,” said Larry, revving the engine. “See you, I guess.”
    Then he turned the stereo back up, so I got out. Before I’d even closed the door, hetook off down the street, tires squealing. For a moment I just stood there, staring after him. We’d been going out for three months, and every day I’d been expecting him to break up with me. I was surprised it had taken him so long, actually.
    I started up the front walk to my house. As I did, the door opened and there was my dad. He didn’t say anything, just stood and watched me. Right away I got a creepy feeling in my back — cold and tingly at the same time. Something was going to happen — I knew it was.
    “Late again?” he said as I got close. “Get in here, now.”
    My knees went weak, and my heart started pounding through my whole body. I squeezed past him in the doorway, trying not to touch him, but he grabbed my arm. Then he closed the door and shut off the porch light.
    There was no light inside the house. Everything was in shadows — just me and my dadand his big dark anger. Before I could move, he grabbed my head with both hands.
    “Coming in late,” he hissed. “Breaking your curfew. Waking me up in the middle of the night. And you’re on probation for stealing. Hanging around with a no-good boyfriend who’ll get you into more trouble. Trouble, trouble, trouble — you’re nothing but trouble.”
    He banged the back of my head against the wall. “Stupid,” he said. Then he banged it again. “No good,” he said. He banged it again. “Nothing,” he said.
    Then he just kept banging my head against the wall. Bang bang bang . My brain was sliding around in waves of blackness. Bang bang bang . There was nothing I could do, nothing I could say. Stupid, no good, nothing girl .
    Finally my dad stopped. He let go of my head and let me slide down the wall to the floor. For a moment we stayed like that. He leaned over me and panted. I sat there holding my head, just to make sure it was still there.
    Then my dad turned and went upstairs. I listened to his footsteps walk up each stair, then into his bedroom. The bed squeaked as he got in and lay down. I could tell he’d left the door open. This meant I was going to have to be extra quiet going past it when I went to my room.
    If I could stand up, that is. When I tried to lift my head, the pain was like a gun going off. It hurt to rest it against the wall, and it hurt to let it just hang. So I sat with my chin in my hands, trying to hold my head steady and away from the pain. This helped, but after a while my arms started to wobble.
    I put my hand in my mouth and bit down on it hard, so it hurt more than my head. Then I made myself stand up and start climbing the stairs. The whole time I kept biting my hand so I wouldn’t