Free The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen

do you get your leg?
    Depends
, I scribble back.
Maybe next week?
    Already? WOW! Congratulations! You are SO LUCKY!
    My eyes sting when I read that, and it makes something in me break.
    Or connect.
    Or just
change
, somehow.
    I suddenly really get that I
am
lucky. I’ll never do a fifty-five flat in the 400 again, but I will stand on my own again.
    This wheelchair won’t be with me every day of my life.

 
    A FTER SCHOOL F IONA’S ROLLING ME across campus in the direction of the courtyard when she says, “I just realized something.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Guess who wasn’t at your party today?”
    “Uh … who?”
    “Merryl.”
    I shift my backpack in my lap. “Did I miss her? No!” I twist to glance at Fiona. “Forget about her, would you?”
    Fiona grunts. “Hard to do.”
    “Look, I know you hate her, but I’m starting to think you’re obsessing about her because you like
him
.”
    She stops wheeling and comes around to look me right in the eyes. “What kind of friend do you think I am?
You’re
the one who likes him. The whole thing bugs me because he should be with someone like you, not her!”
    “Fiona, please. Stop this.”
    But she doesn’t. “I—
we
—thought he was smart. You know,
principled
. Remember his speech when he was runningfor class president? You said it was the most amazing thing you’d ever heard. And it was!” She starts pushing me again. “How could he let himself be snowed by Merryl?”
    “Uh … she’s gorgeous?”
    She grunts again. “Guys are so shallow.”
    “Look. It goes both ways. Most girls don’t like Gavin because of some speech, or because of his op-ed pieces in the school paper, or because he started a townwide warmth drive. They like him because he’s cute.”
    “Well, see? You’re different. And I’m sorry. I know I’ve been kind of annoying about him. It just makes me mad to see
her
with him when she’s such a princess and you’ve gone through so much.”
    I twist around again. “Well, keep your cool, because here they come.”
    Gavin and Merryl are quite a distance across the courtyard, but they’re on the same walkway we’re on, and they’re definitely closing in. Merryl is linked to Gavin in her classic way: both of her arms hugging one of his as she looks up adoringly at him.
    It’s strange, but it doesn’t really bother me.
    I guess I’ve got bigger issues now than clinging to an old crush.
    Still, what I really want to do is steer clear of them. Go in a different direction. Go four-wheelin’ across the grass. I just don’t want to have to deal with him
or
her.
    But as I’m suggesting this to Fiona, Gavin notices us. He stops for an instant, then hurries toward us, leaving Merryl clinging to air.
    “Jessica!” he calls.
    “I
hate
being a charity case,” I grumble.
    He smiles as he approaches. “I’ve been watching for you all day! I thought you’d be in the courtyard at lunch.”
    Fiona’s right about his chin scruff. It gives him an edge.
    A very attractive edge.
    As if he needed it.
    Merryl’s already scurried over, and the first thing she does is latch on to Gavin again. “Hi, Jessie!” she says. “
Soooo
good to see you!”
    I can feel myself bristle.
    Like I need her phony friendliness?
    Fiona moves up beside me and keeps her focus on Gavin. “The track team had a party for her in Kyro’s room. The whole team was there.” She eyes Merryl. “Well,
almost
the whole team.”
    Gavin looks at Merryl, who releases him with one hand so she can hold back a gasp of regret. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I completely forgot!!”
    “Easy to do, I suppose,” Fiona says, turning a sarcastic eye toward the big, bold WELCOME BACK banner in the Greek theater. She sweeps around behind me and says, “Well, we’ve got to get moving. Places to go, things to do.”
    “Wow,” I gasp when we’re out of earshot. “You were kinda brutal.”
    “I have never known anyone so phony and self-absorbed,” she mutters. “Guys can be so