Free Effortless With You by Lizzy Charles Page B

squeaks closed. Finally.
    The sniffing starts. I watch the Converse shoes cross in front of my stall. The stall next to mine creaks open and shut. Her sniffing grows more urgent. The toilet-paper holder clangs against my stall’s wall. She sobs and blows her nose.
    I want to give her privacy but I can’t. As far as she knows, she and Marissa were alone. The thought of being fourteen and having a senior rip you apart while her junior friend listened is enough to destroy any girl. She doesn’t need to know I was here.
    I wait with my arms hugging my legs up on the toilet seat, barely breathing. Sally sniffles and her occasional sobs sound like they could be my own.
    The toilet-paper roll clangs against my stall’s wall. One last sniff before Converse shoes walk out to the sink. Water splashes, the best way to calm a tear-stained face. The door squeaks open and shut. I'm alone.
    I release my grip on my knees and my insides collapse. I should have opened the stall door and told Marissa to stop the moment she said “Excuse me.” I should have given Sally a hug and comforted her or at least explained how Marissa works. But no, I picked up my feet, hugging them to my chest on a toilet seat. How have I come to this?
    I wash my hands out of habit and return to the pool room. My gut churns. Sally sits on a stool, Alex standing behind her giving her a slow, rocking hug. A smile is plastered on her face, trying to hold it all together. Alex whispers in her ear and she temporarily drops her smile, nodding. He takes her hand and leads her from the room. I'm impressed. He’s an in-tune boyfriend.
    I jump when a hand suddenly rests on my shoulder. It’s ridiculous how easy I jump. But after that year of the seniors torturing me in the locker room, I just can’t help it.
    “Marissa and I are going to run out to her car.” Zach rubs his chin.
    “Yeah, you know my front tire? How it screeches when I turn left? Zach says he’d take a look at it.”
    “Oh, okay.” Her front tire did squeak. “I’ll come watch.” I’d love to see Zach looking over a car. Guys like that.
    “No need.” Marissa points me back to the pool table. “Stay, play, have fun.”
    “Yeah, you can stay here, Lucy. It’ll be totally boring.” Zach pulls me to him, his hands around my waist, and gives me a kiss. “I want you to have a good time tonight.” He smiles down at me and my knees go weak. “Go play pool. I’ll be right back and then I can show you how to throw darts.” I nod. “Just you and me.” He kisses my cheek and then he and Marissa are gone.
    I end up at the pool table, fighting a daze. I don’t want to play pool. I want to hang out with Zach and Marissa, watching Zach work on the car. His kiss threw me off. No. I want to be with him. I should be with him. As I turn to leave, I bump into Matt.
    “Sorry.”
    “It’s okay.” He has two pool sticks in hand. “I was just coming over to see if you wanted to shoot with me?” Matt holds out a pool cue.
    I relent. Zach will be back soon anyway. “Okay, I suck though.”
    “Doesn’t matter. We’re just going to shoot. Any ball, any time, any pocket.”
    I smile back at him. That, I can do.
    I like shooting pool with Matt. He is quiet and simple. He says exactly what he is thinking but never too much. We talk about math class and the final exam. He got a B+ in the class. I tell him I got a C.
    “What?” He straightens up in disbelief. “You always aced every pop quiz and test.”
    “How’d you know?”
    “My last name is Yates. Y before Z. I always correct your exams.” No wonder I always corrected Shaun Anderson’s paper. “So, how did you get a C?”
    I cringe. It is one thing to have your parents call you out on your grades, but a classmate?
    “Homework.” He looks at me with one eyebrow raised. “I hate busy work.” It's a lame excuse.
    “Yeah, busy work sucks. I get that. But, I figure, if you can’t bring yourself to do it now, you’ll just have to do it