Free Pick-me-up by Cecilia La France Page B

moment and added, “Not much
farther.”
    They were coming to the highway that ran
through town. The cops made a fortune in speeding fines here.
Commuters coasted into the outskirts after speeding through the
miles of cornfield-lined roads, never suspecting the beehive of
cops here.
    Tim stopped short and pressed Katelyn back
behind the bushes they were about to clear before crossing the
sidewalk. A Northrup Police cruiser made its way slowly down the
road. She was violating the eleven o’clock curfew.
    Once the squad car was out of sight, they
made their way across the street and ran down the walk which
connected with a short recreational trail through a prairie.
Katelyn knew it well; one of her friends from seventh grade used to
live on the other side of the prairie. She used to ride her bike
through the trail almost daily during the summer to see her. The
girl barely talked to her anymore now. Katelyn felt a small tug of
sadness and her step slowed momentarily. Tim noticed.
    “What’s up?”
    “Nothing,” she replied.
    “Don’t be like that. Don’t be like everyone
else.” He dropped her hand and jumped out in front of her, walking
backward in pace with her slow steps. She could make out most of
his features in the light of the moon. As usual, his attention was
fully tuned to her. “Everyone’s so private and scared to talk to
other people.”
    “Well, sometimes there’s a reason, maybe.”
Katelyn searched for the words she needed. Tim still stayed in
front of her, his lanky walk awkward in reverse, but still keeping
pace with Katelyn. He stayed quiet, but from what she could make
from his expression, he expected her to say more. She continued,
“Okay, like, sometimes a person can talk to someone, thinking that
there’s no harm, but later wish they hadn’t.”
    “What does it matter?”
    “A lot. It matters a lot. I mean, when you
talk to someone, you trust them in a way.” Katelyn added,
“Sometimes they don’t deserve that trust. So why not be a little
scared to talk to someone?”
    Tim slowed gradually so that Katelyn merged
naturally into his body and was quickly embraced. He held her by
the sides of her arms, his head tilted down to meet hers. “Katelyn,
you can’t live that way. Life’s all about risk.” He leaned in
closer and gave her a lingering kiss. He pulled away slowly and she
could see his grin, a feature becoming expected and familiar to
her. She found herself smiling in return. He touched the dimple on
her right cheek. “Besides, you’ll never know if you can trust
someone until you try.”
    Katelyn opened up to him then. They walked
along the path with the insects and frogs silencing ahead of them
as they neared. She talked about Emily and the rumor Maci was
spreading. She talked about her family—her sisters dropping out and
the reputation they’d left her at the school. About their kids who
were often left in her mother’s care.
    Katelyn held back telling him her dad’s full
history and her feelings about it. Somehow it felt like a bigger
chapter, a whole separate addition to a house of pain.
    He let her talk. He sympathized with losing
friends—his mom had moved around a lot after her divorce, and being
the new kid didn’t win him any popularity contests, especially when
kids quickly judged him.
    “What is the goal of homework anyway?” he
agreed with her after she told him about the stack of work in
Gorman’s office.
    “Yeah, I know how to open a book and find
bold print. Big deal.” Katelyn joked and then frowned. “I don’t see
why he’s even making an issue about me anyway. He never did with my
sisters. I don’t think he ever called home when Jenny quit.”
    Tim asked, “How long ago was that?”
    Katelyn thought about Kayla’s age and did the
math. “Over three years ago.”
    “Well,” Tim said like he won a bet, “that
explains it.”
    “What?”
    “Ever heard of No Child Left Behind or Race
to the Top?”
    “Um,” Katelyn didn’t want to