Free Astray by Amy Christine Parker

right back. I can feel the tension buildingbetween them. I clear my throat and they both turn in my direction. It’s like they’re both expecting me to do something. Choose between them, maybe? I don’t want to have to. I mean, strictly speaking, I have. I chose Cody … and I’d do it again, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to have Will around anymore.
    I squirm for a moment before I spot my salvation across the hall. The girls’ restroom.
Sweet escape
. “I, um, need a second,” I mumble while managing not to look at either of them. I put my head down and rush past them and straight for the door with the girl silhouette on it. I try not to let it remind me of the cardboard cutouts that we used for target practice back at Mandrodage Meadows. It’s starting to feel like no matter where I go, something from my past will be waiting to blindside me. It’s exhausting. I throw myself into the nearest stall and lean against the wall. I let my book bag and coat drop to the floor.
    There were two girls by the mirror when I walked in. I can hear them giggling now.
    “Okaaay,” one girl says, her voice drawing out the word. There’s another giggle from the other girl, then a brief silence. I have an overwhelming urge to peek over the top of the bathroom stall to see what they’re doing out there. Instead I try to look through the narrow crack between the door and the stall. I think they’re putting on makeup.
    “The Winter Festival should be a blast. Kevin asked me to go with him to Ted’s party after. He’s having a bonfirebehind his house. You’re going, right?” The other girl glances at the stall I’m in and I duck out of the way, but I think she saw me anyway. I must look like a total crazy person for spying on them.
    “Hey … everything all right in there?” The girl’s voice is just outside the stall.
    I lean my head back and stare at the ceiling. I study the brown watermark there, trace its shape with my eyes and try to make myself relax. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
    “Look, what the guys did today with the fire alarm … wasn’t cool. Sorry if it made your first day bad and all,” she says. Is she being sincere or putting me on? I can’t tell.
    The girls begin to whisper. I can’t make out what they’re saying, but then one of the girls’ voices gets louder. “Uh, I’ve got to get my bio homework before we go. I’ll wait for you by the trophy case … but don’t take too long.”
    I can hear the girl’s shoes click across the floor, then there’s a brief burst of hallway noise before the bathroom goes quiet again. One of the girls is still in here with me.
    “So, um, you’re not peeing in there, are you? ’Cause if you are, I won’t try to talk to you until you’re, uh, done. But if you’re not peeing, maybe you could come out? I just want to introduce myself.”
    I unlatch the door and open it, feeling a little silly for hiding.
    The girl holds out her hand. “My name’s Jaclyn, but most people just call me Jack.”
    She’s got these multicolored braids scattered all aroundher face like Medusa’s snakes. They’re sparkly too. Somehow she’s managed to weave a healthy dose of glitter into each braid, but not get any on her face or clothes. She’s delicate and elf-like—except for her enormous boobs—which stick out of the black sweater/tank top combo she’s wearing like, well, outrageously oversized boobs. I can’t even come up with a delicate description, because I can’t stop staring. Her boobs are bigger than mine. This makes me strangely happy. I’ve never known another girl my age who was more endowed in that department. I have to work not to crack up laughing about it.
    “Lyla,” I say once I snap out of my boob shock and we shake hands. It seems like a ridiculous thing to do in the middle of a bathroom, and I smile.
    “You’re the girl living with Cody. Wait, that just came out all wrong. Living with the
Crowleys
.” She smiles. “I’d ask you