Free Astray by Amy Christine Parker Page A

how your first day went, but considering the way you stormed in here, I’m pretty sure I know. Can’t say it’ll get better, but you probably already know that. It is survivable, though. I moved here at the beginning of last year.” She says this last bit like it makes her situation and mine similar, when I’m pretty sure it doesn’t. Still, it’s nice to talk to someone who isn’t in Cody’s family or part of the Community.
    “And you like it here?” I ask.
    “No, I like it back in Boston. I
tolerate
here. My mom got remarried and I don’t exactly get along with the guy, so she sent me to hang out with my dad for a while, but he’snot exactly much better. He’s Principal Geddy,” she says, and rolls her eyes.
    Her dad is the principal.
Weird
. I nod and smile again. I probably seem like an idiot, but I don’t know what to say to her.
    “So, what was it like in your … neighborhood? I mean, during that raid you must have been pretty scared, right?” Her question is so direct that my mouth drops open.
    I shake my head. “Yeah, I guess.” I walk around her and start to wash my hands. I look into the mirror. She’s behind me, watching.
    “Sorry—I didn’t mean to overstep, but you guys are front-page news. And when I heard about it, I just couldn’t even imagine what it might be like to be there.” She looks at me hopefully.
    For a second I consider letting my guard down and telling her, but at the last minute I change my mind. After the fire drill I’m not sure I can trust anybody in this school.
    “I was thinking … maybe we can hang out sometime? I can show you around a little and stuff?” Jack asks.
    This
is what I was hoping for when I woke up and got dressed, to make new friends. My heart leaps a little, I try to be nonchalant, but I’m probably failing miserably. I don’t care. “Sure.”
    She nods. “Good, so I’ll look for you tomorrow, then. Gotta go. Aubrey’s waiting for me.”
    I dry my hands and nod and she waves before ducking out of the bathroom. The noises from the hallway outsidehave dropped off. Everyone has to be headed home by now. I’m pretty sure that Will left with the others. I should be okay to go back out there.
    I pull on my coat and button it, then grab my bag. My hand grazes a piece of card stock as I try to zip it closed. The note from my dad is still in the front pocket.
    Be strong. Don’t lose yourself
.
    I pull it out now and look at his message one more time before I crumple it up and throw it into the trash can. Losing myself is
exactly
what I need to do.

I believe he holds the answers to everything. Of course I do. I have to.
    —Will Richardson, member of the Community

SEVEN
    By the time I leave the bathroom, the hallways are completely deserted and Cody is all alone. He’s sitting on the floor, his back to the wall, legs crossed out in front of him. Spread across his legs is a sketchpad. He’s so engrossed in his drawing that he doesn’t even see me coming at first.
    I get closer and crane my neck to see. He’s drawn something that looks a little like a gargoyle with a dozen spikes running the length of its head in a deadly Mohawk. The eyes are narrowed and completely black. It’s ugly and awful-looking, but I like it. I like all of his monsters—the ones on paper and the ones he molds and makes at home. I find them kind of comforting in a weird way. At least their evil is obvious. If Pioneer had looked like what he actually is deep down inside, none of us would have followed him in the first place.
    I crouch down to take a closer look at his sketch.
    “Hey, what do you think?” He leans the sketchpad in my direction a little.
    “I like it, but I’d maybe put a little cross-hatching in here.” I point to the curved underside of the creature’s neck. “Add a little more texture. And his head needs more spikes.”
    “You think?”
    “Definitely.”
    Drawing is one passion that we share. Granted, I mostly sketch animals, people, and