Free Breaking Free by S.M. Koz Page A

the only reason I hang around with you is because you’re the best smelling person out here.”
    I chuckled at his comment.
    “If you start smelling bad, I’m not sure our friendship will be necessary.”
    I smiled and said, “Don’t worry.  I could roll around in bear poop all day and I’d still smell better than you.  They do make a thing called deodorant.  You should try it sometime.”
    He laughed.  “Tried it.  Didn’t work.  Apparently it’s no match for a week without a shower.”
    I set my apple down and rummaged around in my pack.
    “What are you doing?” he asked, leaning over to tie his shoe.
    “Looking for something.”  After a moment, I came up victorious with a small plastic bottle filled with purple liquid.  JC was still looking at his feet, so I snuck the bottle behind his neck and pushed the pump.  A fragrant mist coated his skin.
    His head snapped up, so I quickly applied three more s quirts before he could stop me.
    “What the hell?” he asked with a laugh, grabbing the bottle from my hand and turning it ar ound so he could see the label.  “I’m going to smell like a girl!”
    “It’s jasmine.  People will just think they’re sitting next to some flowers.”
    “But if I smell good, then I’ll have no use for you.  Are you trying to get rid of your best friend?”
    His words erased the smile from my face.
    He didn’t know what happened, but he knew his words hit me hard.   “I’m sorry,” he quickly whispered, dropping the bottle of body spray and grabbing my hands.  “I’ll always be your friend.”
    I shook my head.  “You can’t be my best friend.  That spot’s taken.”
    “Of course it is.  I didn’t mean that.   I’m sorry.”  He slid his hands up my arms and around my back.  Pulling me close, he whispered, “Something happened to her, huh?”
    A tear rolled down my face and my body trembled with silent whimpers.
    “I’m here if you want to talk about it.”
    I wiped the moisture from my face, took a deep breath, and whispered what I hadn’t yet said to anyone.
    “I killed her.”
    He held me at arms’ length, studying my face.  Over his shoulder, I saw that Bling and Chris were much closer than I thought and probably overheard me.   Bling looked impressed, which disgusted me.  Chris offered me a reassuring smile that made me think she was proud.  Why she’d be proud of me killing someone, I had no idea.
    “Okay, let’s get moving.  We still have a ways to go before it gets dark,” Chris said, breaking the tension.
    We all gather ed our things and got back in line.  It was a quiet but tiring trek up a steep hill with lots of loose gravel.  I welcomed the exertion as it kept my mind focused on the hike and not on other things.  Neeky’s aspirin must have kicked in or else he was also working too hard to complain because he remained silent the whole time.
    After less than an hour, we reached a calm river where three canoes were waiting.  We donned life jackets and then stood next to our respective boats.
    I watched from shore as JC slid into our canoe white-knuckled, murmuring something under his breath.
    “You okay?” I asked.
    “Not exactly a fan of water,” he said, still gripping the edges of the canoe.
    “What’s wrong with water?”
    “Oh, I don’t know … maybe the possibility of drowning.”
    “Don’t you know how to swim?”
    “Not really.”
    “Who doesn’t know how to swim?  You didn’t learn as a kid?”
    “No, sorry, Mama was too busy holding down three jobs to put food on the table.  She didn’t really have time or money to take me to some fancy country club for swim lessons.”
    “No need to make personal attacks.  You’ve got a life jacket on.  If you fall in, you’ll float.”
    “I’d prefer not to test the life-saving capability of this thing,” he said tugging on the straps of his life jacket.
    “Then don’t fall in.”
    “I don’t intend to.”
    “Then you have nothing to worry