Free If You Only Knew by Rachel Vail

frightened, quiet house after the fight, because Bay couldn’t concentrate on vocabulary and Anne Marie would rather work than deal.
    “You’re talking to us again?” Jonas turned around and I guess noticed what I was wearing because he said, “Whoa.”
    Tommy turned around to see, too. I crossed my arms over my chest but his eyes had widened already. They faced front again. I sank down into my seat and whispered to Gabriela, “Do I look like a—I mean, gross or slutty or something?”
    She shook her head. “You look pretty,” she said.
    “Thank you.” She’s so nice.
    “If I had a bust,” she said too loudly, “I’d show it, too.”
    I crossed my arms tighter.
    None of my friends said anything as I climbed up onto the wall. I was tempted to curl into myself and hide, but what Colette said about not having to apologize kept echoing in my head and forcing my arms down. It was hard. I felt so noticeable.
    After the second bell, I walked through the corridor toward our lockers, with CJ, Morgan, and Olivia. I could hear the boys behind us saying, “Do it, do it.” I felt a touch on my back, and before I could turn around to ask, “What?” my bra strap snapped.
    “Ow,” I said.
    “Ignore them,” CJ whispered, linking her arm around mine.
    “OK.” I ducked my head and felt my face getting hot.
    Another touch, another sting. “Ow!”
    CJ yanked me forward before I could turn around.
    “Puerile jerks,” Olivia whispered.
    I don’t know what that means, so I shrugged noncommittally.
    “If you say anything,” Morgan whispered, “you’ll just encourage them.”
    We were almost at the lockers. If somebody pestered me over anything but my chest, I thought, I would knock him down and make him stop. Why is this different?
    As soon as I felt the next touch on my back, I spun around and found myself eye to eye with Tommy Levit, whose hand was reaching toward me. His smirk was the same one I had found irresistible, yesterday. I almost punched him in it. But then I realized, this is exactly the problem with me; I’m so unladylike. The whole point, honestly, was to show Tommy I’m a girl. I tried to imagine what each of my sisters would do in this situation.
    I stood as strong as I could and gave Tommy a nasty look.
    Then I turned and walked toward the lockers, feeling proud of myself. My sisters, I think, would have given dirty looks like that. When Anne Marie glares, or Morgan, I die. Good for me.
    Two steps later, I felt his hand on my back again.
    I whirled around, pointed right in his face, and said, “If you touch me again, I’ll rip off your thing and staple it to your head.”
    He stopped grinning. They all did. That whole pack of boys turned pale. It was great. I walked as confidently as I could to my locker and tried to open it, but my hands were shaking too much. I gripped the lock and closed my eyes.
    “Yes,” said Olivia. She bent over to use her key in her lock. When she stood up, her huge smile showed all her crowded teeth. “You tell ’em, Zoe.”
    “Yeah?” I asked her.
    “Wow,” CJ agreed. “Where’d you get that expression?”
    I shrugged. “He looked surprised, huh?”
    Morgan nodded. “It was pretty graphic.”
    “He won’t be bugging you again,” Olivia slammed her locker. “Score one for girl power.”
    She held up her delicate little hand. I high-fived it.
    “How’d it go last night?” CJ asked. “With your dad?”
    “Oh, that’s right.” Morgan looked at me with sympathy.
    Not what I felt like discussing. “A comedy,” I said, dismissing the subject with my hand like it was a bug. I wanted to get back to what a great job I’d done putting Tommy in his place. It wasn’t what my sisters would’ve done, except maybe Colette, but obviously Tommy wasn’t going to like me anyway, so, tough. “You don’t think I was too harsh?”
    “Well,” Morgan said.
    “What?”
    “Nothing.” She raised her eyebrows at CJ.
    CJ jammed her lock closed and turned her back