Free Empty by K. M. Walton Page B

too.” Cara and Emma nod.
    Cara isn’t coming to my defense. Her nod, agreeing with what Melissa just said about me, burns and chars my heart. It’s a pile of black dust.
    And shit, they were together. They were off having fun while I stuffed my face with toddler snacks, reliving what happened on the daisy quilt.
    Taryn and Sydney stroll over. With each step they take, I silently plead: Please don’t let Taryn know about what happened with Brandon. They glance at me for a second before joining the other girls and turning their backs to me. I don’t think they realize I was technically “with” Cara, Emma, and Melissa.
    “Show them,” Taryn demands. Sydney pulls her hair back to reveal a whopping hickey. The five girls exchange grins. I play with my phone.
    “Slut,” Taryn says. Everyone laughs. “While I’m stuck talking to my fat cousin all night, she was having her neck sucked by Chase, and you guys were having fun dancing without me. Brandon said the party sucked because he missed me so much.”
    There’s a chorus of “awwwws.”
    I drop my chin to my chest. Brandon is a lying prick. I rock back and forth, pretending to jam out, but in reality I’m pretty close to passing out. The motion is helping me stay upright.
    Taryn clearly has something else to say from the smirk on her face. She smoothes her hair as they all lean in. “Brandon told me he loved me last night.”
    My leg jerks and kicks over my backpack, spilling the contents of the front pocket. Pencils roll all over the sidewalk. “Shit.” I yank my earbuds out.
    As if their heads are pulled by an invisible puppet string, the girls all turn to look at me in unison.
    “Are you eavesdropping on us, Dell?” Taryn asks. “Because if you are, that’s, like, middle-school shit.”
    I ignore her and retrieve my pencils. Some have rolled into the street, and I leave them.
    The warning bell rings. Taryn, Melissa, Emma, and Sydney lock arms. Emma holds an arm out for Cara. For a split second I think Cara is going to follow them down the yellow brick road, but she doesn’t. “I’ll see you guys in there. I have to talk to her.”
    The girls stay linked as they make their way up the stairs, and they don’t break apart when they reach the door. Taryn opens it, and they follow her in single file, still connected. Cara hasn’t taken her eyes from them, and she chuckles at their theatrics.
    She turns to look at me. It’s just the two of us now. She squints. “Dell, where did you disappear to at the party?”

Perfection, Maybe?
     
    “NOWHERE,” I SAY.
    Cara stares suspiciously and crosses her arms. “Dell, Sydney said she saw you go upstairs with Brandon. Is that true?”
    Shit. Sydney saw me with Brandon, which means Taryn will find out, because they all tell her everything. Which means everyone will suspect something happened between Brandon and me. If they think we hooked up, I’ll be public enemy number one.
    I say, with as much nonchalance as I can muster, “He wanted to show me some stupid video on YouTube. It was no big deal.” I pinch my eyebrows together. I can’t believe the words “no big deal” just exited my mouth.
    “Yeah, well, if Taryn finds out that you were alone with her boyfriend, we’ll never get invited to another party. As in never ever. You shouldn’t have gone upstairs with him, Dell.”
    Her tone is so harsh. If she’s freaking out about me going upstairs to watch a video with Brandon, she would go ape-shit if she knew we had sex. I can’t tell her. She would definitely leave me in the dust.
    “You are going to ruin everything.” She finishes with a long, breathy exhale.
    I look away and whisper, “Sorry.”
    More dramatic air exits her nose. “You should be.”
    We part ways and head to our lockers.
    Brandon and Taryn are at the end of the hallway. He has her skinny little body pinned up against the lockers and is kissing her neck. He turns his head, sees me, and pauses—midkiss—and stares.
    His look