Free Life on the Level by Zoraida Cordova

bar, he is most definitely not straight-edge.
    “About two months ago,” Fran says, like she’s reciting a story from People magazine, “there was a girl who overdosed. Hutch found drugs in the counselor’s office.”
    “Really?” I ask. “That’s something they neglected to put in the pamphlet.”
    “Do you really think he’s into brunettes?” Julie asks hopefully.
    “Maybe.” I smile. “I was just guessing.”
    “That man can have anyone in the world,” Vilma tells her. “What would be want with an addict like you?”
    Julie frowns, and eats her food.
    Vilma is right. What would Hutch want with an addict? Still, hearing that he’s had a smile on his face for a week, I get a funny feeling in my stomach. Because it was me. I put that smile there. And that’s a bet I’d put money on.

Chapter 11
    So maybe Ransom was right. Vilma, Fran, and Julie are okay. Fran is a terrible gossip, Julie is a bit depressing, and Vilma is painfully honest. But they’re still real. They’re unflinching about their addictions, and a part of me feels terrible for assuming they were in denial about themselves.
    Maybe the one who’s in denial is me.
    They convince me to stay for the bonfire after dinner. A few yards behind the facility is a giant circle of stacked stones. Logs create a circle of benches around a roaring fire pit. The flames are the same color as the sunset. I inhale the smoky air, the smell of cedar. The air is so clean it hurts as it expands in my lungs.
    “I’ve never made s’mores,” I confess, taking a branch from the assembly table.
    “What?” Helen says. She holds a branch with five smaller branches. It looks like a hand, and the marshmallows at the ends look like fat white finger stubs.
    I shrug. “I’ve never been camping. I grew up in a city where the biggest park is manmade and the trees are transported from other places.”
    “Still,” Stevens says. “I’m from Detroit and even I’ve been camping.”
    “I’m doing it now, aren’t I?” I sass him.
    “This isn’t camping,” Helen assures me. “We’re doing a camping trip at the end of the month. You should sign up.”
    I make a face, and they laugh at me. I find a spot around the fire, and am just starting to toast my marshmallows when I notice Maddie coming down from her room. There’s something different about the way she walks. She’s trying to keep herself steady, and even though she’s doing a hell of a job, I notice the difference. She slinks her way around the fire and settles onto a log bench. She huddles under her oversized hoodie and shivers. It isn’t exactly cold.
    “Maddie!” Fran shouts from the other side of the fire. “Missed you at dinner. Here, I saved you some marshmallows. What’s wrong?”
    “My stomach hurts. I think it was the bacon this morning.” Maddie manages a weak smile. One look at her and I know she’s high. But how could she be high?
    “Yeah,” Fran says. “I felt gross too. I think Lunchman Larry is trying to poison us.”
    I think back to what the girls said about Hutch finding the drugs with the counselor. She sneaked out two nights ago, but she’s been fine since then. Maybe I wasn’t looking…
    I look at the counselors, and I wonder if I should tell someone. Sky would tell me, Yes! Say something!
    But I’ve still got months here, and my self-preservation tells me that I can’t be the girl who snitches. Maddie leans her head against Fran’s shoulder and giggles as she eats her marshmallow. Maybe she really does have food poisoning. Maybe I just want to find something wrong because everything’s too perfect.
    “How’s your first s’more?”
    Hutch is standing beside me. His presence startles the thoughts out of my head. All I see and feel is him.
    “Let’s find out,” I say.
    Avoiding Hutch is going to be harder than I thought. I wonder if he’s thinking the same thing. For me, it’s that he’s everywhere. He’s as big as the roaring fire. He’s the cool,