Free Bang by Lisa McMann Page A

into a ball and starts over.
I try again. “What if you save someone and he turns
    out to be the guy of your dreams?”
He turns toward me. “For shit’s sake, Jules,” he hisses.
    “This is not a romantic situation in any possible way.
    Grow up.”
Yow. I stand abruptly and walk over to the paint
    shelf, pretending to pick out colors for the fake fruits
    I’ve been making to go in Trey’s dumb lopsided bowl
    that he keeps destroying, all of which will one day be
    buried under a sea of bullshit crud collected by my
    father. I think about painting my fruit Day-Glo colors
    so they’ll be easier to find when my mother’s looking for
    something to put on top of my casket after I get shot to
    death. And then I start thinking about actually getting
    shot if things don’t go well, and I really start creeping
    myself out.
I’m pulled back to reality when I realize somebody’s
    calling my name. I whirl around, and it’s the art teacher
    telling me and Trey to go to Dr. Grimm’s office—the
    principal. Yeah, that’s his real name. Thank dog he’s not
    an oncologist.
Trey’s puzzled glance meets mine, and then in an
    instant my heart clutches, because I realize if they want
    both of us it’s not just because of my stupid scratchfest
    with Roxie. It’s got to be something serious with Rowan
    or Mom or—or Dad. Fuck.
I stumble out of the room after Trey, and I feel like
    the world is coming up around my head like water. When
    we’re alone in the hallway, both of us walking faster than
    normal, I say it. “Do you think Dad . . . did it?”
Trey’s teeth are clenched and he replies in monotone.
    “I don’t know.”
How awesome is it being a kid who’s always wondering
    if one day she’s going to come home from school to find
    out her dad offed himself?
We round the corner near the office, and inside,
    through the glass wall, I see a cop. “Oh, Christ,” I say, and
    I feel all the blood flooding out of my head. “Do you see
    Mom anywhere?”
“No.”
We reach the door and Trey pushes it open and I stare
    at the cop and then at the secretary and I can’t help it.
    “What’s wrong?” I say, breathless. “Is Rowan here?”
The secretary, Miss Branderhorst, frowns at me like I
    did something wrong.
Trey whips his head around as somebody enters the
    office behind us.
It’s Sawyer.
He looks as puzzled as we are.
The cop asks us our names, and then the principal comes
    out, and they make us go back into his office, and the only
    thing I can think of is that my dad went postal and took out
    Sawyer’s parents and then killed himself. Mom , I think, and
    now I’m freaking myself out and telling myself to calm down.
We sit in chairs, and none of our parents are there,
    most likely because they’re dead, and then the cop says,
    “Where were you at lunch today?” And this is weird, but
    right then I realize he’s the guy who fills in once a week for
    our regular beat cop, Al, by the restaurant, and somehow
    knowing that makes me feel better.
“Wait.” Sawyer holds his hand out. “Um, did somebody die? Why are we here?”
Principal Grimm interjects. “Mr. Angotti, kindly
    answer the question.”
Trey sits up, his eyes sparking. “You’re not going to
    tell us if somebody died?”
“Nobody died,” the cop says.
“Jeeezabel,” I say, slumping back in relief. “You gave
    us a heart attack.”
The cop and Principal Grimm exchange a look. And
    then the cop repeats the question. “Where were you at
    lunch today?”
“We ate lunch in the cafeteria. Together,” Trey says.
    “And then we wandered the halls until the next period
    started like everybody always does. Are we in trouble or
    something?”
The cop looks at me. “What did you talk about?”
“What?” I ask, confused as hell, and then my blood
    runs cold. Somebody overheard something. I sense Trey
    stiffening in the chair next to me.
“We received a 911 call from a student who says he
    overheard you three talking about something suspicious.
    Do