Free Arrows by Melissa Gorzelanczyk

get to the lake,” he said.
    “Yeah, okay.” Karma’s voice was soft. She seemed to be trying really hard not to let the conversation—or the Jen thing last night—bother her. “See you around.”
    She waved and the bracelet on her arm slid down, simple beads with Nell’s initial dangling in gold.
    His truck reeked of smoke. I’d barely shut the door when he blasted out of the school parking lot, hip-hop rattling on the speakers. We almost died on the way there. Twice. Apparently he wanted to prove he was the world’s worst driver with the world’s worst sound system. I sat without taking off my seat belt or talking when we arrived. Ahead of us the water was sparkling in the sun, really bright.
    “Grab the bait,” Danny said, two poles in hand, marching to the aluminum boat that lay on the bank. He wasn’t treating me like a coach.
    “Bait?” I slammed the door.
    “The bucket.”
    The breeze felt good, like it might help me think straight. A jagged row of old, tall pine trees reflected along the back of the lake, blue sky and clouds on the rest. Peaceful. The opposite of what I was feeling. I gripped the metal handle.
    Danny flipped the boat by himself. “Pick up that side.”
    Sand scraped the bottom and then water churned as the boat cut through the lake’s surface. I jumped in and grabbed the edges as he rowed toward a patch of lily pads, feeling like I should be more relaxed. More focused. We were alone, stuck on a boat, and fishing was going to take some time.
    Danny spit into the lake. Within seconds, the white spot disappeared.

    “Was that a fish?” I asked.
    “Yep.”
    “Wow.” I sighed and picked up one of the fishing rods, holding it out. Phoebe would have hated the lake. Not enough going on. “So. Long night at the shack?”
    Danny wiped his face with his arm, hesitating with the oars skimming the surface. “You missed a good time.” He grinned and dug in the oars. “We went skinny-dipping.”
    “What’s skinny-dipping?”
    “Seriously?”
    “Yeah, I…uh, never mind.”
    “Chicks getting naked, man.”
    The water danced. “And then what?” I asked.
    “Nothing, really. Everyone was wasted. Good time, though.”
    “Just so you know, I never meant to sound interested in your girl.”
    “Hey, man, it’s cool. I’m used to guys checking her out. Doesn’t really bother me.”
    “It’s just that—I had a girl like her once.” I rested my arm across my knee. I was thinking of Phoebe. “Yeah, my girl was special, but we were young, too young, probably. Losing her was the biggest mistake of my life.” I hadn’t even said goodbye.
    We’d stopped in the water, the boat sounding hollow as he placed the oars along the bottom. “You’re still pretty young,” he said.
    “Yeah, I know, but I’m just saying—you can’t let a girl like that get away.” I cringed at how corny I sounded. What I wouldn’t give now for an arrow, the right arrow. Shoot him and be done with it. My face felt hot.
    “She’s probably not too happy with me today,” he said.

    “Oh? She seemed okay.”
    “She’s always on my case, man, thinking I hide shit. It’s like I can’t breathe without running it by her first.”
    “My girl was like that, too.” She was nothing like that. Sometimes I wondered if Phoebe had liked me as much as I liked her. If she’d planned her days around me the way I did her.
    Danny stared at the water. “Yeah.” He grunted. “We’ll see how college goes.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I’m going to Central Louisiana State University in the fall. I got a scholarship.”
    I tried to act cool, which equated to me sitting up with too-wide eyes. “What about Karma?”
    “I think she’s planning to go to Wist. I don’t know.”
    “Wist?”
    “This stuck-up art school in New York.”
    “Oh, you’ll be long-distance, then.” I almost added, right? “But, uh, what about Nell? Won’t it be hard to live that far away?”
    “Look, man, this really isn’t your