Free Between These Lines (A Young Adult Novel) by Jennifer Murgia Page A

peeked over the top
of her paper.
    “Not
really.”
    “Are
you kidding me? That’s unlike you. What happened, you and Shane get into a
fight last night, or what?”
    “I
don’t want to talk about it.” I kept walking. The frown on Shane’s face followed
me.
    After
we sat down in class, it took all of five minutes for Tara to notice my face.
    “Whoa,
Eves! What’s with the shiner?”
    “Geez,
keep it down,” I urged with a harsh whisper, and busied myself with organizing
my homework folders.
    Tara
reached over and took my chin, turning my face one way and then the other.
    “Unbelievable
. . .” she whispered.
    Heads
lifted. People were starting to notice. “Just forget about it, okay?”
    “You
knew I was only kidding when I asked if you and Shane got into a fight, but
this must have been some match.”
    It
was funny to see Tara shocked. Not funny, as in “ha ha”, but more like, “I
didn’t know your face could look that concerned for me”, kind of funny.
    “What
are you looking at?” Tara shot out to the boy a row over from us. He
immediately faced forward, his cheeks burning red.
    I
chewed my bottom lip and smoothed my hair back over my cheek, knowing she could
see through my efforts, and the feeling of utter misery slowly forced its way
beneath my skin.
    “Look
at the bright side—it’s a pretty shade of purple.”
    I
shot her a look.
    “Want
to explain?”
    “Do
I have to?”
    “Yes,
you do. So out with it,” she urged me on.
    I
let out a big sigh, along with a swift glance at the neighboring desks. If
anyone was listening, they were doing a good job of pretending not too.
Finally, I leaned over close enough to Tara’s face until I was positively sure
no one else would be able to hear me.
    “Shane
did it.”
    Tara’s
reaction was one of slow shock. She looked at me without saying a word for
several minutes until I had to actually question myself if she’d heard me.
    “You
asked,” I said softly and smoothed the front pleats of my plaid skirt.
    Finally,
her voice resurfaced and she was able to shake off the alarm of my words.
“Why?” she asked, shaking her head.
    “I
met Chase at the library last night. Shane showed up at my house, and then
after Chase left…”
    She
interrupted me before I could finish.
    “Chase
was in your house?”
    “No,
he didn’t make it past the driveway. He was walking me to the back porch. My parents
weren’t home. It was dark.”
    “And
Shane hit you ?”
    “Pretty
much,” I said with a bit of reluctance. I wasn’t ready to give Tara the entire
story. It was one I wanted to forget ever happened. Besides, I wasn’t too happy
that today was day two of learning secrets about me.
    “Is
there more to it?” Tara leaned in my direction now, realizing the gravity of
the topic, and that it was of absolute secrecy right now.
    I
sighed and gave her a look, hoping she would catch on without my having to go
and explain it all. Somehow, I knew she would get it.
    “Evie,
this is serious.”
    I
played with the pencil lying on top of my folder.
    “Really
serious,” she pressed. “What are you going to do?”
    “What can I do?”
    “Uh,
for one thing, you can break up with the jerk.” A new Tara was beginning to
show herself, and I couldn’t help but smile a little as I rolled my pencil back
and forth across my desk.
    “I
wish I could.”
    She
shook her head like I was speaking a foreign language. I set my pencil to rest
and turned in my seat to face her, leaning over, elbows on my knees.
    “If
I break up with him, he’ll go after Chase. He’ll think we’re together.”
    “Uh,
you’re working on a paper together, that hardly qualifies as going out .”
    “I
know that. But Shane . . .” I let out a deep sigh. “Staying with him is the
only way I can make sure Chase doesn’t get hurt.”
    “And
you’re willing to take a few smacks to protect the dork you’re writing a paper
with? Is a grade from Mr. Floyd that important?” Tara raised