Free Embrace by Cherie Colyer Page B

period; I can mention the bake sale to her.”
    Mr. Chapin called class to order, which left me to enjoy my latte and bagel in peace.
    I spoke to Mrs. Sheppard right when I got to second period. Mark was there, a little out of breath, pointing to the stool next to him. I wondered if he had run to second period to get there before I did so he could save me a seat. I sighed and sat down.
    “Are you okay?” he blurted.
    “Yeah, why?”
    “I ran into Paige on my way to class. She told me about Kaylee’s car. You guys could have been killed.”
    “How did Paige know about that?” I asked. It wasn’t like Kaylee was advertising to the world that her life had almost ended the previous night.
    “I think Isaac told her. I’m not sure. Madison, that car’s nothing but a sardine can on wheels. You guys need something safer. Like a truck or a—”
    “Tank?” I asked.
    Mark looked like he might hyperventilate at any moment. “Yeah.”
    “First of all, I wasn’t in the car with Kaylee. Second, she’s fine, and Josh is going to have someone take a look at her car before she drives it again.”
    “Oh, well, that’s good.” Mark blushed, apparently embarrassed he didn’t have the whole scoop.
    I pulled out a pencil and notebook. I wanted to know when Isaac saw Paige. Here I was, falling foolishly head over heels for him, and I might not have been the only one he was dating. I reminded myself that Isaac and I hadn’t known each other long enough for me to be in love with him. No. Definitely not. I was in love with the new relationship. I had to be careful or I’d get my heart broken. And Paige would delight in seeing me get crushed. That had to be her plan, to wait for me to need Isaac so much that I didn’t want to be without him, and then she’d steal him away from me.
    Or maybe Isaac knew what he was doing. Maybe he liked to have two girls crazy about him. Maybe it made him feel superior. He had to like me, though. Why else would he pick me up for school?
    Mark tapped my arm.
    “What?” I snapped but then forced a smile. It wasn’t Mark’s fault I had issues.
    “I said that Ben and I got to school early. We checked last year’s props, and with a little paint and some twine we’ll be all set.”
    I flicked my hair out of my eyes and asked, “Twine?”
    “The scarecrow’s been decapitated. We’ll have to stitch its head back on.”
    I nodded, and because I had to get my mind off Isaac and Paige, I said, “Sarah spoke to Mr. Hoffman, and he’s giving us a great price on the cornstalks and hay, and I just asked Mrs. Sheppard about helping out. She’s more than happy to. She figures if all her classes bake cookies a day or two before the festival we’ll have more than enough for the bake sale.”
    “Great.”
    I actually welcomed the test in Foods that day. It meant I didn’t have to talk anymore and didn’t have time to think about anything but the questions.
    Third period afterward was torturously long because I was dying to get to History. I needed to talk to Kaylee. I needed her to tell me I was letting my imagination get the better of me, that Paige wasn’t waiting for me to be comfortable in my relationship with Isaac just to steal him away. I needed to hear that Isaac wasn’t a jerk. She might even know how Isaac felt about me—that is, if he’d said something to Josh, who in turn would have told Kaylee. God, this was turning into middle school again.
    I marched into History, glad to see Kaylee.
    “Has Josh said anything about Isaac?” I plopped down in the hard plastic chair and dug in my backpack until I found my History book and pen. “Kaylee?”
    Kaylee sat perfectly still, her back straight, hands on her book, and eyes on the chalkboard.
    I rested my hand on hers. “Kaylee? Are you okay?”
    Mechanically, she turned to face me.
    She was really scaring me. I inched my desk closer to hers and asked, “What is it?”
    She shook her head. “Nothing. I’m fine. What did you