Free Fire Maiden by Terri Farley Page B

you know.” Duckie snapped her fingers right under Darby’s nose. “Your clique.”
    Clique?
    Darby could tell Duckie thought she was doing her a huge favor, so she tried to sound nice as she explained, “I usually just have one or two friends. Like Ann and Megan….”
    Should she add “and you”? Darby had no idea.As she fumbled for what to say next, Duckie made a sound of frustration.
    â€œYou don’t get it. They’re in groups.” Frowning in concentration, Duckie bent her neck to one side until it made a cracking sound. Apparently satisfied, she went on. “They’re both jocks. Ann’s part of that artsy crowd, too.”
    Darby thought a minute. If Megan had been offering her these recommendations, she might have given them serious consideration. But it felt weird getting advice from Duckie.
    Still, since Duckie was pretty much a bully herself, she might know how Tyson thought. And Duckie hadn’t been at Lehua High long, either. Her advice could be sincere.
    â€œIs there a horse group?” Darby ventured.
    â€œAre you crazy?” Duckie demanded.
    Darby guessed that meant no.
    â€œYou passed up being a jock,” Duckie said, “and don’t think I don’t appreciate it!” Duckie gave Darby an openhanded pat on the shoulder for not joining the swim team, because they both excelled in water sports, but Darby excelled just a little bit more. “I guess you could be a nerd,” Duckie said as she studied Darby. “You’re not even a freshman, so you can’t be on the newspaper or yearbook.”
    â€œThanks,” Darby said. “I really appreciate—”
    Duckie loomed over her cousin as she added, “You don’t want to end up hanging out with thoselosers that smoke behind the bleachers. The Outsiders, they call themselves,” Duckie said in a mocking tone.
    How could outsiders have a group? Darby took a breath to tell Duckie that didn’t make sense, but she was pretty sure her cousin didn’t want to hear logic, especially while she was trying to be nice.
    Besides, Duckie had stopped just short of the locker room door to tense her arm and feel one of her own muscles. On a horse, that muscle would be her withers. Darby didn’t know what it was called on a human, but Duckie squeezed it with grave satisfaction.
    Considering Duckie and horses in the same thought led Darby to wonder if Duckie was saying safety was with the herd.
    â€œWhat?” Duckie asked, when she finally felt Darby watching.
    â€œIt’s just…,” Darby began. She looked into her cousin’s broad, rosy face and felt torn. She was grateful for Duckie’s advice. But she didn’t believe it. At least not for humans. “I kind of think all the groups are connected.”
    Even though her cousin made a sound sort of like a bull, Darby would have explained, if Duckie hadn’t propelled her into the locker room with a push between her shoulder blades.
    â€œI don’t know why I waste my time on you,” Duckie muttered.
    Â 
    By the time P.E. ended and Darby slipped into her desk in Algebra, she couldn’t contain her eagerness to see Hoku.
    â€œAre you dying to see your horses?” she asked Ann.
    â€œAbsolutely,” Ann said. “I really need to work with Sugarfoot.”
    â€œWhen do I get to meet him?” Darby pretended to whine.
    â€œNot until our camping trip,” Ann said, but then she asked, “Jonah’s still cool with it, isn’t he?”
    â€œI think so. It’s for a school assignment.”
    â€œI just thought he might worry that the volcanoes would get restless,” Ann explained.
    â€œHe didn’t say anything.”
    Ann rolled her eyes.
    â€œYeah, he might have had a few other things on his mind,” Darby admitted, but Jonah had been nice this morning, since the earthquake. Almost as if he’d never said Granddaughter, I wash my