Free Twice Shy by Patrick Freivald Page A

the taut muscle and tried to keep her wits about her. She sat, and he sat next to her, filling the seat with his solid, masculine frame.
    "Now you're in Fey's seat," she said. Please don't move. Her eyes drifted down his body, then back up to his eyes.
    He shrugged. "She'll get over it. It's just today anyway."
    She raised an eyebrow. "No Devon today?" She tamped down a spike of anger.
    He shook his head. "Nope. College visit. She went to Potsdam with her mom." Super, duper, duper-awesome. Then it hit her. Devon would be going to college next year. College.
    "Is she applying anywhere local?" she asked. Mike had a strong jaw-line, square and masculine and dusted with a tiny hint of blond stubble. What the hell is wrong with me?
    "Closest is Geneseo. That's like an hour away." And she probably wouldn't get in, which means even farther.
    "That sucks," she said. For Devon. It's great for me. For us.
    "Hey, meatloaf," Fey said from the aisle. "You're in my seat. Scram." Ani hadn't even realized the bus had stopped again. Fey gave Mike her best "and if you could die while you're at it, that'd be great" look.
    Mike smiled at her. "We're talking. There are other seats." He turned back to Ani. Fey widened her eyes at Ani. Ani looked at Fey, then Mike, then back at Fey.
    "Just give us a minute, Fey."
    Fey scoffed, rolled her eyes, and disappeared from view.
    Mike shifted closer, and Ani was enveloped by his presence. They talked about college dreams and absent dads, days gone by, and trigonometry. She felt warm, dangerous, protected. On a precipice. Alive. In love.
    The bus stopped in front of the school, and the brakes engaged with a sharp hiss. Mike stood and said, "Well, have a good day. See you in trig." He disappeared into the school, and her heart went with him. By habit, she inhaled a bit of water from her bottle before following him out into the cold.
    Ani expected Fey to be furious for blowing her off. She wasn't. She looked worried.
    "Not for nothing, but you're going to die when Devon gets back."
    Ani felt herself blush. Blush? How? "Why, who's telling?" She pulled out her compact and looked at herself in the mirror, pretending to check her lipstick. Same pale face, same dead eyes. It felt like a blush.
    Fey rolled her eyes. "Oh, probably the whole bus. On top of the Dylan thing, you're getting quite the reputation."
    "We were only—wait, what 'Dylan thing'?"
    Fey's lip curled up, more sneer than smile. "Dylan told Jake what happened at your house while your mom was out of town, and Jake told, well, everyone." Fey turned to leave, and Ani grabbed her arm and spun her back.
    "Ow! Jesus!" Fey pulled away, rubbing her arm.
    "Sorry," Ani said, wincing. "Just what exactly is Dylan telling people happened?"
    Fey's eyes widened. "Oh..." She looked toward the school, as if to escape. She fiddled her lip ring with her tongue. "Even I thought it was true."
    Now how could I be hyperventilating without a functional respiratory system? She forced herself to calm down. She closed her eyes and matched her breathing to her heart rate. In for four beats, out for four beats. She opened her eyes. Fey was still there.
    "You thought what was true?" Ani asked.
    Fey looked at the door again. "Shit. Ani. He said... that you and he...." She held up her left hand in the shape of an 'o', and put her right index finger through it several times.
    Is that why Mike was being so nice? Or was it coincidence?
    Ani growled and stepped toward the doors. Fey grabbed her shoulders. She focused on Fey's eyes, and steadied herself. "I'm calm. I'm okay. I won't do anything stupid. I'm just going to go into school, find Dylan, and break his neck."
    "Sweet," Fey said. "Dibs on his stash."
    But Dylan was absent again.
     
    *  *  *
     
    At eleven o'clock, she went to the nurse's office and dropped into a chair at her mom's desk. In hushed tones, she told her about Dylan's lie—leaving out that he was in their house—about her physical response to Mike on the bus,