Free Sidetracked by Deb Loughead

close my eyes tight and sigh. Then there’s a tap on my shoulder.
    When I open my eyes, Kat is staring at me with a weird expression on her face. Paige and Isabel are behind her with wobbly half smiles. Now what? Kat wraps me up in a big hug and squeezes me hard.
    â€œHuh? What’s going on?” I say.
    â€œZenia told us what you did for Shauna. To help her brother. I feel so lame for treating you the way I have the last couple of days.” She pauses and gulps. “And for letting you beat me. That was the dumbest thing ever.”
    â€œI still can’t believe you did that,” I say. “It sucks. I thought I’d caught up to you.”
    â€œLook, let’s talk at practice tomorrow. We have to save our friendship, Maddy.”
    Kat’s bottom lip quivers, and she blinks quickly. But I’m still bummed that she let me win.
    â€œOkay,” I say. “We’ll sort it out tomorrow.” I give her a quick hug back.
    Paige and Isabel swoop in. We have this crazy group hug, and they apologize for acting like jerks. I’m so relieved, I can’t even speak. I return the tangled hug as best I can. And I try my best to believe that somehow everything will work out.

chapter twenty-one
    Kids start trickling out of the gym shortly before the dance officially ends at 10:30. A group of us walk home together, winding our way through the side streets. The farther we get from the school, the smaller the crowd gets. Soon it’s just me, Shauna, Kat, Justin and Zenia. I’ll bet Shauna wishes Matt was here.
    I stop dead when I spot a police cruiser up ahead, parked beside the road.
    The lights are on inside, and broken glass glitters on the road. Three kids are crammed into the back, but I can’t see their faces. A police officer in the front seat is writing something down. Another officer stands beside the car talking to someone who looks up when he hears us. Our eyes meet, and I freeze. I spin around and sprint home, ignoring the shouts of my friends behind me.
    I don’t quit running until I reach my front door. I stop to catch my breath before bursting inside. I can’t let Mom or Abuelo see me like this, or they’ll know something is wrong. Sooner or later they’ll learn Matt was nabbed by the cops. But I’m not ready to tell them yet. Right now, I just want to hide, to pretend it never happened.
    The hallway and living room are dark, thank god. I scuffle down the hall to my bedroom and softly close the door. I flop on the bed and let my tears flow. I’m not sure how long I lie there before I finally fall asleep.
    A while later, a light tapping at my bedroom door nudges me awake. I check the clock. It’s only 1:00, but it feels much later than that. I pull a pillow over my head. If it’s Mom or Abuelo looking for Matt, I’m not ready to face them right now. A finger pokes me hard in the middle of my back.
    â€œMaddy, you awake?”
    I roll over. In the light from the hallway, I see my brother’s face. And I have to stop myself from slapping it.
    â€œWhy aren’t you in jail, you jerk?” I manage to blurt before ducking under the covers so I won’t have to look at him.
    â€œBecause I didn’t do anything,” he says.
    I’m not sure I’ve heard him correctly. I lift the blanket to look at him. “What? You didn’t?”
    â€œYeah, you heard me, Maddy. I didn’t do anything. Well, anything bad. But I kind of did do something .”
    â€œYou mean you weren’t getting arrested when I saw you with that cop?”
    â€œOf course not! I was on my way home from work, trying to make it to the gym before the dance ended. I ran into Carter and his friends. They were acting like total losers, trying to push down a stop sign, sitting on parked cars, breaking beer bottles on the road. I tried to stop them.”
    â€œThey got kicked out of the dance for acting like jackasses, you know,” I