Free Breakable by Aimee L. Salter Page A

making sure.”
    “Grow
up, Finn.”
    “What,
like you?” He leaned into my face. “Congratulations on that, by the way.”
    “On
what?”
    “On
growing up.” His hand darted past me, into my locker and came out gripping a
box of tampons I kept for emergencies. I slammed the door too late. He’d
already thrown the box over his shoulder, smiling. All the little packets
spilled out and down in a pattering arc of shame. “Give Stacy a hand everyone,
she’s finally a woman now!” He backed away and pretended to slip on one of
them. “Whoops! She already used that one!”
    The
roar of laughter pressed on me, buffeted me like the day in gym everyone threw
the balls at me at the same time. Ignoring the mess, I turned my back on him
and stalked down the hall.
    Finn
kept crowing and giving high fives, even as I pushed the exit door open. As
soon as I was out of sight, I ran. No more hallways for me. I was taking the
long way around. Besides, the rain hid the tears on my cheeks.
     
     
     
    Word
gets around quick. Several sanitary products landed on my desk, or in my lap
during first period, accompanied by sniggers and hissed taunts. I ignored them.
    No
point inviting further humiliation though. I hung around at the end of class,
let everyone else leave first. I could be a couple minutes late to art without
Mrs. Callaghan having fits. And besides, Mark was there. We hadn’t spoken since
the argument Saturday.
    So
the halls were almost empty when I rounded the corner into the creative wing,
to be greeted by the sight of Mark and Karyn plastered up against the lockers,
saying goodbye.
    I
jerked to a stop, then ducked into a firehose alcove. With luck they’d be done
in a few seconds. After the morning I’d had, I couldn’t quite face Karyn’s
expression if she knew I’d seen them kissing.
    Mark
murmured something, then his shoes squeaked on the floor. I gave Karyn another
thirty seconds to leave too, then peeked around the corner to make sure the
coast was clear.
    But
Karyn was still at her locker, primping.
    Gag.
    If
I stepped out, she’d know I’d been hiding. Nothing for it but to wait. She must
have had a study period. Even with Mrs. C. I was facing detention if I didn’t
get into art soon.
    Finally,
a door slammed further down the hall. I sighed with relief and stepped out of
the shadow of the alcove – then scrambled back in when I saw Finn sidling up to
Karyn, that oily grin on his face.
    “Hey,
beautiful. You got study?”
    “Yeah.”
Her locker door banged shut. “Who let you out of your cage?”
    “Ouch.
You wound me.”
    The
smile in both their voices made me want to revisit my breakfast. I hadn’t even
known they were friends.
    When
their voices got lower and more flirtatious, I rolled my eyes. How long until I
hit Mrs. C.’s limit? The art room was only half a hallway from Karyn’s locker.
    “…hear
about what happened with C this morning?”
    “What
did you do?” Karyn giggled. “Whatever it is, don’t tell Mark. He’s still
talking about helping her.”
    Finn
groaned.
    Their
voices dropped lower, a gentle hum broken only by sporadic giggles from Karyn.
After a couple minutes of this, my tension ratcheted up. Those two weren’t
worth a detention. I had to get out of here, hope they weren’t watching where I
came from.
    I
pulled a book out of my bag and pretended to read it as I stepped around the
corner. And stopped.
    “…can’t,
he’s right down the hall!” Karyn hissed.
    Finn
had Karyn pinned against the lockers. Her hand lay on his chest, his chin
tipped down level with hers. She pushed him away. But she was smiling.
    They
both became aware of me in the same moment.
    Karyn
froze. Finn stood straight, ran a hand through his hair. They tried to pretend
nothing happened. Then, at the same time, both their eyes slipped sideways and
landed on me.
    A
crackling warmth spread from my chest, flushing out to my fingers and toes. Too
many feelings fought to the surface – anger at Karyn