Free Paper Cuts by Yvonne Collins Page A

for the voice. Her eyes land on Curtis, and the smile vanishes. She rushes toward the auctioneer, calling, ‘Wait!’
    It’s too late. He has closed the bidding at $123.61.
    Although successful bidders are supposed to wait till the auction is over to claim their prize, Curtis is already stumbling up the stairs to the stage. Mariah clutches the auctioneer with one hand, while Curtis pulls on her other arm.
    ‘Sorry, Mariah,’ Griffin says. ‘He won fair and square. It’s for charity, remember?’
    Izzy, Rachel and I laugh hysterically as Curtis half carries Mariah off the stage. This is one of the moments in life that you always, always remember.

    Mac takes center stage to the sound of whistles and catcalls from Dunfield’s female population. A junior I recognize from the Bootylicious cheerleader photo shoot raises her hand. ‘Twenty dollars.’
    ‘I have twenty dollars from Brianna Mills for Mac Landis and his so-called mystery date on Friday,’ the auctioneer says. ‘Do I hear thirty?’
    ‘Thirty,’ I call.
    The word is out of my mouth before I can stop it. It’s an involuntary reaction, like a sneeze.
    ‘I have thirty from’ – Griffin struggles to identify me – ‘some girl wearing a purple hoodie.’
    ‘Thirty-five,’ Brianna says.
    ‘Forty,’ I say.
    There’s a series of other bids, but I’ve been restrained by Rachel and Izzy. ‘What are you doing?’ Izzy asks. ‘Have you lost your mind?’
    ‘I want to know if he’s Scoop,’ I say.
    Rachel stares at me. ‘Does this have anything to do with the burrito incident? Tell me you’re not into Mac Landis.’
    ‘Please. My FB is not a brainless jock.’
    I can understand why my friends are confused, since I’m a bit confused myself. This Luisa Perez isn’t the type to bid on the hottest guy in her year, even in the name of research. I’m not deluding myself that my two recent exchanges with Mac meant anything, especially when he hasn’t even said hello to me since. But there was something about Mac’s conversation with Mr Sparling that made me want to talk to him privately. That can’t happen in the hallway, where the school hierarchy barely allows him to acknowledge I exist.
    Wrenching my wrist out of Izzy’s grip, I wave and shout, ‘Ninety dollars.’
    ‘One hundred,’ Brianna says. She stands on tiptoe to give me a menacing glare.
    ‘One ten,’ I say. It’s muffled because Rachel has her hand over my mouth, but the auctioneer hears it.
    ‘You won’t have anything left to bid on Tyler,’ she says. ‘You promised.’
    Rachel is right. In all the excitement, I forgot about Tyler. I drained my bank account earlier, but I only have one twenty in total.
    ‘Brianna says one fifteen,’ the auctioneer calls. ‘Do I hear one twenty from the Hoodie?’
    Rachel pinches my arm and I hesitate.
    ‘Going once …’
    ‘You guys can lend me money, right?’ I ask. ‘I’ll repay you with petty cash from Mr Sparling.’
    ‘Going twice …’
    I don’t wait for an answer. ‘One twenty-five!’
    Brianna’s superior smile collapses, and I know I’ve won the bid.
    My head is spinning as the auctioneer calls, ‘Sold to the Hoodie.’ Still, I register Mac’s incredulous look in my direction as he steps back into the line. I don’t blame him. I can’t believe it happened either.

    It turns out I seriously underestimated the appeal of the arty type. Although I amassed thirty-seven dollars from Izzy and Rachel, it’s nowhere near enough to buy a date with Tyler. After bids from at least five attractive girls, he sold for a very respectable seventy-three.
    If the highest bidder had been one of those attractive girls, Tyler might have forgiven me. But it wasn’t. It wasn’teven an ugly girl. In fact, it wasn’t a girl at all. And as a result, he is no longer speaking to me.
    I follow him to the student parking lot, pleading, ‘Come on, Tyler, I bid what I could.’
    Tyler pauses with his hand on the car door. ‘You mean you bid