Free Beneath Paper Cranes (a coming of age short story) by Claire Svendsen Page B

anything to hurt me.
    “Now you're checking him out,” Chloe says.
    “Was not.”
    I finish my burger. It's so good, I can't believe I haven't eaten one every day since I learned about Bob. I'm running out of time to do all the things that are bad for me. Things I was always too scared to try. I steal another glance at Ethan and this time he actually is checking me out. He smiles as I look down at the table, my face flushed.
    “Come on,” I say. “Let's get out of here.”
    I shove my chair back and it hits someone, they grunt as it slams against their shin.
    “Oh God, I'm sorry,” I mumble.
    “No, you're not.”
    I look up into amber eyes and a sunburned face. It's Ethan, rubbing his leg where I hit him. He's clearly over exaggerating the extent of his injuries.
    “At least you don't have a brain tumor,” Chloe snaps at him.
    “Hey,” he says. “That's not nice.”
    I give Chloe my best death stare and she looks guiltily away. She knows I'm the only one allowed to pull the tumor card. It's funny when I do it but not so much when other people do. She knows better. I shouldn't have let her take the cupcake photo. It all goes to hell when people start getting sentimental.
    “How are you feeling April?” he says.
    “Why do you care?”
    I turn and start to walk away but he follows.
    “I'm serious,” he says. “I want to know.”
    I spin around so I can look him in the eye, expecting to see a smirk on his face but I don't. Instead I watch helplessly as he brushes a strand of hair from my face. His touch sends shivers down my spine despite the heat.
    “I'm fine,” I say.
    “Really?”
    “Yes. Really.”
    “No,” he says softly. “I've told that lie before. It won't work on me.”
    Chloe is hovering about in the background, trying to give Ethan and me space though for what I have no idea. The group he came with has taken our table and they are ordering food, all except for a particularly skinny girl who keeps glancing nervously in our direction.
    “I think your girlfriend is waiting for you,” I say, waving at the girl.
    He looks at the table and then at me. “She's not my girlfriend. She's just a girl who's a friend. Like I want you to be.”
    “I don't have time to make friends, I'm dying. Remember?”
    “What better time to take a chance and go for it?” he smiles.
    How does he know? I haven't told anyone and yet here he is, baiting me with a promise I know he won't keep. My phone rings and even though I usually don't answer it this time I do, welcoming the distraction. Besides, I already know who it is.
    “What is it Mom?”
    “What do you mean, what is it? You know very well what it is. Where are you?”
    “Out with Chloe. We're coming back now.”
    “You'd better,” she says. “I can't believe you did this again.”
    “Yeah. Sorry.”
    I know she's mad but she won't yell at me or ground me or do any of the things she used to do like take away my phone privileges. There isn't much point.
    “I have to go,” I say to Ethan.
    He grabs my arm as I pass him, leans in and whispers in my ear.
    “Meet me tonight, in the woods.”
    I pull my arm away from him. “Maybe.”
    “What did he want?” Chloe asks as we walk away.
    I steal a glance over my shoulder. He hasn't gone back to his friends, he's just standing there staring at me with a weird look on his face.
    “I'm not sure.”
    Mom is pretty pissed that not only did I sneak out but also ate junk food and therefore have no room for her delicious organic salad.
    “I just wish you had told me, that's all,” she says.
    “If I'd told you, would you have let me go?”
    “Maybe,” she says.
    I know that's a lie. Either that or she would have wanted to come with me but the more I'm around her, the less I can breathe.
    “I’m going to lie down. I'm tired.”
    “I'm sure you are,” she says shaking her head. “Shinnying down the drainpipe. I thought we were past this April.”
    I lay on the bed thinking about Mom's disappointment but