Free When I Find Her by Kate Bridges Page A

at her house. I turn and walk. I find myself heading downhill toward the river and Harvest Park. It’s dark and the moon casts a light on the surging river.
    The Ferris wheel and rides are going full-tilt. People scream cheerfully. Their laughter makes me lonely.
    I’m tired. Maybe my weariness is from the day’s crazy events, or maybe it’s from the leukemia I’m battling but don’t know it yet. I sit down on the boulders by the water where I met up with Jennifer and Allison earlier today. My mind hums, I lean back against the warm stone and drift away...
    When I come to again, my alarm is going off and I bolt awake in my bed.
    What happened?
    The strong smell of feathers from my pillow fills the air. I clamp my hand over my nose to suppress it. My six hours must’ve passed while I sat at the riverbank and drifted to sleep. I must’ve time traveled back to real time, and slept through the transition.
    I’m late and rush to get dressed, ignoring the overwhelming smell of bacon and eggs that my mother’s making. When I get to the kitchen, I reach for a muffin. I see that Ivy and Simon must’ve already left for school.
    “Luke, you need better nutrition,” my mother says. “Have some eggs.”
    “Thanks, but not today.” I sprint out the door to get to school. Except the sprinting makes me dizzy so I slow down to a walk. Maybe it’s the scent of hot tar and gravel that’s making me spin. A bookshop across the street is getting its roof tarred.
    Ivy would be headed to high school, but Simon goes to the middle school around the corner. I hear the bell for Simon’s school go off, so he must be in class. Mine doesn’t start till half an hour later, so I’ve got some time in the schoolyard. My sense of smell has normalized by the time I get there.
    I spot Allison and the group from the Drama Club.
    “Allie!” I rush toward her.
    She turns at the side door. The wind snatches at her curly hair. Three girls and three guys are about to enter with her, including the ones from the photo in the yearbook. Excitement rushes through me that they might know where Jennifer lives.
    “Hi,” I say. They look at me.
    “Hi Luke,” says Allison.
    “Hey, I’m glad I caught you,” I say to the gang. “Do you guys remember Jennifer Marks?”
    “Yeah,” says one of the girls.
    One of the guys nods.
    “Have any of you heard from her? After she left last year?”
    Allison adjusts her backpack on her shoulder. “You still trying to contact her, Luke?”
    “Yeah. Any idea where she might be?”
    A short guy with an earring shakes his head. A girl with orange hair shrugs. One by one, they come up blank.
    “Sorry, Luke,” says Allison. They pile into the school.
    The red door closes in my face and I stare at it in cold disappointment. A teacher walks by and looks at me funny, so I move away from the door.
    I drag myself back around the school, toward the side where I usually enter. I see Vlad and some guys we hang with. He waves and I head toward them in the yard. Except when he turns aside, I look through the crowd, and in the distance beside the fence, notice Gary looking at me.
    The hair on my scalp stands on edge. The bastard pounded on my little brother.
    My adrenaline surges. My breath rushes. My heartbeat pounds like a rock inside my chest. I scream and charge at him full tilt, like a monster dog.
    It’s been almost a year since we’ve talked, since I got diagnosed. That’s when he started backing away from me. He’s still got stringy black hair and a dirty backpack. When he sees me coming, he rears back, his eyes grow big and dark. “What the hell?”
    He throws the first punch. I duck. I swing and bash his jaw. He falls. We roll. He clobbers my ribs. It flattens my breath, but I connect my fist on his jaw again.
    “Luke!” shouts Vlad. “Luke, don’t!”
    Gary’s friends try to stop me by shouting obscenities, but it fuels my rage. Gary pounds me in the stomach again and I feel my ribs crack.
    “You