Free Lost by Francine Pascal Page B

over the new guy.”
    â€œFunny, all I saw was her kicking the ass of the new guy,” Ed replied.
    â€œAnd that doesn’t bother you?” Rob asked, grabbing his book bag off the bleachers.
    Yes. “Why should it?”
    Javon and Rob exchanged a look. “All I’m saying is, maybe you should find yourself a woman who’s actually a woman,” Javon said, slapping hands with Rob over his cleverness.
    â€œHmmm . . . Maybe that’s exactly what I need,” Ed said, rubbing his chin with mock thoughtfulness. “Now, tell me, where did you get your blow-up doll again?”
    The mocking smile fell right off Javon’s face. “Dude, that’s not right,” he said coldly. He turned and shuffled off toward the locker room with Rob trailing behind. “My boy’s lookin’ for a smack down,” Javon muttered under his breath, his head hanging sheepishly.
    Feeling like he’d just emerged from a battle of his own, Ed lowered himself onto the bottom step of the bleachers. Sometimes being the comeback kid took a lot out of him. Especially when he was inclined to agree with his tormentors.
    He pushed his hands into his hair at his temples and rested his elbows on his knees, his heart heavy. He was going to wallow in it for a while. Wallow in the mental image of Gaia pinned to the floor with that guy hovering over her. That hungry look on his oversized face.
    Ed also hadn’t missed Gaia’s intrigue when she’d realized what a worthy opponent Jake was. He’d seen her smile. He’d seen that little spark in her eyes. Jake had challenged her. For a girl who loved to fight as much as Gaia did, that had to be a turn-on.
    â€œMr. Fargo, you might want to get changed before the bell rings,” Mrs. Argeski said. “I’m sure your next teacher won’t appreciate you showing up in those shorts.”
    Ed looked at her, confused. He hadn’t even realized she was standing there, yet she was only about a foot away, her hands on her tiny hips.
    â€œYeah, sorry,” Ed said. He clomped up a few bleachersteps, grabbed his backpack, and then started back down.
    â€œSnap out of it,” he said to himself under his breath as he trudged across the gym. “You and Gaia are together now. Stop being an insecure baby.”
    Besides, Jake was so not Gaia’s type. Okay, he was good looking. Ed hadn’t missed the way every single girl in class had looked him over appreciatively and whispered and giggled as Gaia led him to the wrestling mat. He did have a certain dark, brooding, Affleck-esque quality. And for some reason the phrase “hunka hunka burning love” kept popping into his mind. (He definitely had to stop watching eighties sitcom reruns.)
    But look at the two people Gaia had liked since she moved to the city. Sam Moon. Tall, preppy, scruffy, WASPy, smart. A chess master. Not a kung fu fighter. Not remotely.
    And him. Ed Fargo. An ex-skate rat who’d been in a wheelchair up until a few weeks ago and had no proven fighting skills. And yeah, he had somewhat rugged good looks if he did say so himself, but he wasn’t a big, beefy, slick meathead. He wasn’t a broad-shouldered Greek or Italian or whatever god.
    No, Jake wasn’t Gaia’s type. Ed was her type. Her only type. Ed had absolutely nothing and no one to worry about.

bloodshot
    She would gladly meet him anywhere and promptly hand him his spleen.
    Somewhere Here
    HE SLUNK THROUGH THE LOCKER room, flinching at every shout that echoed from the gym, every imagined creak of a door. Guiltily he yanked on lock after lock, cringing at the noise he was making, but none of them gave. These kids were too paranoid. Too untrusting. But considering what he was trying to do, they clearly had the right to be.
    His brilliant plan for the acquisition of some normal clothing had tanked. He was at a loss. He came to the last row of lockers, ready to give up, and then