Free When I'm Gone by Katilyn S Page A

Seth asked. I felt my cheeks heat up and I looked down. I started to fiddle with my leather bracelet.
“Well, when I think about her, my stomach flips upside down, my mouth turns dry, and my palms get sweaty. And when I see her, all I want to do is wrap my arms around her waist and press my lips against the base of her throat. Her eyes always leave me breathless and when she speaks, it’s like I’ve gone to heaven.”
“Michael, face it. You’re in love with her,” Andrew said. I sighed and watched him. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Seth nod.
“So what if I am?” I shot back. “I know she doesn’t like me.”
“You are in love,” Seth said, raising his voice.
“So what?” I yelled back .
“So, go do something about it!” Seth and Andrew shouted at me and walked out of the room.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 12-September 2, 2001 (Claire)
    “No way,” Alex exclaimed looking at the black walls in my classroom. He flicked his gaze back down to the small object in my hand. I laughed and nodded .
“ Yep.” I tossed the yellow balloon in my hand. I was careful as not to pop it. Alex glanced at me, dumbstruck .
“I don’t know,” he started doubtfully. I cut my eyes at him and stuck out my tongue .
“Do you want to go first? or shall I?” I interrupted him. He shook his head .
“Um, you can,” he said and took a few steps back, away from me and the wall. I laughed again; that time, making me sound like an evil prowess.
I gripped the balloon in my hand and took aim. Forcing myself to let go, I threw the balloon with all of my strength and grinned. The balloon popped as it hit the wall, splattering the black with a bright neon streak. I scooped up another balloon, that one being blue. I tossed it a little higher than the last one and heard the satisfying pop as it hit the wall. Electric blue spotted the wall and a few drops fell onto my arms, making it look like I had a weird case of the chicken pox .
“That is so cool!” Alex reached down and picked up a green balloon. “So, they color-code with the paint inside them?”
I nodded. “It’s that simple.”
“ Hm. I wanna try,” he stated and and threw the balloon and the wall. Neon green paint stained the spot where the balloon hit. Drops of paint dripped down the wall, blending in with the other colors. Alex looked at me, excitement written all over his face. “Are they all neon colors?”
“Pretty much,” I explained and picked up two more balloons. “They stand out more on the black background rather than other colors.”
“Oh, yeah,” he muttered and cleared his throat.
“Just try and leave some black visible. It’ll look better that way,” I told him.
“Okay,” he laughed. “This is going to be awesome.”
He hurled another balloon and his laughter increased in volume.
“I know, right?” I murmured and ran a hand through my tousled hair, probably leaving blue and yellow spots in the strands.
For the next hour, we continued to throw balloons at the walls. The dark, menacing black had turned bright and punk-looking. In the end, we were left with a leftover bucket of balloons and a gigantic mess .
“What now?” Alex questioned and laid a hand on my shoulder. I shrugged and surveyed the room once more.
“I guess we should start to clean up,” I suggested. He nodded thoughtfully and picked up the corner of a tarp on the floor. He gestured to the other end and I shuffled over there.
Slowly, we started to fold up the tarps and then stacked them on top of one another in the supply closet. As we were picking up the last tarp, I heard a small, distant cough. Thinking it was Alex, I continued to fold the edges. The cough sounded again and I noticed that it was to soft and light to be Alex’s.
“Claire,” Alex muttered and tugged on my arm. I looked up, expecting to see the principal, but instead, Lauren stood in the doorway, a small package in her hands. Her eyes found mine and a shy smile lit up