Free Secret Saturdays by Torrey Maldonado

sneak off our stoop And I’ll yell from my window, “Where you both going to?”
    But that’s not right.
    You don’t disrespect your boy and his moms like that in real life.
    I feel this can’t go on.
    If me and Sean don’t go back to what we had all along,
    Our friendship will be gone.
    By the time I finished that last sentence, I felt more tired. My eyes were droopy. I shut my rhymebook and slid into my bed and pulled the covers over my head. Right before I fell asleep, I thought I needed to do something about this Sean thing. Tomorrow. I’d talk to Vanessa or finally be up front with Sean.

Sean Strikes Out
    MONDAY MORNING, me and Sean rode the bus to school together. On the ride, I wanted to ask him why him and his moms took so many trips. Who was on the bus that we knew from school? After a quick look, I didn’t see anyone familiar. That made me less nervous. Every time I looked at Sean, I pumped myself up by saying stuff in my head like, “He’s right here. Do it.”
    When this elementary school girl two seats from us got off the bus, it was just me and Sean in the back. Until that husky, white Dominican kid Manny with the green crossed eyes who liked messing with Sean in Friday Advisory came over.
    â€œPunk,” he mouthed at Sean, while standing pretty far away.
    â€œYour father,” Sean said, and gave him the middle finger.
    Manny smiled, all evil, then turned and went to some of his friends.
    With me and Sean now alone, I decided to try talking to Sean about his trips.
    â€œLet me ask you a question,” I said.
    â€œGo ahead.”
    â€œI was watching television,” I started, making up stuff as I spoke. “On Maury this guy said if your best friend lies to you, then he’s not your best friend. You think that’s true?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œYou ever lie to me?” I asked.
    Sean squinted hard at something out the window, making his lying move. “You bugging. You know that? You my boy.”
    â€œSo yes or no?” I asked.
    â€œYou gonna make us miss our stop, stupid.” Sean got up and slipped into the crowd getting off the bus.
    We walked to first period together, and I thought about being really honest with him then, but the timing felt off.
    â€œI’m handing back your tests,” our math teacher said.
    At our table, she handed me and Sean mine and his.
    â€œWhat you get?” I asked him.
    â€œSixty.” When the teacher turned and walked away, he crumpled his test and stuffed it in his backpack.
    I got a ninety and was about to show him, but I felt bad for him because a sixty-five is passing. I couldn’t believe he failed another test. I wondered if I should drop confronting him about his trips, but by gym I didn’t care about the perfect time to talk to him because he ignored me when we walked in. He went straight to his seventh- and eighth-grade friends. That got me heated. At the start of class, I sat on the floor and watched Mr. K take attendance. I looked at Vanessa. She was tying her sneakers.
    I turned to Kyle and mouthed, “I need to speak with you. Don’t play dodgeball.”
    â€œWhat?” Kyle mouthed back.
    I made sure Sean wasn’t watching me. He was busy joking with the kid behind him.
    â€œDodgeball.” I moved my mouth more slowly. “Don’t play dodgeball. Me and you need to talk.”
    This time, he got me and nodded.
    â€œFree play!” Mr. K yelled.
    Kyle and I headed straight for each other, but before we could talk, Sean ran up on us. “Where you going? You playing?” he asked, holding up the dodgeball.
    I tried biting my tongue and thinking of an excuse for why me and Kyle needed to talk before playing dodgeball. But . . . the words flew out my mouth.
    â€œSean, how was Jersey?”
    â€œFine.” He made his lying move.
    â€œYou probably went to Jersey this time,” I said. Once I said those words, I felt more