Free Secret Saturdays by Torrey Maldonado Page A

confident and everything next came out easy. “But that time you said your moms had friends over, you lied to me. She didn’t have friends over. Me and Kyle stayed up late in my room. We saw you and your mother sneak out.”
    Sean just stood there. He looked at me, then at Kyle.
    â€œSo where you really went?” Kyle asked Sean.
    Sean’s face was surprised. Probably because he was used to Kyle minding his business.
    Kyle’s question shocked me too. I knew he was getting more and more tired of Sean lying, but I thought Kyle still would play the back role because he always wanted to respect people’s privacy.
    Sean’s eyes went back and forth fast between me and Kyle. He was stuck on stupid and didn’t know what to say.
    â€œTell the truth now,” I said.
    Instead, Sean made his lying face, shrugged, stared away, and said, “I don’t even know what you two are talking about.” He began walking over to the dodgeball area.
    â€œHold up,” Kyle said, putting his hand on Sean’s chest.
    â€œHold up nothing.” Sean smacked Kyle’s hand away. “You both called me a liar. I’m a liar then. I’m out.”
    Me and Kyle hesitated at first and just watched Sean leave. Then we followed him.
    Â 
    Two of Sean’s eighth-grade friends wanted to play dodgeball with us again. Junito and Tony. In the middle of the game, Sean OD’d and pegged this boy Chris up close. None of the sixth graders threw the ball at Chris because he sometimes got into fistfights. He was like a ticking bomb. He exploded at the tiniest thing, and he wasn’t afraid of Sean. He even flipped on kids who wanted to be his friend. That was why he had no friends.
    Anyway, he was two feet from Sean when Sean gunned the ball at his head. That ball hit Chris’s face so hard, his glasses flew off. The ball bounced back to our side.
    â€œYou out!” Sean said.
    â€œYo!” Chris yelled.
    Sean picked up the ball and pitched it at Chris again. Chris tried turning away and the ball bounced off his shoulder.
    â€œWhat?!” Sean yelled at Chris. “I’ll hit you again!”
    How come Sean was starting? And why with Chris? Chris wasn’t a punk. He was a real fighter.
    Chris rushed Sean and pressed his chest against him. He squinted, probably because he couldn’t see Sean good without his glasses. Sean twisted his lips and looked at the ceiling like he was bored and wanted Chris to throw the first punch. “Hit me so I can knock your teeth out like your alcoholic father.”
    â€œDon’t talk about my father,” Chris huffed hard.
    â€œWhatever!” Sean said. “Your drunk father, your drunk, dumb father, your bum, butt father.”
    Me and Kyle ran up and squeezed in between them.
    Our gym teacher was nowhere to be found.
    Sean’s eighth-grade friends and a bunch of kids from the dodgeball game raced over too. Before I could tell Sean to chill, he mushed Chris’s face. Chris’s head snapped sideways. He got ready to hit Sean, but Sean’s troublemaker friends jumped in.
    â€œTouch Sean!” Junito shouted. “See what happens!”
    â€œHit Sean and I’ll hit you!” Tony told Chris.
    Everyone thought they were about to see a fight, if not between Sean and Chris then between Chris and Tony or Junito. Chris got into fights sometimes but he wasn’t stupid. Tony and Junito were big eighth graders. If you saw them on the street, they could pass for high school kids. Tony was Mr. K’s height, and I once heard Mr. K brag how he was six feet tall. If Chris fought Sean, Junito and Tony would jump Chris and turn his face into chopmeat.
    Chris maybe got scared, because he walked off and shouted, “Where my glasses?”
    Some girl handed them to him. He put them on and went toward the other side of the gym and disappeared into a crowd of kids at the volleyball area.
    When Sean started to walk off with