Free Anywhere But Here by Stephanie Hoffman McManus

slices, “that shit’s not going to work on me.”
    She went full blown pout. “Fine, what do I have to do to get you to read it?” she asked, and then thought better of it. “And don’t say anything dirty.”
    A laugh slipped from my lips, because that’s exactly where my mind went. “Then there’s nothing you can do. Not reading it.”
    Her shoulders slumped in defeat. “Well at least take my copy, and maybe you’ll change your mind. I can tell you’re really tempted.”
    “Yeah, okay,” I chuckled. I grabbed the book, shoving it in my bag. No way in hell was I reading it, though.
    “Kellen?” A bubbly voice sounded from a few feet away. We both looked up at the intrusion. My sister was standing a few feet away, looking at me with Shaeleigh curiously.
    “Hey Trin, did you eat lunch already?” I asked casually, but I was checking up on her. I needed to know she’d eaten.
    She bobbed her head. “Yeah, if I had known you were staying for lunch, I would have eaten with you.” What she really meant was that she would have shared her lunch. Her eyes were knowing and guilty because I’d given her my lunch money. Damn it. It was only her second day of high school. This was not the kind of shit fourteen year old girls were supposed to worry about.
    “You have to put up with me enough, you should eat with your friends.”
    She nodded again, but there was something in the way she ducked her eyes, and kicked at the ground that I didn’t like, but then her eyes flicked to Shaeleigh, who’d been quietly observing us.
    “Oh, sorry. Shae, this is my sister, Trinity.”
    I was relieved when Shae smiled brightly up at her and Trin smiled tentatively back. “We have creative cooking sixth period together, right?”
    My sister nodded her head–it was the class I told her to take because they got to eat in there–and then looked at me again. “Will I see you after school?”
    “No. I have a shift. Find Derek and he’ll give you a ride home.”
    “Okay. Then I guess I’ll see you when you get home tonight. And I’ll see you in cooking class.” She gave Shae another goofy smile and then bounced off.
    “She’s sweet.” I looked for any sign on Shae’s face that she wasn’t being genuine, but found none.
    “Yeah, she is.”
    “How many siblings do you have?”
    “Two. We have an older brother. What about you?”
    “I don’t have any brothers or sisters.” I detected a bit of sadness behind her words. She nibbled on her apples, and conversation stalled. I didn’t know why I was still sitting here with her, other than I was enjoying myself. But again, it raised the question of why she was sitting out here by herself, instead of with her horde. They usually flocked around the quad.
    “Do you want the rest of this?” She was holding out the second half of her sandwich.
    “Why?” I scowled.
    She withdrew the offered sandwich. “I just can’t finish it and I don’t like to throw food away, but if you don’t want it, that’s fine.”
    Oh. “You’re really not going to eat it?”
    “No. First lunch is too early for me. I’m not that hungry.”
    “Then I guess I’ll take it.” I tried not to seem too eager when she handed it to me, but I couldn’t hold back from finishing it in just a few bites. It was a good fucking sandwich. I didn’t even mind that there was spinach and lettuce on it.
    “So why are you sitting out here?”
    She shrugged. “Why shouldn’t I be?”
    “I don’t know. Just didn’t expect to see you sitting by yourself.”
    “I could say the same for you. Why aren’t you with your friends?”
    “They left for lunch and I didn’t feel like going.”
    “Oh. I guess I just didn’t feel like sitting with mine. Jeremy and Cammie have second lunch, and sometimes I just like to have a quiet minute to myself.”
    “And I’m interrupting.” I started to reach for my bag to back off, but she stopped me.
    “No, surprisingly, you’re not. As irritating as you can be,