Blackbird Fly Read Free Page A

laugh to show that none of it bothered me, but I couldn’t really laugh, because an enormous lump had formed in my throat. I swallowed it away and listened to the sound of the blood rushing in my ears— tha-thump , tha-thump , tha-thump .
    Gretchen moved next to me in a puff of vanilla perfume and Pantene shampoo.
    â€œYou can have my seat, Lance,” she said.
    Finally Lance sat back in his seat, and Braden sat where Gretchen had been. Everyone talked about how the school year was going, the homerooms everyone was in, the teachers they liked and hated. Everyone agreed that Mr. Zervanos—or Mr. Z, as we all called him—was their favorite teacher. Then Gretchen and Alyssa talked about Tuesday’s swing-choir auditions, because Mr. Z was in charge of them.
    I wanted to try out for swing choir, but my momwouldn’t let me, so usually when the subject came up I felt a twinge of jealousy, but right now all I saw were the words Dog Log in my head, like a bright neon light.
    â€œSwing choir?” Jake scrunched his nose. “What is that anyway?”
    â€œIt’s just for our grade,” Gretchen explained. “It’s a performance group that puts on shows, like musicals and stuff.”
    â€œThat sounds like the gayest club in school,” said Jake.
    Alyssa stood up. “Let’s go to the woods,” she said, nodding toward the trees that lined the Tates’ unfenced backyard. Everyone else stood up too—first Jake and Alyssa, then Lance and Gretchen and, slowly, Braden and me.
    Alyssa looked at me the same way my fourth-grade reading teacher used to when I got answers wrong.
    â€œYou need to stay here, Apple,” she said. “Just in case my mom comes out.”
    Lance smacked Braden on the back and said, “You stay here too. Keep her company.”
    â€œNo way,” said Braden. “I’m not hangin’ out on some sorry-ass porch waiting for Alyssa’s mom just so you retards can make out in the woods.”
    Jake leaned over and whispered something to Braden. They both laughed.
    My feet felt like two big blocks of cement.
    â€œWhat am I supposed to say if she comes out?” I asked.
    Alyssa grabbed Jake’s hand. Backing away, she said, “Just tell her we went to Claire Hathaway’s house.”
    â€œOoh, Claire Hathaway!” said Braden. “I wouldn’t mind taking her for a walk in the woods.”
    Claire Hathaway was a cheerleader with soft, red hair and big, green eyes. She lived down the road.
    I watched them cross the yard. Gretchen looked back once. Alyssa did too. She waved, but I didn’t wave back. Once they were finally in the trees, I stepped off the porch and walked around the Tates’ house and down the sidewalk until I reached my shrub. I put on my backpack and got on my bike. I pedaled fast,then faster. My bike chain rattled, but I didn’t care. I didn’t even ride around the cracks in the sidewalk—the ones that looked like they’d been pushed up from the center of the earth—I just kept pedaling and pedaling until the back of my neck burned with heat.
    The bike chain broke as soon as I pulled up to my back porch. I hopped off and let my bike fall to the grass in a loud clank .
    When I came through the door, my mom looked up at me from the sofa, where she was reading a fashion magazine. She smiled and blinked at me. I thought about Jake and his Chinese eye slits. I thought about the Dog Log.
    â€œNo fun being alone, huh?” she said.
    I went straight to my room, shut the door, and sat on my bed. I closed my eyes tight and imagined myself walking down the hallway and into the living room. I imagined myself standing in front of my mother and looking into her dark, slanted eyes.
    â€œDog-eater,” I said.

3
None of the Above
2FS4N: “For No One”

    A t the beginning of every school year at Chapel Spring Middle, a group of guys comes up with a list of the ten