Choke Read Free Page B

because she was so much taller.
    â€œWhy don’t you go fix your makeup or something?” Nina said.
    â€œMakeup” had never sounded like a bad word before, but it did right then.
    â€œCatfight!” someone called, and a few extra people gathered around.
    â€œIf that’s what she wants,” Nina said, looking directly at Courtney, challenging the leader of the eighth-grade in-crowd.
    Courtney glanced at the expectant eyes around her. She wasn’t a catfight kind of girl, so she answered with her W sign and mouthed the word, “Whatever.”
    â€œWhat’s that?” Nina said, cupping her ear. “I didn’t hear you.”
    No one had ever stood up to Courtney. She swallowed hard. She seemed nervous but reluctant to back away.
    â€œCome on,” Alicia said, tugging Courtney’s sleeve. “We’ve already wasted too much time on these losers.”
    The two walked off. Most of the gawkers left, too, but not Ronnie. I finally glanced up. Thankfully, he wasn’t laughing. Was he being compassionate and kind, or was his mouth too full of Doritos? A few girls stood around, too. They had laughed earlier, but now they looked totally confused as they glanced at Nina, then Courtney, then Nina again.
    Finally, Liz, one of the in-crowd girls, asked if we were okay. Elena and I nodded.
    â€œAll right, then,” Liz said. “We better get going.” She and the in-crowd girls with her hurried to catch up with Courtney, but before they got too far, Liz turned around to wave goodbye. I started to raise my hand, but she wasn’t saying bye to me. She was saying bye to Nina .
    â€œSee you later,” Nina called. When the girls finally reached their seats at the far end of the cafeteria, Nina said, “Hey, Ronnie. Come help us, will you?”
    Like us, he seemed surprised that she remembered him.
    â€œSure thing,” he said.
    He picked up my tray, his fingers still orange from Doritos. I didn’t know whether to feel grateful or mortified. Like I said, we talked every day, but that was because Ronnie was nice to everyone . Not because he liked me or anything.
    â€œYou sure you’re all right?” he asked.
    â€œI’ll recover.”
    â€œI know. You’re a real trouper,” he said.
    He might have winked at me, or maybe he had some dust in his eye. In any case, he didn’t say anything else, just picked up our trays and walked off.
    â€œThanks for sticking up for us,” Elena said as Nina gave us a wad of paper towels so we could wipe the cheese and pasta from our shirts.
    â€œYeah. Thanks,” I said.
    â€œNo problem,” Nina told us. “Every school has mean girls like that. If you let them get to you, they just act worse. Eventually, someone will put them in their place. Trust me.” She helped us up. “Besides,” she added, “those girls don’t know the meaning of breath sisters.”
    Elena and I glanced at each other. We didn’t know the meaning, either, but we weren’t about to admit it.

E lena came to my house after school. I’m a latchkey kid, which is a good thing when you have tomato sauce all over your clothes.
    â€œSo what do you think ‘breath sister’ means?” Elena asked as we turned onto my street.
    â€œI have no idea, but I’m sure it’s something cool.”
    We got to my house, and just as I put my key in the door, we heard meowing in the nearby bushes. We went to investigate, and as I pushed aside some branches, a beige kitten scrambled to hide.
    â€œHello, there,” I said. “Where’s your mommy?” The kitten stared at me and blinked. “Keep an eye on it,” I told Elena. “I’m going to get some food.”
    â€œBut shouldn’t …”
    Before she could finish her sentence, I rushed into the house.
    Sunny, my orange cat, and Cloudy, my gray cat, ran figure eights around my legs, while El Niño, my