Falling for You Read Free

Felicia to go on without me. I took my time gathering up my things. By the time I stopped at Ms. Bloodsaw’s desk, everyone else had left.
    “Hi, Rae. What can I do for you?”
    “I was wondering, um, could I submit a poem anonymously? For the newspaper? Would that be all right?”
    Ms. Bloodsaw tilted her head and squinted her pretty green eyes a bit. “It wouldn’t be considered for the anthology, but if that’s what you’re most comfortable with, sure, go right ahead.”
    It was definitely what I was most comfortable with. Writing poetry was my way of dealing with the sad and ugly parts of my life. My friends knew very little about those parts, and I wanted to keep it that way.
    Grandma told me once, keeping feelings locked away isn’t good for a person. They need to go somewhere, or they can be damaging. It frightened me when she said that, because I had a lot of feelings, which meant there was the potential for a whole lot of damage. And so I started writing.
    I wasn’t sure how I would choose a poem out of the hundreds. Or was it thousands? All I knew is that I wanted to do it, because when I thought of possibly helping someone with my words, it made me feel something I hadn’t felt much in my life.
    Powerful.

home away from home
    AFTER SCHOOL ALIX WALKED WITH ME TO THE PARKING LOT. The warm autumn air smelled like exhaust, as car after car left the school grounds. A lot of the cars had kids hanging out the windows as they went in search of some fun before the game.
    Alix patted the hood of my little black Nissan pickup. “Glad to see you’re still treating her well.”
    I found my old truck on Craigslist last year for five hundred bucks. It didn’t run when I bought it, but Alix and her dad took care of that.
    “I wonder what kind of car Nathan drives,” Alix continued, looking around the parking lot. “Maybe he’ll ask you out tonight, and you’ll get to find out.”
    I rolled my eyes. “Alix, please. Not you, too. Felicia practically married us off in first period.”
    “We just want good things for you, that’s all. And Nathan?”She smiled deviously. “He looks like a very good thing. He’s got to be interested, right? Why else would he ask if you were going to the game?”
    I shook my head. “Whatever. You know how it is with me and guys. I’m the nice girl it’s fun to be friends with. Or something.”
    “Rae, I’m pretty sure that’s because you never want to be more than friends. As soon as things start moving in that direction, you pull away. Wait. Scratch that. You run away. Why is that?”
    I reached into my pocket for my phone, checking the time. “Sorry, I need to cancel this therapy session or I’m gonna be late for work.”
    I opened the door and started to climb in, but she grabbed my hand. “You really need to give him a chance. Santiago thinks he’s a great guy.”
    “Okay, okay. If he’s even interested, which is a pretty big ‘if.’ Did you see the way all the girls looked at him today?”
    She winked. “He only had eyes for you. Trust me.”
    “See you tonight,” I said as I hopped into the truck. She blew me a kiss as I drove off and it made me laugh. The girl could be relentless, but I sure did love her.
    I went a few blocks down Fifth Street and then pulled onto Pacific Road. The town of Crestfield isn’t much. At all. Pacific Road takes you from one end of town to the other, with grocery stores, gas stations, banks, and other businessesalong the way. Old downtown is where I work, which isn’t so old anymore. New stores have replaced the old ones, although the buildings are original, so it still has that homey feel people love.
    The good thing about a small town is it doesn’t take you very long to get someplace. After one and a half Foo Fighters songs, I pulled into the parking lot behind the building where I work. The parking lot is shared by three businesses: a hair salon called Cutting Edge, Full Bloom, and a coffee shop, Mack’s Bean Shack.
    Nina