Fire With Fire Read Free Page B

telling me to go. “I’m going to school
today,” I say again. This time without smiling. And I walk
straight down the stairs, without waiting for her permission.
If Aunt Bette is afraid that I’m not strong enough to handle it,
well, then this is proof that I am.
    By the time I reach the bike rack at Jar Island High, the sun
has disappeared. The sky is cold and wispy. And the parking
lot is empty, except for a few teachers and the electrician vans.
Our school is being completely rewired after the homecoming
incident. It looks like they’ve hired every electrician on the
island, men working around the clock to get it done.
    I’m glad to be here early, before most of the other students.
I need to ease myself back into this carefully. In case there is
something really wrong with me.
    To my surprise, Lillia runs up beside me. She has her jacket
zipped up tight and the hood over her head. Every day it’s getting colder.
    “Hey,” I say, and lock up my bike. I realize it’s the first
time we’ve seen each other since homecoming. “You’re here
early.”
    “Oh my gosh, I’m so glad to see you, Mary.” When I don’t
answer right away, she frowns and says, “Are you mad at me
or something? You haven’t called; you haven’t reached out. I
looked up your aunt’s number in the phone book and tried
calling, but nobody picked up. And Kat’s stopped by your
house a few times but no one’s answered the door.”
    I sigh. I guess it was stupid to think Lillia and Kat wouldn’t
notice that I’ve been avoiding them. But I haven’t wanted to
see anyone from school. It’s nothing personal. “Sorry,” I say.
“It’s just been . . . a lot.”
    “It’s okay. I get it. And things have so been crazy; it’s probably good that the three of us are lying low.” She says it, but she
still sounds sad. Maybe she misses us too. “Hey, I don’t know
if you’ve heard, but Reeve’s coming back to school today.”
    I have a hard time swallowing. Is this why I had the feeling
that I needed to be here? Because Reeve was coming back too?
“How is he?”
Lilia presses her lips together and then says, “He’s okay.
    But his leg. It’s broken. I think he’s out for the rest of the
season.” I guess she sees something in my face, because she
quickly shakes her head. “Don’t worry. Everything’s going to
be fine.” She walks backward, away from me. “Let’s talk later,
okay? I miss you.”
    Reeve’s broken. I broke him.
I got what I wanted.
Didn’t I?
I speed walk into school. Almost every classroom has big,
    gaping holes sawed into the walls, for the electrical work. And
I need to be careful where I walk or else I’ll trip on bundles of
new wires running along the hallway floors.
    I go into my homeroom and take a seat on the radiator by
the window, with the skirt of my corduroy jumper tucked
underneath me and leave a textbook open in my lap. I’m not
studying. I don’t look down at the pages once. I peer through
my hair and watch the parking lot as it fills up with students. I
breathe deeply, in and out. Nice, calming breaths.
    The temperature dipped down past the freezing mark for
the first time this weekend, and I guess the janitors didn’t
waste any time shutting the courtyard fountain off. It’s only
the smokers and the cross-country runners who can handle
the cold. Everyone else is hustling inside.
    I pick up the sound of bass thumping through the window.
Alex’s SUV pulls into the school driveway. He parks in the
handicapped spot, close to the walkway. He gets out, walks
around the front of the car, and opens the passenger door.
    Everyone in the courtyard turns to look. They must know
he’s coming back too.
Reeve plants his good leg on the ground. He’s wearing mesh
basketball shorts and a jar island football hoodie. Alex extends
his hand, but Reeve ignores it and holds on to the door instead
and swings his other leg out. A white plaster cast stretches
from his upper thigh all the way down to his