How It Ends Read Free Page A

one thing, but having it happen in front of someone like Annie was unbearable.
    â€œWhat did you say?”
    I blinked in confusion. One second Annie was right beside me, and the next she was across the room, bearing down on Emily and her friends.
    Emily patted Annie on the head like she was a little kid. “You’re new here, so you don’t know about our little Lezzie Longbottom yet.”
    If I could have tunneled through the floor to escape the scene in front of me, I would have.
    â€œLongbottom?” Annie asked, her hands on her hips. “Like, as in Harry Potter?”
    Emily faltered, and Annie looked at me with an eyebrow raised. I nodded haltingly.
    â€œWell,” Annie said with a shrug of her shoulders, “that sounds like a compliment to me.”
    The girls burst out laughing.
    â€œMaybe not to a bunch of bleached-blond illiterates like you, but to those of us who
read,
we know that Neville Longbottom was the real hero of Harry Potter.”
    â€œWho are you calling illiterate?” Emily challenged.
    â€œWell, if you’d actually read the book, you’d know that Neville is all about bravery and kindness and loyalty to his friends.” Annie walked over and looped her arm through mine. “I’m pretty proud to have a friend like that.”
    â€œ
Girl
friend, you mean,” Emily snarled. “You’re obviously a lez just like her.”
    Annie tossed her hair and blew Emily a kiss. “You wish, honey. You wish.”

    Annie’s defense of me in the locker room was like battle armor, and I spent the rest of the morning feeling invincible. That is, right up until the moment when I arrived at the cafeteria doors and found no sign of her.
    She’ll be here,
I reassured myself as long minutes ticked by. We’d agreed to meet right there, I was sure of it. I peered through the window at the chaos that is our school’s cafeteria. What if she already went in without me?
    â€œOh. My. God.” A familiar voice rang out, turning my insides to ice. “Did you see what she was
wearing?
Some people try way too hard.”
    Courtney.
    I panicked and hunted for an escape route. I didn’t want to miss Annie, but I couldn’t be caught standing there, all alone.
    I let my hair hang down over my face and peeked out from behind my bangs. They didn’t see me yet. I slipped away from the cafeteria doors and headed down the arts hallway, fear coiling in my belly. I was going to miss meeting Annie, I just knew it. Frustrated tears prickled my eyes, and I put my head down to hide them.
    I made a beeline for the safety of the stairwell and crashed headlong into someone racing toward the cafeteria.
    â€œSorry!” Annie yelped before recognizing me. “Jessie? What’s wrong?”
    â€œN-nothing,” I forced out, blinking hard. “Just . . . the first day of school sucks.”
    â€œYou read my mind.” She laughed, looping her arm through mine and pulling me toward the cafeteria. “Sorry I was so late. I got caught up talking to my art teacher.” She held up her phone. “I’d have texted you, but I forgot to ask for your digits.”
    I rattled off my cell number, my heart thumping. “I should get yours, too,” I said, fumbling with my bag.
    â€œNo need. Texting you right. . . . now.”
    I felt my whole body relax. Who was this girl? I’d never felt so immediately comfortable around anyone in my life. “C’mon,” I said, “I’ll show you where to buy the worst food you’ve ever tasted.”
    We waded into the lineup, and I watched in wonder as Annie shamelessly heaped fries, chocolate milk, and two enormous cookies onto her tray. By the time we strolled out to look for a table, I felt giddy, my earlier panic forgotten. For the first time ever, I walked through the cafeteria with my head held high, feeling like a new person with Annie by my side.
    â€œWho