Fallout (Crank 3)

What is wrong? Not like

I can confess what I’m feeling.

“Uh, nothing. Something

happened at home is all.”

He watches me reorganize

my stacks. You never talk

much about home. Why not?

Don’t you trust me?

I shut my locker, turn to

look him in the eye. “Not

a whole lot to talk about,

really.” I leave the rest hanging.

Over his shoulder, I notice

Tiffany, now nose to nose

with Billy Burke. Cherie would

flip! “What’s up with her today?”

The question slips out, slick

as Quaker State. Bryce rotates

on one heel. Who? Tiffany?

She got new green contacts.

I guess she’s showing them

off to anyone who’ll notice.

MORTIFIED

That pretty much sums up

how I feel right this minute.

Mortified and relieved.

“Oh,” is all I can manage.

I finish lining up my spare

pens and pencils by color,

just as the bell rings.