Some Boys

Some Boys Chapter 1 GRACE

No Monday in history has ever sucked more than this one.

Mom begged me to stay home this morning — just until things settle, she said. But I don't know if that's even possible.

"Talk to us," she said. But when I did, this huge fight between her and my dad raged until Kristie, his current wife, threw up her hands and said they should go home. So now I'm on my way to school, pretending nothing's wrong, nothing happened, nothing changed when I know nothing will ever be the same again.

"No sluts allowed," Alyssa Martin, a girl I've known since first grade, snaps at me when I slide into the empty seat across from hers. We're on the school newspaper together. She knows me.

I blink at her in shock. "Alyssa, you weren't even there."

She rolls her eyes. "No, but I heard what happened."

I slink lower in my seat. I wish I could say there was nothing for her to have heard. I keep hoping I'll wake up and everything that happened Friday night will be some stupid dream.

"Whatever."

I sit by myself all the way to school, wishing the bus would move faster so I can escape all the comments and finger-pointing. But school is even worse. The corridors are battlefields. I see familiar faces but after what Alyssa said on the bus, I'm afraid to talk to anybody, to even look at anybody. Somebody trips me on my way to first period. I hit the floor and Kyle Moran shouts, "Hear you like it on your knees." Everyone laughs.

Matt Roberts helps me up but when Kyle shoves him, he takes off before I can thank him.

I grab my backpack, pray that the school's expensive digital camera tucked inside it isn't damaged, and duck into the girls' bathroom. "Miranda! Oh, God." I fling my arms around her, tears filling my eyes.

She pats my back once and takes a step away. Lindsay stands at the sink, but doesn't say anything.

I stare at my best friends, trying to figure them out, trying to understand. "What's wrong with everybody?"

Miranda runs a hand down her smooth blond hair, shoots me an incredulous look from the mirror over the sink. "Come on, Grace. You said Zac MacMahon—"

I fling up a hand. "Don't. Please."

Miranda's hand freezes on her hair. "What, now you don't want to talk about this? You know, he could get kicked off the lacrosse team because of you."

"Good!" I retort, instantly furious.

Miranda whips back around to face me, hair blurring like a fan blade. At the sink, Lindsay's jaw drops. "God! I can't believe you! You guys broke up! So why did you hook up at all? Was it just to get back at me?"

My jaw drops. "What? Of course not. I—"

"You know I like him. If you didn't want me to go out with him, all you had to do was say so—"

"Miranda, this isn't about you. Trust me, you don't want Zac. He's—"

"Oh my God, listen to yourself. He breaks up with you and you fall apart and then—"

"That is not what happened. I was upset because of Kristie and you know it."

She spins around, arms flung high. "Kristie! Seriously? You played him. You wanted everybody to feel sorry for you so you turned on the tears and got Zac to—"

"Me? Are you high? He —"

"Oh, don't even." Miranda holds up a hand. "I know exactly what happened. I was there. I know what you said. I know you're a lying slut and so does the whole school."