Burn for Burn (Burn for Burn #1)

But Kat wasn’t there, just Rennie in her new jean mini, with the decorative stitching on the back pockets. I climbed into the car, and asked, “Is Kat sick?”

Rennie shook her head.

When she saw her mom eyeing us in the rearview mirror, Rennie leaned in and whispered, “I didn’t want to pick her up. I’m over her.”

“Did you tell her you weren’t coming to get her?” I whispered back. What if Kat was outside waiting for us? What if she was late on the first day of high school?

“She’ll figure it out,” Rennie said. She touched her nose and asked, worried, “Does it look swollen?”

Even though I’d planned on giving Rennie and Kat their necklaces at the same time, I went ahead and gave Rennie hers right then. She seemed grumpy, and I wanted to start our day off on a nice note. She squealed so loudly, her mom slammed on the breaks. Her charm was a heart. Mine was a tiny gold cupcake. We both put our necklaces on right away.

I put Kat’s in her locker. She didn’t buy a lock when we went back-to-school shopping. She said she’d just forget the combination anyway. Besides, nobody stole on the island; it was totally safe.

When I saw Kat come down the hallway later that day, her eyes were red, and she wasn’t wearing the necklace. Her charm was a gold key. I liked how the key was pretty, but there was also something tough and practical about it. Just like Kat.

She walked right by me.

I tried to bring it up to Rennie later, to see if there was a way we could get things back to how they were before. But she refused. She didn’t even want to talk about it. For Rennie it was over. Erased. She had a way of doing that. Erasing the stuff she didn’t like. I’d just never seen her erase a person before.

*   *   *

I dry my face with a paper towel. I turn to toss it into the trash, and with my back to her, I say, “Honestly, I never thought your breath stunk. For what it’s worth.” I realize that these might be the first real words I’ve spoken to her in years.

Kat stares at me, and I know she’s surprised.

And then, from the last stall, there’s a sound. Shallow breaths, the kind you have to fight to take when you’re crying. Both of our heads swivel toward it. “Who’s there?” I call out, panicky, like I’ve been caught doing something bad.

“Yo. Who’s in here?” Kat says.

There’s no answer. Then Kat marches down to the stall and kicks the door open with her boot.

CHAPTER FIVE

MARY

I’M PERCHED ON TOP OF THE TOILET, HUGGING MY KNEES to my chest.

The stall door swings open. That spitting girl from this morning stares back at me. The pretty Asian girl is standing next to her, and her white sweater has a big stain across the front.

“Who are you?” Kat demands.

“I’m Mary.” I swallow hard. “Nice to meet you.”

Kat says, dryly, “You too.”

“What are your names?”

This seems to catch them both off guard. “I’m Kat, and this is Princess Lillia.”

The Asian girl gives her a dirty look. “It’s just Lillia.” Then she narrows her eyes on me. “Why are you hiding in here?”

“Umm . . . no reason.” It’s hard to look her in the eye, since I’ve been listening to her crying for the last ten minutes. It doesn’t seem right, someone so pretty and popular should have anything to cry about. Whatever it is, it must be bad.

Lillia flicks her hair over her shoulder. “You’re obviously upset about something. Or maybe you just enjoy spying on people in bathrooms?”

Kat slouches against the open door. “Let me guess. You hooked up with some guy over the summer. You let him feel you up, and now he doesn’t even remember your name.”

“Not even close,” I say, and bite down on my lip. I’m not sure I should tell these girls anything. After all, Lillia is in Reeve’s circle. She’s friends with him. And Kat . . . well, she’s just scary. “I saw someone I used to know. That’s all.”

“Who?” Kat says. I can tell by the way she slouches against the door that she’s not going to let me leave until I tell her.

“This guy. He . . . used to torture me when we were in seventh grade. He basically got everyone in our grade to hate me. He’s the reason my family moved away. Anyway, I saw him today, for the first time in four years, and he didn’t even recognize me. After everything he did.” Some of my hair slips into my face. I push it behind my ear.

“How old are you?” Lillia asks me, quieter and softer this time.

“Seventeen.”

Kat asks, “And you’re originally from the island? Which middle school did you go to?”

“I’m from here, but I went to Belle Harbor Montessori, on the mainland.” I used to ride the ferry every day to school and back. Me and him.

Kat shakes her head and says, “Reeve.”

My eyes widen. I’m nervous that she figured it out so fast, but I’m also strangely comforted. “How did you know?”

“Who else could it be?” Kat says, holding to the stall door open for me. “We go way back.”

I climb down. Lillia moves back over to the sink and wets a paper towel. “I’m not surprised. Reeve’s basically a Neanderthal,” she says, dabbing her front. “He ruined my sweater.”

Tentatively, I say, “I thought you guys were friends. I saw you together this morning.”

Lillia sighs. “We’re not friends, but we’re not not friends.”

Kat rolls her eyes. “Great answer, Lillia.”

Right away I say, “Please don’t tell him you saw me.” The last thing I want is to have Reeve hear that I’m still crying over him.

The bell rings, and Lillia pulls a tube of cherry ChapStick out of her shorts pocket and rubs it on her bottom lip. She presses her lips together with a pop. “Don’t sweat it. I’ve already forgotten your name.” She looks at Kat and says, “Gotta run,” and then walks out.

Kat watches her go, and when the door swings closed, she says to me in a low voice, “Hey. So, Lillia was crying, right?”

I look at my sandals. That’s private. I shouldn’t even have been in here.

“Did you hear her say anything? What was she upset about?”

“No. Nothing.”

Kat sighs, disappointed. “Where are you supposed to be right now, Mary?”

“I don’t even know.”