Page 5 of Puck Your Friend

“Maybe if you had boobs.”

Each line of the circle drags their words out of me. I don’t stop. I take my time until it’s smooth and even. The tears continue to fall and I sniff through them.

It’s almost done when whispers reach my ears. I hurry to hide the knife under a rock and whirl around as I stand. “Who’s there? I can hear you.”

I swipe at my face with the back of my hands, trying to dry it before anyone sees that I’ve been crying.

Four boys step out from between the trees. I recognize them; they were playing in the baseball game earlier. I missed the signup sheet for it yesterday. They’re still in their shorts, dirt streaked across the front of their shirts from sliding through the home base. They weren’t bad players, but their team lost.

The tallest one blinks. His brown hair is a mess, and it falls into his light-brown eyes. “You okay?” He runs an olive-tan hand through his bangs to push them off his face.

I swallow hard and look away for a second. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

One of them, with crazy black curls sticking up every which way and light-brown skin, shifts an armful of snacks against his chest. There’s juice boxes, granola bars, and cookies. He pulls a juice box free and holds it out. “We grabbed too many. Want one?” His eyes remind me of the ocean during a storm, gray but still pretty.

I nod.

He tosses the juice box toward me. I catch it. The lanky blond boy with them looks me over with crossed arms. I frown at him and he looks away.

The boy with darker skin and amber eyes points at the tree behind me. “Th-that yours?”

I glance back at the circle. “Yeah. Just felt like carving something.”

Tall-boy comes to look. “It’s cool. Mind if we add to it?”

I shrug. At least they aren’t threatening to snitch on me. Turning, I grab the knife and hand it over. “I don’t care.”

He crouches and adds three uneven triangles at the top, like a crown, then passes the knife to Curly-hair.

Curly-hair carves a flame in the center. It’s messy, but I like that it has personality.

Blond kneels lower and adds a heart below the curve, it holds it all up.

Amber-eyes stares for a while before leaning in and carving a tight, clean infinity loop inside the flame.

I move to sit at the front of the tree facing the water, and take in the peacefulness of the sight.

Tall-boy comes to stand next to me, placing his hand on the bark. “Mind if we join you? We found this spot last year.”

I shrug. “It’s a free country. It looks like a fun place to swim.”

He drops to the ground next to me and presses his back to the trunk with a nod. “We come swim here sometimes. Not sure why it’s off limits, other than the counselors can’t see it from the lifeguard tower.”

They all sit around me. Amber-eyes settles just beyond him, folding his legs like a pretzel. Curly-hair drops the snacks on the ground next to me and lands on my left, kicking his feet out in front of him as he leans his head back against the tree. Blond stretches back at the end, his arms braced behind him.

Our shoulders brush when Tall-boy shifts. I frown as something under my skin buzzes for a second and I feel at peace for the first time since getting here.

After a few seconds of silence, Tall-boy taps his fingers against his knee and clears his throat. “You can swim here with us. If you want to. Name’s Ford, by the way.” He turns toward me and holds his hand out. I take it.

Curly-hair hands me a pack of generic chocolate chip cookies. “Jace.”

Blond peers around Jace and grins. “Logan.”

Amber-eyes offers a small wave. “Wes-Wesley, b-but ca-call me Wes.”

I put the cookies in my lap and hold the juice box in both hands, careful not to squeeze it too hardas my nerves try to get the better of me. “Frankie.” That’s what I go by at home. I don’t want them calling me Francesca. Or Frannie.

The water laps at the rocks as the sun slides below the horizon, and we take in the lake.

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