LITMIR.BIZ

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She hurried over to them.

      “Andie’s folks are splitting up,” Raven said without preamble.

      “Oh my God!” Julie swung to face Andie. “It’s not true, not your parents!”

      Andie’s eyes welled with tears. “He told us tonight. He’s been … cheating on my mom. With his secretary.”

      “No! That little blonde?” Andie nodded and Julie hugged her. “That really sucks, Andie. You know, I always thought your parents were so happy. So perfect. Like one of those TV families. And your dad, I thought he was the best and that you were so lucky.”

      Andie started to cry. “So did I.”

      “Great, Julie. You made her cry.”

      “I didn’t mean to!”

      “Well, you did anyway. Geez!”

      Andie made a sound that was half laugh, half sob, then wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “It’s not Julie’s fault. I’m just upset, that’s all.”

      “Let’s get out of here,” Raven said, “before Julie’s dad or one of her tattletale brothers gets up to take a pee and sees us out here.”

      They started off, keeping to the shadows until they were well clear of Julie’s house. As they neared the bottom of the cul-de-sac, Andie stopped. “Wait.” She held up a hand to quiet them. “Do you hear that?”

      “What?”

      “Music. Shh … there.”

      The other two girls listened. They heard it, too.

      “Where’s it coming from?” Julie asked, frowning. They were standing dead center between the four empty houses at the end of the cul-de-sac.

      Andie strained to locate the source of the faint music. It floated on the night air, disembodied, there and then gone. It was odd music, disturbing somehow, with a slow, deep beat that made her pulse pound.

      “We shouldn’t be hearing music here.” Andie looked at her friends. “Where would it be coming from?”

      Julie glanced over her shoulder at the rest of the houses on her street. All were completely dark. “This is weird. Everybody on this block is asleep.”

      “We’re not.” At her friend’s blank glances, Raven giggled. “Guys, get a grip. It’s probably coming from a couple blocks away. Sound carries on the night air. Which I should know.” She grimaced. “My parents’ fights were legendary, all over every neighborhood we ever lived in.”

      “You’re right.” Andie laughed, sounding a bit breathless even to her own ears. “My imagination is working overtime.”

      “But it is kind of creepy,” Julie said, rubbing her arms. “It’s so quiet otherwise.”

      Raven laughed. “Come on you chickenshits. Follow me!” She took off in a sort of run-limp-hop because of her stitches; with a sound of surprise, the other two followed her. They cut across the backyard of the last house, then ducked into the twenty-foot stand of trees that separated Trent’s farm from Happy Hollow. Once in the open fields, it was easier to see; their shed stood out incongruously against the otherwise flat, barren field.

      They reached it, but instead of going inside, climbed onto the metal roof, lay back and gazed up at the black velvet sky. Minutes passed; none of them spoke. Somewhere in the distance a dog barked.

      “It’s so beautiful,” Julie murmured.

      Raven murmured her agreement. “And so quiet.”

      Andie folded her arms behind her head and breathed deeply. “It’s like we’re the only people in the whole universe. Just us and the stars.”

      “What if it was just us?” Raven mused. “No asshole parents? Nobody making us be what they want us to be?”

      “If it was just us,” Andie murmured, “I wouldn’t be so sad right now.”

      “What about boys?”

      Andie and Raven looked at each other, then burst out laughing. “Leave it to you, Julie.”

      “Well, really.” She sniffed, sounding annoyed. “We’d have to have boys. You guys might be able to do without … well, you know, but not me.”

      “Well, I could,” Raven said, her tone fierce. “Boys become men. Then they become like your dad or mine.” She made a sound of disgust. “No thank you.”

      Andie looked at her. “They don’t have to be that way.”

      “No?” Raven frowned. “Go ask your mom if I’m right.”

      The girls fell silent for long moments, then Raven reached across and touched Andie’s arm. “I’m sorry I said that.”

      “It’s okay.”

      Raven propped herself up on her elbow. “Do either of you ever think about the future? Where we’re going to be? What we’re going to be?”

      “College,” Andie offered.

      “Together,” Julie added.

      “But beyond that? Like, who do you want to be? And what do you want your life to be like?”

      “That’s easy,” Julie said. “I want to be popular. I mean really popular. And I won’t feel bad about it. I won’t feel guilty about being pretty and having fun or about going out every single night if I want to.”

      Raven sat up and drew her knees to her chest. “I want to be the one who says how it’s going to be. I want to be the one other people follow.”

      Julie giggled. “You’ll probably be the first woman president.

      They’ll put your face on a postage stamp or something.”

      “This face? Please, I’d scare little children.”

      “Stop that,” Andie said, frowning, feeling bad for her friend. “You’re gorgeous. The only reason the boys say those things about you is because they can’t get anything over on you. They call you freak ’cause they want into your pants and you won’t let them.”

      For a long moment, Raven was silent. Then she cleared her throat. “Do you really mean that?”

      “I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t.”

      Raven grinned. “I like that.” She inclined her head regally. “I accept your presidential nomination, Julie.”

      Julie tipped her face toward Andie’s. “What about you? What do you want?”

      Andie met her friend’s gaze. Tears choked her; she struggled to speak past them. “I just want my family back. I just want …” She made a strangled sound. “I used to think of the future and imagine myself married. To someone like my dad. I used to think that’s what—”

      She bit back the words and sat up, wrapping her arms around her drawn-up knees. “I’d hear about bad stuff happening to other people, other kids’ families, but I never thought that could happen to me or my family. I thought we were … protected. Special.”

      She turned to her friends. “How can he do this to Mom? How can he do this to me? And to Pete and Danny?” Her voice broke. “How?”

      Raven scooted over and put an arm around Andie. “It’s going to get better.”

      Julie did the same. “It really will. You’ll see.”

      “No.” Andie shook her head. “I feel like nothing’s ever going to be okay again.”

      “You’ve got us, Andie. That hasn’t changed.”

      “That’s right.” Julie leaned her head against Andie’s. “We love you.”

      Tears stung Andie’s eyes. She

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