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He reached toward my chin and I pulled away before he could touch it "I’ve had worse"

"Like that scar in your eyebrow," hehon Mr Sier It had split open my skin when he’d backhanded me across the face--I elve years old

"Well, we’re here," Bridger said, holding the door to the nurse’s office open I stepped past hiie" I paused and looked at hiorgeous as Bridger O’Connell He grinned "If you need a ride home, I could …" His voice trailed off I stared at hi moment but he left his offer incomplete

"I don’t want to ruinif I’d heard hiht Had he just offered me a ride home? Maybe, unlike his friends, he had a conscience

By the tied intodeal since I was repeating the class I sat through the end of a lecture and pretended to listen

Instead of hearing the teacher’s voice, though, I kept reliving the incident on the track--not the fall, but what led to it Even though the dae to my hands should have hidden them, I could see the four pinprick scabs, where my nails had punctured the skin when they turned into …

"Ms Mortensen," someone said and I snapped back to the present Mrs Tolliver was staring at me froet when they realize they’re being ignored An unanswered problem ritten on the dry-erase board I did the problem in my head and spit out the answer

Mrs Tolliver’s satisfied eyes sought out her next victi as an anonyed me in any way--not even the teachers--as if I didn’t exist It was a lonely feeling, alht picked on

At lunch, I ate ainst the brick wall by the girls’ bathroo at a prooing?" Yana sat down beside oing, either Every school dance I’ve ever been to ended in disaster And I have to work"

"I’ve never been to a school dance I got invited to hoh"

"What happened?" Yana asked

"He never showed up," I lied

The date had lasted five ot into his car, he tried to tear my dress off I slapped him and jumped out of his car We never even made it out of the driveway And then I had to do chores to pay to get the stupid dress fixed because I’d rented it

Yana laughed "Wow That’s brutal"

"I know"

She studiedon my scraped chin "If you put piñon sap and calendula on your chin, it will heal better"

"If I put what on it?"

"Piñon sap and calendula Navajo herbs Naalyeheyou some tomorrow"

"Thanks" I smiled Yana hardly knew me Was she a friend? Did I dare have friends? I wondered I’d never stayed in one place long enough to have friends

The bell rang and ent our separate ways

My three afternoon classes were just like theAside from Yana, no one in the school talked to me; no one said hi And only one other person noticed I existed at all Every ti to his friends and stared as I walked by,me antsy in my own skin

It lasted the whole week By Friday I felt like a ghost in a school filled with the living, like I had learned to disappear coh I was dressed like the other students, I was still different

6

Saturday afternoon, six days since I’d moved to Silver City, Mrs Carpenter hadthe dry earth, with her dogs keeping old pollen around the ponderosa pines, and listened onto my back