Page 81 of Places We've Never Been

She laughed and shook her head. “You’re such a character.”

“Thank you?”

“Believe me, it’s a compliment.”

Was it, though? I nodded and she left. I waited several minutes before I slid off my bunk and put her suitcase back together, having discovered nothing from my sleuthing.

Back in my bunk, I hugged my pillow against my chest, exposing the notebook. I wanted to chuck it out the window but instead I picked it up and opened it.

I read through several entries until I came to one that triggered a memory I couldn’t quite fully form. It was a Skyler entry. First he’d drawn an angry eye at the top of the page. I ran my finger around it, then read the words he’d written.

Remember the guy I’ve been telling you about in PE? The horrible one? He made up a stupid nickname for me today. I don’t even care what he thinks about me but I still let it get to me. I finally said something back. It was dumb. Now I’m sure he’ll never leave me alone. I wish I could learn to keep things inside sometimes.

“You seemed to have learned that really well lately,” I said to the notebook. “Keeping everything inside.” I kept reading.

If you had to choose no friends at all or friends that were horrible people, what would you choose?

And then it came to me: the memory. It must’ve happened after this notebook entry, although I wasn’t sure how much time had passed. We were in the seventh grade sitting outside by the bleachers at lunch.

“Did you pack extra chips for me?” I had asked. My mom always packed healthy snacks like granola with raisins or rice cakes in my lunch. His mom gave him the good snacks.

“Of course.” He handed me a bag of Doritos.

“You’re the best!”

“Yes, I am.”

As I pulled open the bag, a group of guys walked by us. I didn’t recognize any of them, so I assumed they were older kids. One of them chucked an apple core our way and it hit Skyler on the leg. They all laughed.

“Nice catch, Nut Hut!” someone from the group yelled, and they kept walking.

“Jerks!” I picked up the apple and threw it back but it fell short of hitting anyone. I let out a huff and turned back to Skyler. “Who are they?”

“Some eighth graders from my PE class.”

“Well, they’re stupid.”

“I thought if I was nice first they’d be nice back.”

“Yeah, right. They’re probably mad that you do your own thing and don’t fall at their feet.” I put my hand on his arm. “Always do your own thing.”

He gave me a half smile. “What thing is that?”

“You know, art and reading and being a total goof. Who cares what they think.”

“You need to work on your apple-throwing skills,” he said.

I laughed. “I will. Then next time that punk comes around, I’ll be ready.”

The nicknamethat punkhad yelled out weighed heavy on my mind as I clutched the notebook in my hands. I had neverput two and two together until this moment. Maybe I was wrong…but if I was right…

“Frick.” I picked up my phone and clicked on Willow’s name. It rang several times before she answered.

“I thought you were at some redneck dance tonight.”

“I think Dylan was one of Skyler’s bullies” was how I responded.

“What?”