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By Root 745 0

for the activity he had planned. I ended up wearing black and yellow striped tights that were a leftover from a Halloween costume that didn’t sell. Over those I wore a pair of black snow pants decorated with fake spray painted tags. Across my bum in purple letters with silver trim was the word “RADICAL.” There was a “Kilroy Was Here” on one knee, and running down the side was a bright yellow cursive “Anarchy.” I was still wearing my uniform blouse with Drew’s Bruins sweatshirt over the top. My new red gloves were normal, but after Drew declared my head to be freakishly small, I ended up with a hat from the kid’s department, complete with earflaps and a pom-pom on top. It was decorated with various glittery fairy decals. I reached a hand up to touch it. It was the tackiest thing I had ever seen, and I loved it.

My face was windburned. We’d gone sledding. I hadn’t been sledding since I was a little kid, and I couldn’t remember when I’d had so much fun. I wasn’t as fearless as Drew. He liked to get a running start and then fling himself facedown onto the giant metal tray, barreling down the hill. I preferred to sit at the top on the tray and then inch myself forward until gravity kicked in and carried me to the bottom, but I loved the rush of the wind. The air was so cold that it seemed hot and burning when I sucked it in. It felt like it was scouring my lungs clean. As soon as I came to a stop at the bottom, I would pop up and do my best to run up the hill so I could go again. For the first time since this whole mess had started, my mind had stopped spinning around with everything that had happened. I didn’t think about my dad, Tristan, Joel, or anyone else at Evesham. I didn’t even worry about sledding injury rates. We went sledding until my legs were rubbery from walking up the hill in the deep snow, and the sweatshirt was damp from melted snow and sweat.

As Drew drove me back to the school, he gave me advice on how to handle Winston. “Tell him you felt mentally unstable. That you were so emotionally damaged that you were afraid you might ‘do something’ so you ran away to clear your head. Trust me. The last thing this guy wants on his hands is a suicidal student. Boarding schools live in fear of that stuff. It’s bad for public relations.”

“You should let me out here,” I said, motioning for Drew to pull over a block or so before the school gates.

“What? Is this one of those things where you’re embarrassed to be seen with me?” Drew made a face as if he were deeply wounded.

I smacked him on his shoulder. “I get sarcasm for trying to keep you out of trouble? I save your job, your financial ticket to Yale, and you mock me? This will be the last time I’ll take all the heat.”

Drew laughed. “I would be happy to be the Clyde in your Bonnie and Clyde lawless adventure.”

Bonnie and Clyde were lovers. I wondered if that was why Drew had used that example. As soon as the thought flashed through my mind, I felt myself flush. Apparently, since the Joel incident I was incapable of having interactions with a guy without wondering if he liked me.

“I should get going,” I said, cracking the door open. “Thanks for making my first skip day so memorable.”

“It’s all memorable with me,” Drew said with a wink before driving off.

I went directly to Dean Winston’s office and told him that my delicate emotional state had snapped in the dining hall. I’d had to walk away before I did something . . . desperate. I made sure my voice had a slight quaver in it. Drew had warned me not to argue but to admit I was in the wrong. Winston glowered at me across his desk. I could see him thinking through his options. I could tell he wanted to yell, but he was uncertain. He made me wait outside his office while he decided what to do. There was a puddle of slush on the floor by my feet. I’d been at Evesham for four years, and I’d spent more time in Winston’s office in the past couple weeks than I had in the entire rest of the time I’d attended the school.

Dean Winston opened the door and motioned me inside. I stood, saying a quick mental prayer that Drew