Running by Natalia Sylvester

Author:Natalia Sylvester
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780358330806
Publisher: HMH Books
Published: 2020-07-13T16:00:00+00:00

twenty-one

The next morning I’m woken by the sound of Vivi texting. The tiny taps of her keyboard had been blending into my dreams until I remembered she’d slept over. She’s always up long before I am. I roll over without opening my eyes and stretch.

“Morning, sleepy. Didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You know you did,” I mumble.

“I’m bored. And hungry.”

“You sound like my brother.”

“Come on. We only have six hours before my mom takes me back to the beach.” She sits up and holds a pillow against her chest, like she wishes it would protect her. At Grove High, Vivi was always the quirky girl, the one who couldn’t care less about cliques or trends because she’d decided from day one that she was going to pick and choose, on her own terms, who to hang out with and what she liked.

Going to a new school in the middle of the year takes away all of that. You don’t get to decide anything. All the rules have been set before you got there and, what’s worse, you don’t even know them well enough to choose if you want to follow or break them.

Not that Vivi would normally care.

“Is it really that bad?”

“I haven’t even been able to pick up the rest of my clothes from my dad’s,” she says. “I keep washing and wearing the same three outfits. Everyone thinks I’m a freak.”

“They’re such jerks,” I say, remembering the look on people’s faces the morning the pictures of me came out. They were practically animalistic, so quick to pounce on a victim so long as it kept the attention away from themselves. “Do you think they ever grow out of it?”

“Doubtful. Just look at all that happened with you and your dad and Gloria.”

“Gloria? What do you mean? What happened?” I sit up in bed and Vivi immediately starts going through her toiletry bag. Her cheeks turn red and she won’t even look at me. “Vivi?”

“It’s nothing. I just meant how all the media surrounded her apartment the night you snuck away.”

“But . . . that was it, right?”

“You really haven’t been reading the news? Like, at all?” She shakes her toothbrush at me in disbelief.

“I told you. I had to block it out.” I’m beginning to think that was a huge mistake. If Papi were here, he’d remind me that problems only get worse when you ignore them.

“It’s just . . . trolls with nothing better to do, that’s all. Harmless BS gossip about Gloria and her girlfriend.”

“What kind of gossip? Gloria never mentioned any gossip.” My phone charger snaps as I pull on my phone, tipping a cup full of pens and papers off my desk. They scatter all over the floor, but I ignore them.

Vivi puts her hand over mine. “Don’t. They really haven’t told you anything?”

“No. And now you’re scaring me.”

“Then it’s probably not a big deal. If it was, they would’ve said something. You were right to block it all out.”

“I should at least check Twitter .

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