On my way to my locker, most people just ignore me, although a few still think they’ve come up with a clever new insult. I know exactly what she means and don’t want to think about it. One of them murmurs, “Six hundred and eighteen hits,” and shoots me a dirty look. The rest of the trip passes without incident-except for two girls whispering over a video playing on a phone they both clutch in their hands. When my eyes meet theirs, they turn away, but nobody does anything.Īlyssa folds herself against the window and shoves earbuds into her ears and ignores me for the duration of the ride.

I’m about to apologize when I notice the people sitting around us stare with wide eyes and hands over their open mouths. I try to grab a seat back but lose my balance and topple into the seat Alyssa’s blocking with her leg. I gulp hard, and the bus lurches forward. My dad keeps telling me to stand up to all of Zac’s defenders, but it’s the entire bus-the entire school-versus me. It’s a show of loyalty to someone who doesn’t deserve it, a challenge to see how far I’ll go. I meet Alyssa’s eyes, silently beg her for sympathy-even a little pity. A couple of weeks ago during a school newspaper staff meeting, Alyssa vowed her support, and today I’m pond scum. I approach slowly, hoping nobody can see my knees knocking. Alyssa Martin, a girl I’ve known since first grade, smirks and stretches her leg across the empty seat next to hers.

I step onto the bus to school, wearing my armor and pretending nothing’s wrong, nothing happened, nothing changed when it’s pretty obvious nothing will ever be the same again. It’s been thirty-two of them since the party in the woods that started the battle I fight every day. No Monday in history has ever sucked more than this one. To Kelly Breakey, with my eternal gratitude for encouraging the first because without that, there couldn’t have been a second and a third. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is on file with the publisher. Published by Sourcebooks Fire, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author. The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems-except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews-without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc. Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc.Īll rights reserved. Cover and internal design © 2014 by Sourcebooks, Inc.Ĭover image © Aleshyn_Andrel/

Some Boys by Patty Blount