Cornered (41 page)

He jabbed a finger into my chest. “And how would I know what car was yours?” I asked calmly, serenely, downright Zen-like. I've become much better at lying over the last year.

“Let's just go see what this is all about, shall we?” Andy asked, but he was nudging us out the door as he did. Well, he nudged most of us. Instead of herding James, he opened the door with a little bow and a hand flourish. James of course acted like all doors were opened for him in this manner. Andy didn't touch Tyler, either. He followed behind us like an angry satellite, moving out the door with a sort of slouching gait, his hands shoved into his jeans' pocket.

Tyler drove a junker about as nondescript as he was—or it had been. Now it was covered in marker. From where I was standing I could make out just a few of the slogans:
I <3 High School Musical. To Wang Fu-Tastic! Somewhere over the rainbow
. . . the last was surrounded by musical notes. And rainbows. There were hearts and stars. And what looked like a dancing pony. Brooke had really gone to town.

Andy examined the front of the car. “Huh, I didn't know
you were Team Jacob. I would have pegged you for Team Edward for sure.”

Tyler swore and rushed at Andy. I stepped in between them and Tyler was surprised into an awkward stop. Unbalanced, he stumbled backward. I stuck my hands into the pockets of my hoodie.

“I understand you're upset—really I do. It's terrible to be labeled and vandalized.” I pretended to think about it. “I mean, I'm assuming that you've been vandalized. I can only guess at the feelings of humiliation you're feeling right now.” I waved at the pristine Karmann Ghia off to my right. “I know if anything happened to my car, well.” Tyler's face went from red to white as he stared at my car. Now I'm not a car dude and I don't think of myself as a petty guy, but I have to admit I felt pretty good rubbing my ride in his face. Too bad he couldn't see Brooke sitting on its hood grinning like a goon.

Some color returned to Tyler's face. “If it wasn't your little
boyfriend
,” he said, giving Andy a little shove. “Then what about this guy?” He didn't touch James. I think he knew instinctively that it wasn't a good idea.

James cocked his head to the side, his arms tucked neatly behind his back. “If I had wished harm upon your car, there would be nothing left.” And something about the way he said it, so matter-of-factly, made you instantly believe it to be true.

“He played lookout!” Brooke shouted happily and I had to suppress a grin.

I patted Tyler's shoulder sympathetically. “Assaulting Andy
is just going to land you in legal trouble, and you don't want that, do you? I didn't think so,” I said without letting him finish.

James gave him a tight-lipped grin and held out his phone. “Do you wish to call the police? Your insurance company? Perhaps a solicitor? If you don't have one, I'm sure mine can suggest a few names who would take you on. . . .” He scrunched his nose at Tyler's rust-heap. “Pro bono.”

Tyler stared at his phone like it was diseased. I bet that getting the cops involved was the last thing he wanted to do. As for insurance, he probably either didn't have it or his parents were still paying for it.

He mumbled something. It sounded like, “Whatever.” Then he got into his car and took off with a squeal, almost hitting the parked car behind him.

“I don't know how you did it,” Andy said. “But I'm more impressed by you now than I've ever been.”

“How did you even know which car was his?” Maren asked James.

“I don't know what you're talking about,” he said. “I didn't go near his . . .
vehicle
.”

“He should clean his car more often,” Brooke chirped. “He had mail and stuff all over his seat. His name was
everywhere
.” She pushed herself off the hood. “I still think I should have pantsed the jerk. Maybe I could follow him,” she mused.

“I admit to nothing but to the fact that I have the best friends on the planet,” I said.

We went to go back into the store. Andy couldn't stop
smiling. “We need to hang out more, man. I like your style.” I blushed from the praise.

Maren punched me in the arm, which just made me turn a darker shade of red. I thought I was going to self-combust. “All I know is you get my discount for
life
.”

Behind me I could hear Brooke going, “Ooooh, you're going to have ten million baaaabies. Frank and Maren sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.” She even had a little dance to go with it. It involved a lot of booty shaking. James walked behind her and sighed. I think he felt we were bringing down his level of classiness.

“They're really immature, like ridiculously so, but my friends rock.” Friends. Plural. Brooke was right. I had changed. My grin was so big I thought my face might crack. I let Brooke continue her booty dance. She'd earned it.

J
AIME
A
DOFF
is the author of
The Song Shoots Out of My Mouth
,
Names Will Never Hurt Me
,
Jimi & Me
,
The Death of Jayson Porter,
and
Small Fry
. He has won numerous awards, including the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award for
Jimi & Me
and the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award (Honor Book) for
The Song Shoots Out of My Mouth
. Jaime's latest novel
The Death of Jayson Porter
won the 2010 Teen Buckeye Book Award, and received starred reviews in
Booklist
and
VOYA Magazine
. Jaime is a highly sought-after speaker, presenting across the country on teen issues, diversity, and YA literature and poetry. Jaime is the son of the late Newbery Award-winning author Virginia Hamilton and renowned poet Arnold Adoff. He lives in his hometown of Yellow Springs, Ohio, with his family. Visit
jaimeadoff.com
.

R
HODA
B
ELLEZA
is a freelance writer and editor based out of Brooklyn, New York.

J
OSH
B
ERK
is the author of
The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin
, named a best book for teens of 2010 by
Kirkus Reviews
and
Amazon.com
. It was also awarded a Parent's Choice Silver medal, a starred review from
School Library Journal
, and a “Perfect Ten” from
VOYA
. His second comedy/mystery teen novel is
Guy Langman: Crime Scene Proscrastinator
. He has previously been a journalist, a poet, a playwright, and a guitarist (mostly in bands known for things other than fine guitar-playing). He is a
librarian and lives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, with his family. Visit him on the web at
www.joshberkbooks.com
.

J
ENNIFER
B
ROWN
is a two-time winner of the Erma Bombeck Global Humor Award. She wrote a weekly humor column for the
Kansas City Star
for over four years, until she gave it up to be a full-time young adult novelist. Jennifer's debut novel,
Hate List
, received three starred reviews and was selected as an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, a
VOYA
“Perfect Ten,” and a
School Library Journal
Best Book of the Year. Jennifer's second novel,
Bitter End
, received a starred review from
Publishers Weekly
. Jennifer writes and lives in the Kansas City, Missouri area, with her husband and three children.

C
HRIS
C
RUTCHER
is the author of such books as
Deadline
,
Whale Talk
, and
Staying Fat for Sarah Bynes
and has been awarded the NCTE National Intellectual Freedom Award, the ALAN Award, the ALA Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, the CLA St. Katharine Drexel Award, and
Writer
magazine's Writers Who Make a Difference Award. His work as a teacher and alternative school director coupled with twenty-five years as a child and family therapist specializing in abuse and neglect has infused his literary work with realism and emotional heft. Crutcher makes his home in Spokane, Washington, and you can visit him online at
www.chriscrutcher.com
.

M
AYRA
L
AZARA
D
OLE
was born in Havana and raised in Miami. Her Americas Award Commended Title,
Down to the Bone
, received a starred ALA
Booklist
review and was nominated for the National Book Awards and ALA Best Books for YA. It made the following lists:
Booklist
's Top Ten Novels, ALA Rainbow List, and CCBC Top Choices. Dole's next YA novel is
Spinning
Off the Edge
. Her essays, articles, Cuban dialect poems, and short stories have been published by
Hunger Mountain
: Vermont College Fine Arts Journal of the Arts,
Cipher Journal
: A Journal of Literary Translation,
Palabra
: A Magazine of Chicano and Latino Literary Art, and other paper and online magazines. Her bilingual picture books,
Drum, Chavi, Drum!/¡Toca, Chavi, Toca!
and
Birthday in the Barrio/Cumpleaños en el Barrio
, were critically acclaimed.

Z
ETTA
E
LLIOTT
was born in Canada and moved to Brooklyn in 1994 to pursue her PhD in American Studies at New York University. Her poetry has been published in several anthologies, and her plays have been staged in New York, Chicago, and Cleveland. Her essays have appeared in
Horn Book Magazine
,
School Library Journal
, and
Hunger Mountain
. Her first picture book,
Bird
, won the Honor Award in Lee & Low Books' New Voices Contest; it was named Best of 2008 by
Kirkus Reviews
, a 2009 ALA Notable Children's Book, and won the Paterson Prize for Books for Young Readers. Elliott is the author of the young adult novels
A Wish After Midnight
and
Ship of Souls
. She is Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies at Borough of Manhattan Community College and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.

K
ATE
E
LLISON
grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, where she took a lot of heat at school for wearing weird-o outfits and for just being, well, generally weird. She has a degree in acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University, has made a pilgrimage on foot across Spain, makes Shrinky-Dink jewelry, and can play two songs now, albeit poorly, on her three-quarter-sized guitar. She hopes to travel often and everywhere and to someday own a large dog. Her first novel is
The Butterfly Clues
.

B
RENDAN
H
ALPIN
is a teacher and a writer. He is the author of several YA novels, both by himself and with co-authors Emily Franklin and Trish Cook, including
Forever Changes
,
Tessa Masterson Will Go to Prom
, and
Notes From the Blender
. He lives in Boston with his wife Suzanne and their three children.

S
HEBA
K
ARIM
was born and raised in Catskill, New York, where she never saw Rip Van Winkle but frequently crossed the bridge that bore his name. She is a graduate of New York University School of Law and the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Her fiction has appeared in
580 Split
,
Asia Literary Review
,
Barn Owl Review
,
Kartika Review
,
Shenandoah
,
South Asian Review
, and
Time Out Delhi
, among others. Two of her stories have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her young adult novel,
Skunk Girl
, was published in the United States, Denmark, India, Italy, and Sweden. She was a 2009–2010 Fulbright-Nehru Scholar and is currently working on a historical fiction novel set in thirteenth-century India. Visit
www.shebakarim.com
.

J
AMES
L
ECESNE
is an actor, writer, and activist. His Academy Award-winning short film,
TREVOR
, inspired the founding of
The Trevor Project
, the only nationwide twenty-four-hour crisis intervention and suicide prevention lifeline for GLBT and, Questioning teens (
www.thetrevorproject.org
). He has published two YA novels,
Absolute Brightness
and
Virgin Territory
, and written for TV and theater including his own one-man show,
Word of Mouth
, which was awarded both a NY Drama Desk Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award.

L
ISH
M
C
B
RIDE
is the author of
Hold Me Closer, Necromancer
, which was a top ten BBYA pick, nominated for the Morris Award, and winner of the Washington State Book Award. This
makes her feel fancy. It also makes her a little obnoxious at times. Her follow-up book is
Necromancing the Stone
. You can find her on the Internet at
LishMcBride.com
. You can find her in real life in Seattle, possibly under a rock.

E
LIZABETH
M
ILES
is a journalist and the debut author of
Fury
. She lives in Portland, Maine, with her boyfriend and two cats, and she just may have a magical defense mechanism of her own. Learn more at
www.elizabethmilesbooks.com
or
www.thefuryseries.com
.

K
IRSTEN
M
ILLER
grew up in the mountains of North Carolina. At seventeen, she hit the road and moved to New York City, where she lives to this day. Kirsten is the author of the
Eternal Ones
series, as well as the acclaimed
Kiki Strike
books, which tell the tale of the delinquent girl geniuses who keep Manhattan safe.