Bad Idea by Erica Yang Read Free Book Online Page A

completely exempt them from her
contempt for the previous generation.
    “Yeah, probably.”
    Jo sat in her usual spot, on the floor tucked
against the foot of Daisy’s bed, her body folded up small. In that
posture, her hair seemed bigger than she did, and she looked much
younger than she was. The clothing she tried so hard to make
sophisticated might as well have been the flower-printed dresses
she’d worn as a young girl. Jo looked up at Daisy, her face
wrinkled with concern.
    “Look, are you okay? I know I’ve been bugging
you the past couple days. I guess I just never thought there would
be something you didn’t want to tell me.” Before Daisy could again
protest that there was nothing, Jo held up a hand. “I know it’s not
nothing.”
    Daisy sighed. She didn’t really want to lie
to Jo. She thought about what it would be like if she didn’t have
to hide. What if it had been okay for Jo to see all those
movies the website recommended? What would it be like to show Jo I Can’t Think Straight, and try to explain why she loved it
so much?
    “You’re right,” Daisy said. “It’s not
nothing.” She took a deep breath. This wasn’t just gathering her
courage. This was something more than that. She couldn’t even
imagine saying the words she needed to say.
    Jo didn’t wait for Daisy to form her
admission. “I knew it!” she said. “You like someone! What’s the
matter with him? Why don’t you want me to know who he is?”
    Daisy closed her mouth, her stomach churning
again. Jo didn’t even consider the possibility that Daisy liked a
girl. What if that meant she wasn’t ready to know about it?
    “Come on!” Jo said. “If you’re worried
because it’s somebody I used to date, it’s really fine. If I broke
up with a guy, it’s because I didn’t want him.”
    “I’m not into anyone you used to date.”
    “Then who is it?”
    Riva. It was one word. Two syllables.
Daisy whispered the name to herself all the time, trying it out in
different tones. She knew how she would want to say it after a
first kiss, and she knew how she would want to call it across a
room.
    It wouldn’t come out now. She shook her head.
“Jo, I’m sorry. I just really don’t want to talk about it. Can you
understand that?”
    Jo pouted. Daisy knew she couldn’t comprehend
the nature of a secret that needed to be kept even from her.
    “Please,” Daisy said. “I swear that if I was
ready to tell anybody, it would be you.”
    Relenting just slightly, Jo rested her chin
on her knees. “Fine. But you’d better not be into a teacher.”
    “I’m not. I promise I’m not.”
    “Okay, fair enough. Let’s watch the
movie.”
    That was as much forgiveness as Daisy was
going to get from Jo unless she was willing to come out. It had to
be enough. She turned back to the website and picked the one she
least wanted to watch, as if that secret sacrifice could make up
for her lack of trust.
    * * * *

Chapter 6: A Stranger’s Skin
    Riva took a long, long walk with her phone,
trying not only to get away from home but also to get away from
anyone who might ever recognize her. She walked past convenience
stores and empty houses. The few people she passed all seemed
stunned by the heat, their T-shirts wet along the sides. Riva knew
she smelled as sweaty as they looked. She scuffed her sneakers
against the gravelly road as she walked, not picking up her feet
enough. Everything seemed so wide and flat and open here, as if not
even the possibility of privacy existed.
    She got half-lost along the way, missing her
hometown with the now-familiar pang at the bottom of her lungs. If
she’d been back in Jersey, she would have known a million places to
hide, favorite spots she’d been visiting with her best friend Casey
since they were children.
    Of course, if she had a car like Daisy, she
might not miss home so much. Then she could drive to the beach
whenever she wanted and enjoy the benefits of being in this hot,
humid state. A car and the