Chasing William by Therese McFadden Read Free Book Online Page A

though, a little hurt too. She didn’t mean upset
Amanda. She just wanted to play. We’d asked her to show off a
little. No wonder we are all starting to drift away and develop our
talents (at least those of us who have talents). This isn’t the
most supportive environment anymore.
    Amanda rolls her eyes and goes back to her
phone call. She cups her hands over her mouth and the phone so we
can’t hear exactly what’s being said, but I hear a lot of “it’ll be
okays” being thrown around. Mars, Pru, Liz, and I all sit around in
a circle. Even Liz is afraid to talk and Mars is starting to look
upset. I don’t know what to do. I’ve had enough of being on
Amanda’s bad side but I feel like I have to say something. No one
else seems to want to go against her. It’s a little surprising
considering how many strong personalities are in the room. Maybe
she’s just always been our alpha. Every girl group is supposed to
have an alpha if you read any literature on the subject. She isn’t
doing a very good job of keeping our group together. If that’s even
what an alpha girl is supposed to do. Sometimes I think being a
teenage girl makes it impossible to really understand the rest of
us. I can’t even understand myself most of the time.
    “Amanda, you can take your phone call
upstairs if it’s really important. You didn’t need to snap at Pru
like she did something wrong. We’re here to hang out with each
other, not talk to our boyfriends. I’m pretty sure Jake can live
without you for a few hours.”
    “Seriously, Cris, like you have a boyfriend
to call. Don’t be jealous.” Somehow she makes covering her cell
phone look like an insult. No one says anything or defends me, not
even Pru. I probably should have kept my mouth shut. “For your
information Jake is really beside himself and he needs someone to
talk to. ” I start to feel a little bad about being angry. “He lost
his brand-new cell phone and now he has to pay for the replacement.
I mean, it’s just not cool. It’s not even his fault he lost it.” I
don’t feel bad anymore. As far as tragedies go I really don’t think
a cell phone ranks the top of the list. I mean, he obviously has
something to call and text Amanda on. How can she not realize
that?
    “So, how are everyone’s college plans
going?” Once Mars gets around to realizing a situation is awkward
she has to do whatever it takes to get things back to normal.
    “Oh, yeah, um, I think I’m gonna try to get
into a conservatory. I’ve been practicing until my fingers bleed.
Which is hard because of how thick the calluses are.” Pru laughs
and looks uncomfortable.
    “That’s cool. You’re lucky to know what you
want to do forever.”
    “Seriously, guys, shut the fuck up!” Amanda
didn’t bother covering her phone this time.
    The rest of us sit around staring at each
other. Even Liz is uncharacteristically quiet. I always thought Liz
would be the one to stand up to Amanda. The two of them have such
stand out personalities it seems like they’d be at odds. Yet they
aren’t. They get along fine. Liz doesn’t even look like she wants
to say anything. Amanda just keeps talking on her phone, not loud
enough for us to hear but loud enough so we know it’d be unwelcome
to start a conversation. The pizza comes and I bring it downstairs.
I think we all have some but I don’t remember eating any of it.
    “Yeah, well, I’m going to go meet Jake.
There’s obviously not much going on here. Have you even turned on
the T.V. ? Some movie night.”
    “Yeah, I guess it’s getting late,” Pru
mumbles, absentmindedly playing with the latches on her guitar
case.
    Everyone makes some excuse to leave. I can’t
blame them. I want to leave too. Only nine o’clock. I guess I could
convince myself I have to get up early for work and that everything
worked out for the best, but I don’t want to. I wish no one would
leave, just let Amanda leave on her own and make her wonder what
she’s missing