Frannie and Tru by Karen Hattrup Read Free Book Online Page B

my mouth shut.
    I waited for him to keep walking, but he was staring at the moon. I squinted into the darkness of the park and thought of my trip to the safe, imagining that one night we might drink the vodka with Sparrow and her cousin and his friends. I could tell Tru about it now, but I was worried it might seem weird and silly that I’d buried it in the woods. Instead, I kept quiet, thinking again that I would save it for something special, some big moment when I could produce it like magic. . . .
    â€œFrannie?” He said my name cautiously. “Do you know why I’m here?”
    Cicadas chirped. A distant roar came from the lacrosse field.I tried to gather myself, searching for the little speeches I’d been writing in my head all day, but I couldn’t remember the words that had seemed so right at the time. I wished I could just tell him in some simple, graceful way that I didn’t care, of course I didn’t care. I didn’t think it was wrong or weird and I wanted to him to know that, but I didn’t know how to say it.I managed to mumble something about having overheard my parents in the yard.
    â€œI’m not supposed to know, I guess, but I do. I know that you’re . . . um . . .”
    The rest got caught in my throat.
    â€œYou know that I’m . . . ?” Tru let the sentence trail off, just as I had. When I still said nothing, he saved me by filling in the blank.
    â€œYou know that I like boys?”
    At first I opened and closed my mouth like a fish. Finally, I found some words.
    â€œAnd I heard them say that your parents sent you here, because they needed some time—because they found out? And I think that it’s awful. Your mom and dad, I mean. I just think it’s awful. They shouldn’t care. No one should care.”
    I’d said it all with my head down, but now I looked up and saw him hesitate. There was a flash of darkness that came over his face, quickly replaced by a smirk.
    â€œSo you’re one of the more progressive Catholic schoolgirls, huh?”
    I was afraid for a moment that I’d lost him for good, that I’d become a kid to him, like I’d been at the train station when hefirst saw me. But then his face resettled into a friendly look. I was still holding the end of the joint, and he motioned to me that I should drop it in the grass. I did, and he stepped on it, put an arm around me.
    â€œSorry, Frannie. Only kidding. I’m glad you said that. I really am. Now let’s go home.”

SIX
    There was a loud snap, and I flinched awake.
    Mom had opened the blinds and was hovering over my bed. As I blinked her into focus, the entirety of last night returned to me in a flash.
    She’s here because of what you did. She knows everything.
    Panic rang through me like an alarm. I squirmed and kicked the sheets, trying to sit up. Already, half-formed lies were perched and waiting on my lips. My eyes met hers.
    â€œWe’re going to the beach,” she said. “Be ready in twenty.”
    Moments later she was down the hall, fist pounding against Jimmy and Kieran’s door as she told them what she’d just told me. I looked at the clock—nine thirty a.m.
    Voices rose from the dining room below. Tru was talking to my father, and the two of them were laughing. I heard Dad ask Truif he wanted the sports section. Creeping out of bed and toward my bedroom door, I hoped I might catch more, but then Mom was yelling from the hallway, telling me to move, move, move. I scrambled, yanking at drawers and digging out my swim clothes and flip-flops. I started to grab my chemistry workbook, which had arrived in the mail yesterday and was supposed to prepare me for next year. But then I thought about how ridiculous that was—what kind of loser brings homework to the beach? I shoved it under the bed and went in search of my sunglasses. Nothing was where I remembered, and I was completely distracted. Scenes from