SelfSame by Melissa Conway Read Free Book Online Page A

two young men had in common was their Native American ancestry.
    As she dressed in loose-fitting jeans and three lightweight layered t-shirts, she knew it would be impossible to push Enid’s world behind her usual barrier. She had a big history test she hadn’t studied for, but couldn’t muster up the slightest bit of concern over the dismal grade she was about to get.
    Overnight a stiff wind had stripped most of the leaves from the old oak. The sky was heavy with dark rain clouds, a fitting atmosphere for her mood.
    Paula greeted her cheerfully with, “Hey, no Loony today,” and it took Sorcha a moment to realize she meant Luanne.
    She got into the car and removed her history book from her backpack. They were studying the Civil War, a time period Sorcha was only marginally familiar with. Paula glanced over at her and said, “You okay?”
    Sorcha thought about telling her about Elizabeth, but figured Paula’s sympathy would break the fragile dam holding back her tears. “Fine. You ready for the test?”
    It was the only class they had together. Paula chuckled and said, “No. You?”
    “I might get a ‘D’ if I’m lucky.”
    A few fat raindrops hit the windshield, so Paula switched on the wipers. Within seconds the drops changed to hail that bounced off the car. Paula was forced to slow down as the hail began coming down heavily, significantly reducing visibility. By the time they got to the school’s overflow parking lot, the downpour had stopped.
    Sorcha was glad she was wearing her faux-fur lined windbreaker and waterproof boots as she forced the car door open against the wind and stepped out into a slushy mud puddle. She and Paula walked a meandering path across the field to avoid more puddles. Paula was watching the ground, so she didn’t see what happened, but Sorcha did.
    On the paved parking lot up ahead, Ben rode his bike past Paula’s crush, Dalton Boyle, and three of his friends. She saw Ben swerve close to the group in order to go around a huge puddle, but his tire hit the edge of the puddle anyway and sent a fine spray up onto the lower half of Dalton’s jeans. Dalton looked down at his pants and sneered in disgust, his teeth flashing white in his dark-skinned face. He shouted an obscenity after Ben, who stopped to look back – only to get a face full of the slushy-snowball Dalton had hastily scooped together from the back of a nearby car. Ben got off the bike and thrust it angrily to the pavement.
    “Oh, no,” Sorcha murmured.
    Paula looked up and asked, “What?” But the scene spoke for itself as Ben stalked over to within about a foot of Dalton, who stood his ground, flanked by his friends. Sorcha wanted to look away, but couldn’t. The young men exchanged angry words, most of which Sorcha couldn’t make out since they were blown away on the wind. As she and Paula got closer, Ben looked over at her. She shook her head faintly, pleading with her eyes for him to back down.
    To her surprise, he did, taking a step back and relaxing his clenched fists. She clearly heard him say, “It was an accident, man.” Dalton didn’t look appeased; in fact, he seemed to become more confident of his superior advantage. His arm shot out and he thumped Ben in the shoulder with the heel of his hand.
    Before Ben could respond, Paula astonished everyone present by screaming, “Dalton Boyle, you leave him alone!”
    The words were quite possibly the first Paula had spoken to Dalton in years. He turned to her, anger and disbelief on his face. “Mind your own damned business!”
    Paula had two flaming patches of red on her cheeks and her eyes were dark with fury. “It’s everyone’s business when it’s four against one! Man up, Dalton.” She spit his name out with all the contempt four years of being ignored by a guy can produce.
    Dalton looked as if she’d slapped him. His jaw was clenched tightly as he glared at Ben and back again to Paula. “Yeah, whatever,” he snapped.
    He began walking away, but