Burn for Burn

I’M PERCHED ON TOP OF THE TOILET, HUGGING MY KNEES to my chest.

The stall door swings open. That spitting girl from this morning stares back at me. The pretty Asian girl is standing next to her, and her white sweater has a big stain across the front.

“Who are you?” Kat demands.

“I’m Mary.” I swallow hard. “Nice to meet you.”

Kat says, dryly, “You too.”

“What are your names?”

This seems to catch them both off guard. “I’m Kat, and this is Princess Lillia.”

The Asian girl gives her a dirty look. “It’s just Lillia.” Then she narrows her eyes on me. “Why are you hiding in here?”

“Umm . . . no reason.” It’s hard to look her in the eye, since I’ve been listening to her crying for the last ten minutes. It doesn’t seem right, someone so pretty and popular should have anything to cry about. Whatever it is, it must be bad.

Lillia flicks her hair over her shoulder. “You’re obviously upset about something. Or maybe you just enjoy spying on people in bathrooms?”

Kat slouches against the open door. “Let me guess. You hooked up with some guy over the summer. You let him feel you up, and now he doesn’t even remember your name.”

“Not even close,” I say, and bite down on my lip. I’m not sure I should tell these girls anything. After all, Lillia is in Reeve’s circle. She’s friends with him. And Kat . . . well, she’s just scary. “I saw someone I used to know. That’s all.”

“Who?” Kat says. I can tell by the way she slouches against the door that she’s not going to let me leave until I tell her.

“This guy. He . . . used to torture me when we were in seventh grade. He basically got everyone in our grade to hate me. He’s the reason my family moved away. Anyway, I saw him today, for the first time in four years, and he didn’t even recognize me. After everything he did.” Some of my hair slips into my face. I push it behind my ear.

“How old are you?” Lillia asks me, quieter and softer this time.

“Seventeen.”

Kat asks, “And you’re originally from the island? Which middle school did you go to?”

“I’m from here, but I went to Belle Harbor Montessori, on the mainland.” I used to ride the ferry every day to school and back. Me and him.

Kat shakes her head and says, “Reeve.”

My eyes widen. I’m nervous that she figured it out so fast, but I’m also strangely comforted. “How did you know?”

“Who else could it be?” Kat says, holding to the stall door open for me. “We go way back.”

I climb down. Lillia moves back over to the sink and wets a paper towel. “I’m not surprised. Reeve’s basically a Neanderthal,” she says, dabbing her front. “He ruined my sweater.”

Tentatively, I say, “I thought you guys were friends. I saw you together this morning.”

Lillia sighs. “We’re not friends, but we’re not not friends.”

Kat rolls her eyes. “Great answer, Lillia.”

Right away I say, “Please don’t tell him you saw me.” The last thing I want is to have Reeve hear that I’m still crying over him.

The bell rings, and Lillia pulls a tube of cherry ChapStick out of her shorts pocket and rubs it on her bottom lip. She presses her lips together with a pop. “Don’t sweat it. I’ve already forgotten your name.” She looks at Kat and says, “Gotta run,” and then walks out.

Kat watches her go, and when the door swings closed, she says to me in a low voice, “Hey. So, Lillia was crying, right?”

I look at my sandals. That’s private. I shouldn’t even have been in here.

“Did you hear her say anything? What was she upset about?”

“No. Nothing.”

Kat sighs, disappointed. “Where are you supposed to be right now, Mary?”

“I don’t even know.”

“Where’s your schedule?”

I look in my bag, but I can’t find it. “Um, I think I have chemistry now.”

She pushes her bangs out of her eyes and peers at me. “Wait, aren’t you a senior? Why haven’t you taken chemistry yet?”

I wet my lips. “I got really sick at the end of seventh grade, so I was held back a year.”

“That sucks. Well, the science department is over on the east side of the building. You’re going to have to book it over there to make it in time.” She pauses. “Listen, don’t let that jackhole Reeve get to you. Karma’s a bitch. He’ll get his.”

“I don’t know,” I say. “I mean, I wish I could believe it. But Reeve seems fine. I’m the one who’s been hiding in the bathroom all morning.”

“He’s not worth it,” she says. “None of these people are. Trust me.”

Gratefully I say, “Thanks, Kat.” She’s the first person to really talk to me today.

I follow Kat out of the bathroom. She makes a left and heads down the hall. I watch her go, discreetly, in case she might look back at me.

She doesn’t.