Drawing Amanda by Stephanie Feuer Page B

gotta run today.” Inky rushed down the hallway to the lockers. He wanted to get another look at Amanda.
    Inky grabbed his books and headed toward Rungs’s locker, which was near Amanda’s. He looked over in their direction and saw Hawk take her skateboard out of her locker. He quickly looked away. A moment later, standing by Rungs’s locker, he caught a glimpse of Amanda reaching into her locker. He had a full view of the back of her head. Inky could see her hair taper to reveal the back of her neck. As Amanda stood up, he saw a plum-colored strand of hair on her face.
    He looked away, but not soon enough. He felt his checks burn. She’d seen him looking at her. He tried to change his expression from shock to a smile, but it was too late. She’d already turned to listen to whatever Hawk had to say.
    Rungs caught him looking in the direction of Amanda and Hawk.
    “Let it go, dude. Hawk’s a case. Damaged goods,” Rungs said.
    “It’s not that.”
    “Total malware.”
    Inky shook his head. “Right. Get me virus protection.”
    Inky looked back at Amanda one more time and caught a glimpse of the sharp edge of one side of her hair. It was like a current went through him. The part in her hair was jagged like a lightning bolt, just like he’d drawn.
    * * *
    At the Broken Cup coffee house, Inky weaved through the after-school crowd and grabbed a table while Rungs got a sweet tea for him and a double espresso for himself. He thumbed through his sketchbook and looked at his drawings for Megaland. The drawings definitely resembled Amanda—just more grown up and sophisticated. And with a slammin’ haircut.
    Rungs put Inky’s change on the table along with their drinks. They took off the lids of their drinks. While Rungs opened his third sugar, Inky asked, “Did you notice that Amanda’s hair is different?”
    “Huh?”
    “Amanda. The new girl. In your classes.”
    “Yeah,” Rungs said.
    “‘Yeah,’ new haircut, or ‘yeah,’ you know who I mean?”
    Rungs put his coffee down and stared at him. “I know who you mean. Yes, she looked different today.”
    “Last week Amanda had long, wild hair. Now she has a jagged part and bangs with plum highlights.”
    “Dude, you sound like a fashion magazine. You wanna talk about girls’ haircuts?” Rungs sipped his coffee. “You like her.”
    “No.”
    “It’s OK to like a girl.”
    “I don’t know her really. She’s the new girl.” Inky looked down at his tea.
    “There are advantages to new,” Rungs said.
    Like she doesn’t know I’m the walking wounded. At least she didn’t until Hawk got hold of her, Inky thought. “Even if I liked her, that’s not the point.”
    “Dude, that’s big.” Rungs clapped his hand on Inky’s shoulder.
    “Will you listen to me? I don’t want to talk about who likes who.”
    “No?”
    Inky looked around the café and lowered his voice. “I drew her haircut, and then she got it cut.”
    “Say what?”
    “Her haircut. It’s a particular haircut.”
    “So?” Rungs said. “That’s an American girl thing. They’re always getting haircuts.”
    “But not this haircut. It’s my haircut. From my drawing. And she’s not American.”
    “Ooh. You’ve got it bad, dude.”
    “Negatory.” Inky shook his head vigorously.
    Rungs raised his eyebrows. “I detect a case of full-blown like.”
    Inky banged the table. He hated that he was so transparent, hated that he was such a ball of confusion. It was hard to know what you felt when you hadn’t let yourself feel for so long. “Cut it out. She got the haircut just like my drawing. Why did she get that haircut?”
    Rungs shrugged. “She liked how it looked?”
    Inky rolled his eyes.
    “If the art thing fails, you can be a hairdresser.” Rungs held up his fingers like scissors.
    Inky threw a sugar packet at Rungs and shook his head. “She had to have seen my sketchbook. But how? You know I never let it out of my sight.”
    “What about gym?” Rungs said, now taking