The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

of some private joke. “What?”
    She sighed and kicked a toe at his backpack, which was lying crookedly against the wall of lockers. “Your book’s in your bag, dumbass,” she announced as she turned away and started walking toward class.
    She heard him groan, followed by the sound of his locker slamming, before he finally caught up with her.
    â€œWhy didn’t you say anything? Sometimes you really piss me off.”
    It was easy to ignore the harsh words when his tone was anything but scolding.
    She shrugged. “It’s fun to watch you scramble.”
    â€œYeah, fun. That’s what I was thinking.”
    Grady Spencer fell into step beside Jay.
    Grady had started out as one of Jay’s friends but had quickly become Violet’s too. When they were younger, in fourth grade, she’d had a crush on Grady, passing him notes in school that asked him whether he “liked” her too. One even had boxes to check “yes” or “no.” He’d picked yes, and they were officially boyfriend and girlfriend for the rest of the year, which only meant that she chased him at recess, and he pretended he didn’t want her to.
    Later, after the first day of fifth grade, she’d cried when she’d realized that they wouldn’t be in the same classroom that year. And that had pretty much been the end of that particular childhood crush. He had moved on to Miranda Grant, a new girl in his class, and Violet fell in love with her fifth-grade teacher, Mr. Strozyk.
    â€œWhat’s up?” Jay asked Grady.
    It was funny to see Grady now, because, like Jay, he’d grownnearly six inches since the last school year, and now he towered over her. Half of the boys in her class had suddenly sprouted and developed into men; the other half were still lingering in boyhood. The girls had been waiting for the boys to catch up for a couple of years, and those who had were considered fair game. It was like open season at White River High School.
    â€œNot much, man,” Grady answered in a deeper voice than she remembered. “You guys going to the game on Friday?”
    â€œâ€™Course. Right, Vi?” Jay said, pretty much answering for her.
    â€œSure.” She shrugged.
    She didn’t mind; she knew they were going. It was autumn, which meant football season. And home games were practically a religion in her town.
    They got to the classroom she and Jay shared this period, but it wasn’t Grady’s class. Instead of walking on, Grady paused.
    â€œViolet, can I talk to you for a minute?” His deep voice surprised her again.
    â€œYeah, okay,” Violet agreed, curious about what he might have to say to her.
    Jay stopped and waited too, but when Grady didn’t say anything, it became clear that he’d meant he wanted to talk to her… alone .
    Jay suddenly seemed uncomfortable and tried to excuse himself as casually as he could. “I’ll see you inside,” he finally said to Violet.
    She nodded to him as he left.
    Violet was a little worried that the bell was going to ringand she’d be tardy again, but her curiosity had kicked up a notch when she realized that Grady didn’t want Jay to hear what he had to say, and that far outweighed her concern for late slips.
    When they were alone, and Grady didn’t start talking right away, Violet prompted him. “What’s going on?”
    She watched him swallow, and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down along the length of his throat. It was strange to see her old guy friends in this new light. He’d always been a good-looking kid, but now he looked like a man…even though he still acted like a boy. He shifted back and forth, and if she had taken the time to think about it, she would have realized that he was nervous.
    But she misread his discomfort altogether. She thought that, like her, he was worried about being late. “Do you want to talk after school? I could meet