Through to You by Lauren Barnholdt Page B

phone.
    â€œI’m not getting red,” I say, even though I can feel my cheeks heating up. I’m annoyed, so I crumple my paper fry container into a little ball and wipe the salty grease off my fingers with a napkin. “I think I’m going to go back to school. I have a paper to work on anyway.”
    â€œOh, come on, Harper,” Anna says. “Don’t take it so personally. We were just goofing around. Weren’t we, Nico?”
    She turns to him for help, but she’s lost him. He’s still texting on his phone, probably with his friends from the basketball team, or one of the girls he’s always trying to get with.
    â€œI’m out,” he says, standing up and totally ignoring Anna’s comment. He turns and looks at me. “We were just teasing you, Harper,” he says, his eyes softening. “Sorry if you’re upset.” He squeezes my shoulder as he passes by. “I’ll text you later.”
    â€œOkay,” I say. I appreciate that he’s saying he’s sorry. But I’m still hurt.
    I wad my napkin up and take the last sip of my Diet Coke. “I’m going to go,” I say. I stand up, not really wanting to get into a fight with Anna, but not wanting to let her off the hook either. It’s one thing for Nico to mess around with me—he’s astupid, clueless boy who already has something against Penn—but it’s another thing for Anna to do it.
    â€œHarper, come on,” she says, rolling her eyes. “I said I’m sorry.”
    â€œIt’s fine.” I shrug, but I can feel the anger dissipating and turning into hurt. Tears poke at the backs of my eyes, and I turn and blink them away. And that’s when I see them.
    Penn. And Sienna Malcolm. They’re sitting at the same table, their legs touching as she licks an ice cream cone. There’s a box of chicken nuggets on the table in front of them. Penn grabs for one, and Sienna pushes his hand away playfully.
    I turn back toward Anna, and she sees it on my face.
    â€œHarper, I’m sorry. I swear, if I had known it was going to make you this upset, I wouldn’t have—”
    I shake my head. “It’s not you,” I say.
    â€œThen what?”
    I give a slight nod to the side, over to where Penn and Sienna are sitting. Anna looks, and her eyes widen. “Oh,” she says. “Okay.” She nods, getting it, finally.
    She takes my hand and starts leading me to the parking lot.
    The only good part of the whole thing is that we’re out of there before Penn has a chance to see me.

Penn
    I saw her. I saw Harper, and I’m pretty sure she was upset.
    Not that I blame her.
    I’ve been acting like a complete and total asshole.
    I kissed her, and then I didn’t talk to her for two weeks.
    I kept telling myself that I would, that I’d call her or text her, or say hi to her at school, or maybe even show up at her dance studio. But I didn’t do any of those things.
    After a few days I told myself it was because of my dad. He’s still not home, and no one knows where he is. My mom is baking more than ever. But after a few days of that, I realized what it really was.
    I was scared. Harper was someone I could get attached to. Someone who would want to talk about things, who mightwant to get close. And I don’t want that. Not now. Probably not ever.
    But now, seeing her face like that, all upset, makes me feel like a stake is being driven through my heart.
    â€œYou need to buy me more chicken nuggets,” Sienna says.
    â€œOh yeah?” I ask, taking another one. “Why’s that?” I’m distracted, watching as Harper’s friend Anna leads her toward the parking lot.
    â€œBecause you’re eating mine!” She reaches over and grabs the nugget out of my hand and pops it into her own mouth. Then she goes back to texting on her phone.
    This is about as deep as my conversations with Sienna get,