The Year of the Great Seventh Read Online Free PDF Page A

placing Chase’s blazer under his neck. Then I brought my ear close to his nose to hear that he was still breathing.
    “Sophie, let’s go. The police are going to get here any minute, and Emma and Megan are still waiting in the car,” Tyson said, pulling my arm.
    “Let’s call 9-1-1 first,” I begged.
    Chase grabbed his cell phone out of his blazer pocket and called 9-1-1. Then, dragging me by my arm, he instructed, “They’re on their way. Let’s go.”
    We darted out of the house and drove off of the property. We saw a caravan of police cars speeding up the hill minutes later. After explaining to Emma and Megan what happened, we lapsed into silence, wondering whether Ethan was going to make it. Ethan’s behavior toward me had been inappropriate, but Nate’s reaction had been way out of proportion. None of us could imagine what could’ve brought Nate to commit such an atrocity.
     
     

 
    CHAPTER III

     
    ON MONDAY MORNING, EVERYONE stared at me as I walked to the back of the school bus. I had no doubt why I was suddenly the center of attention. It was okay that Nate had tried to protect me from Ethan—up to a point. But Nate’s crazy overreaction could’ve had nothing to do with me; it’d probably been all about some unsettled business with Ethan. Nate was the center of female attention at school, and that probably bothered Ethan, creating some friction between the two of them. Anyway, I didn’t need Nate to protect me; I was old enough to look after myself.
    “That’s the girl from Saturday’s fight,” one girl sitting in front of me murmured to her friend.
    How could anyone refer to Saturday’s event as “the fight” when a fight could only occur if there was active involvement from both parties? In this case, Nate had physically assaulted Ethan while he was unconscious on the floor, leaving the scene without a scratch. This could be called anything but a fight.
    Two girls turned to look at me, and one whispered to the other, “I heard that Nate had been after Ethan for a while, and last Saturday, he finally found the perfect excuse to give him what he deserved.”
    I didn’t know why they were whispering to each other when I was sitting literally twenty inches from them. If her friend could hear her whispering, I could hear it, too.
    “I also heard that Ethan only has a broken nose, but he’s fine,” the same girl murmured to her friend. “I wouldn’t like to be in that girl’s shoes if Ethan blames her for it,” she added, nodding at me.
    Nate had literally hammered Ethan’s face for what seemed an eternity, and it was a miracle he only had a broken nose. My main concern was that Ethan could think somehow I’d asked Nate to defend me, blowing the consequences of grabbing me out of proportion. Ethan’s family had a lot of connections and, if blamed for what happened to Ethan, they could make sure no one ever spoke to me again. My paranoia was so monumental that I was even concerned about next year’s university application. If Ethan’s father decided to make a few phone calls, he could guarantee I wouldn’t get accepted anywhere.
    “Did you see the school website announcement about the fight?” the girl sitting next to the window asked her friend.
    I wasn’t planning to sit in the bus for half an hour, pretending I couldn’t hear them talking about me. “Excuse me,” I said. “I’m not sure if you think there’s an invisible wall between your seat and mine, but I can clearly hear you.”
    The girl sitting by the aisle fidgeted in her seat and turned to check whether I was talking to her.
    “What’s on the school’s website anyway?” I asked.
    The bus careened along the road at high speed, making us move from side to side each time it took a turn.
    The girl spoke nervously. “There was a statement saying that since the fight happened outside the school boundaries, the law enforcement authorities were going to deal with the matter.”
    After moving a lock of hair away