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

down in front of him and forcing him to look at me.
    He finally spoke, breaking the silence. “Apparently Ethan said that you’re with Nate, and any friend of Nate is an enemy of his.”
    “If you promise you had nothing to do with Nate’s reaction, we’re behind you all the way. I’m not scared of Ethan, not a bit,” Emma stated curtly.
    I couldn’t believe this was happening. The thing that concerned me most wasn’t that Ethan somehow blamed me for what happened to him. It was that my friends had considered the possibility I was somehow “in” on this with Nate.
    “You shouldn’t even need to ask me. Come on! You know me! How many times do I need to say it? I don’t even know Nate.”
    They seemed thoughtful, as if they’d realized their accusation had been utterly ridiculous.
    Finally, Megan groaned. “I guess if you say you don’t know why Nate blew up on Ethan, I believe you.”
    The backyard was buzzing with activity as the bell rang; students were amassing in the building entrance. We’d promised that we wouldn’t be late for class anymore, and before I could react, Emma ordered, “Let’s move.”
    We advanced in silence toward the main school building. I felt like each of them was still internally debating whether to fully believe me or not. I didn’t want to jeopardize my friendship with them for some stupid fight, and I realized there was only one person who could explain to me what really happened on Saturday—Nate Werner.
    Tyson and Chase went into the science lab, while Megan, Emma, and I continued walking down the hallway to the English classroom. I was upset with Nate because I suspected the real reason he assaulted Ethan had nothing to do with me. There must have been a history between the two of them. I didn’t care what people said, but Nate was going to explain to my face why I ended up in the middle of his problems with Ethan.
    “I need to go to my locker. I’ll meet you in class in a moment,” I told Emma and Megan.
    They went into the classroom, and I waited outside in the hallway, searching for Nate. His car wasn’t in the parking lot, so probably he was nowhere to be seen. I surveyed the corridor, and surprisingly, spotted him taking his books out of his locker. He still seemed to carry himself with the same superiority he always did, not showing any remorse about what happened on Saturday.
    The hallway was still packed with people, and I compulsively began advancing toward him. My vision closed into a tunnel, focusing only on my target. People were whispering as I passed them, but everything around me had become secondary. The only sound present in my mind was the echoing of my steps on the hallway.
    Nate was unpacking his bag, unaware of the storm approaching. When I reached him, I stood between him and his locker. To my surprise he looked shocked.
    “What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be talking to me,” he growled, reaching around me to close his locker.
    Nate turned around to double-check every student in the hallway was indeed staring at us and shifted to the gap between two sets of lockers, motioning for me to follow.
    This was utterly wrong. How could I still feel attracted to him after what he’d done? I used all my energy to block my feelings and focus on my mission: getting the truth out of him.
    As I stepped between the lockers, Nate murmured as though he didn’t want the spectators in the hallway to hear. “Whatever I did to Ethan is my problem, not yours. What you’re doing right now is just a big mistake. Just let it go.”
    Why did he think he could order me to walk away after he got me mixed up in his problems with Ethan? The problem wasn’t that I was talking to him now, but that half the school thought he nearly killed Ethan in my name.
    “Why did you get involved?” I said, staring defiantly into his eyes. “I can look after myself. Don’t you think breaking his nose because he grabbed me is a bit much? I don’t understand what happened,