“A boy who was such a threat to my mental health and happiness should not be so tall.”

“The TV said you should ignore bullies and they would stop harassing you. In practice this worked about half the time. The other half, you ended up with two tall boys shadowing you through a trailer park, their fingers taking little nips at your clothes, like dogs.”

“My brother is a very bad policeman. So . . . you’re coming to school, right?” Doug“Nnnnnnno.” Zoey“Come so you can be around people,” Doug coaxed. “I don’t think you should be alone today.”“I think I definitely should.” Zoey “Come so I won’t worry about you.” Doug ;]”

“Adam found a break through the thicket and up the hill. He turnedaround and extended his hand to help me up.I froze, staring at him in the thick heat, leaves tickling my legs. Boys did not help girls. Not in my experience, anyway. When I was one of the boys, they tromped aheadof me and never once looked back to see if I was still there, much less in need of assistance. Boys had helped me only recently, when they wanted something.No, this walk through the woods would not be innocent.Taking his hand, I said, “Fank woo.”“Hm,” he laughed with his mouth closed.”

“I said, have you seen your butt?""Is that a rhetorical question?" I craned my neck to take a gander at my backside.Chloe clarified, "She means you have 'boy toy' written across the back of your jeans.""Oh." I nodded. "They're Josh's.""You say that as if it explains everything." She cocked her head to one side and considered me while buttoning her cardigan. "My stepbrothers dont write 'boy toy' across the back of their jeans.They only say the entire alphabet while burping.""That's nothing.Josh can recite the Gettysburg Address.”

“That's right.Forteen-year old boys have better taste than you.They think I'm hot." I licked my fingertip and stuck it on my butt. "Tsssss."And with that,I propelled myself across the slope and skidded to a stop at one end of the trick rail. "Quick," I told the boys, "act like you think I'm hot."Chloe cracked up.josh stared blankly at me.His friends blushed deep red,but they weren't claiming it."Thanks for your support," I told them. "Look without looking like your looking.Is Nick gone?”

“Boys are two years behind girls in maturity level.”