Gone

*** *** ***

* Old Ryan *

When I climbed into the Rambler car at the end of the day, Doc was all over me.

“Everybody’s talking about it!” Asher cried, bouncing up and down on the seat.

“Everybody saw it! You saved that guy’s life! You saved Bryce Martinson’s life!”

“I didn’t save his life,” I said, calmly twisting the rearview mirror so I could see how my hair looked.

Perfect. Salt air definitely agrees with me.

“You did so. I saw that big chunk of wood. If that’d landed on his head, it’ve killed him! You saved him, boss. You really did.”

“Well.” I rubbed a little gloss into my lips.

“Maybe.”

“God, you’ve only been at the place one day, and already you’re the most popular girl in area!”

Asher was completely unable to contain himself. Sometimes I wondered whether a slap might have been the answer.

Not that I didn’t like him. In fact, I liked him best out of all of other boys-which I realize is not saying much, but it’s all I’ve got.

It had been Asher who, just the nigh