Surviving High School

“bro.” 
 Senior = prom potential. 
 Senior = gone next year. 
    The list went on for several more rows. Some of the cells were highlighted in different colors, which seemed to indicate Kimi had developed a scoring system for weighting each quality, but it was way too complicated for Emily to understand.
    EmilyK14: Sounds like a winner.
    ChEnigma22: Yeah… Except I heard a rumor that he’s already dating Paula de Veer. And he’s never even said hi to me.
    EmilyK14: Aw. YOU just gotta say hi.
    ChEnigma22: When? He’s always with his posse of dudes at school. I need to catch him when he’s DJing. Like at aparty. Too bad we NEVER GET INVITED.
    ChEnigma22: Not that you care, I guess…
    Emily thought of Ben Kale at one of his parties, bored, looking for someone to talk to.
    EmilyK14: Actually I sort of wish we could go to a party, too. Not that my dad would let me.
    ChEnigma22: !!!
    ChEnigma22: There’s hope for you yet! We’re GONNA make this happen!
    ChEnigma22: Er. Eventually.
    ChEnigma22: Like by the time we’re seniors.
    EmilyK14:
    ChEnigma22: Aw! G2G. But sorry again about missing u at lunch. Any adventures w/o me?
    Emily stared at the screen for a moment, her fingers hovering over the keys.
    ChEnigma22: U there?
    EmilyK14: Nah. Nothing major.
    ChEnigma22: K. Sleep tite! See u tomorrow!
    EmilyK14: Nite.
    Emily logged off, closed her laptop, and flopped onto her bed. She felt bad for holding back, but the story of today’s swim practice was just too embarrassing to talk about.
    More than that, she’d wanted to tell Kimi what had happened with Nick, but when the time had come, she just couldn’t type the words. Hey, you know that guy who was driving the night Sara died? Well, I totally bumped into him today in the cafeteria! Ugh. What a bunch of stupid drama. Why couldn’t Nick Brown have left her alone? They just had to make it through one year, and then he’d be gone.
    Emily pulled off her jeans and T-shirt and slipped under the covers. No matter how long she showered after practice or how much shampoo she used, her hair still smelled of chlorine afterward. Her pillow reeked of it. But Emily had gotten used to the smell; it was her sister’s and her own.
    In the dark of her bedroom, with the covers pulled tight around her, she could almost imagine everything was fine. She tried to concentrate on things that made her happy: the trophies lining her wall, the feeling of water on her skin, and Ben Kale.

CHAPTER FOUR
    The next time Emily saw Ben was right before swim practice. School had just ended for the day, and most of the other kids had already left. Emily was at the intersection of the school’s three main hallways and the long corridor leading to the indoor pool when she saw two figures approaching fast. One was medium-sized, the other huge: Ben and Spencer. She could just barely make out what they were saying as they ran toward her.
    “Mission accomplished,” said Spencer as they neared Emily. “Dominique is going to freak. I totally owe you one.”
    “Are you kidding?” asked Ben. “This is the most fun I’ve had all year.”
    As they reached the intersection, Spencer pointed down a hallway to his right.
    “Better split up,” he said. “Rendezvous at your place in thirty?”
    “I’ll see you there.” Looking around, Ben noticed Emily for the first time. Pausing to catch his breath, he said, “Hey, it’s you. Yogurt.”
    Emily frowned. This wasn’t how she’d imagined their next conversation going.
    “My name isn’t Yogurt.”
    “Sure,” he said. “Look. Do me a favor. If school security comes by, tell them I ran that way, okay?” He pointed down a random hallway before turning toward the door to the girls’ bathroom. “Oh—there’s no one in there, right?”
    “I don’t—” But before Emily could say another word, Ben had slipped inside. She stood stupidly for a moment, waiting to hear shrieks from inside. Everything was quiet. Lucky guy.
    She hesitated. Practice would be starting soon, and her dad didn’t appreciate tardiness, to say the least. But if she waited here long enough, Ben would come out of the bathroom and talk to her. Maybe he’d even learn her name.
    As she waited, a man in a brown school-security uniform ran up. He looked down at her menacingly through dark sunglasses. The name tag on his chest read OFFICER MONTE .
    “Hey, you,” he said. “See anyone run by?”
    He scratched a bead of sweat from his black mustache and rubbed it against