Surviving High School

the wet taffeta slipped out from under her. She tried to steady herself, but it was no use. She stumbled forward over the ledge and into the pool.
    Emily turned around to see a furious Dominique treading water. Her face was so angry and contorted that Emily felt an urge to call an exorcist. At the far end of the pool, Hannah, Amanda, and some of the other popular girls, who had witnessed the whole exchange, were laughing so hard they were crying.
    “So that’s how it’s going to be,” said Dominique.
    “No, wait,” said Emily. “I didn’t mean—”
    “Save it,” said Dominique. “There’s no stopping me now. I’m coming at you with everything I’ve got. Watch your back from here on out, Kessler. There’s a target on it.”
    An hour later, Emily sat in the passenger seat of Samantha’s truck—definitely not her first choice for a ride home, but Kimi and Phil had disappeared without warning, leaving Emily stranded, and Samantha had begrudgingly offered her a lift.
    Normally, Emily’s eyes would have bulged at the sight of the speedometer’s needle pointing well past eighty, and her pulse would have quickened as the scenery rushed by, but tonight her only thoughts were of Ben Kale. She looked down to see the T-shirt and sweatpants he’d lent her, and a warm feeling radiated from her chest as she remembered jumping after him into the pool.
    “What are you smiling about?” asked Samantha. “Your little boyfriend back at the party?”
    “Ben’s not my boyfriend,” said Emily.
    “Too bad,” said Samantha. “You’re kind of cute together.”
    “Really? You think so?”
    Samantha rolled her eyes and muttered something that sounded like freshmen .
    “Whatever,” said Emily. “It doesn’t matter. It’s not like he’ll actually ever be my boyfriend. It was fun hanging out, but I’m way too busy for, you know, date nights and going out to dinner and a movie, and dances and stuff.”
    “Too busy?” asked Samantha.
    “My life—” started Emily. “It’s scheduled down to the minute. I wake up, eat, head to school, swim for three hours, dinner, homework, stretching, maybe an hour to talk to people online, and then I’m so exhausted that I fall asleep the minute my head touches the pillow.”
    “It sounds like you’ve got a pretty packed schedule,” said Samantha.
    “Definitely.”
    “But on the other hand…” Samantha trailed off.
    “What?”
    “Well, you did make it out to the party tonight.”
    “This was a onetime thing.”
    “Right,” said Samantha. “Of course.”
    Emily crossed her arms and glanced over at Samantha, trying to get a read on her. With her freshly shaved head and her motorcycle jacket, Samantha looked more like a heroine out of a postapocalyptic zombie movie than a high school girl. It was hard to believe they were talking about something as mundane as boys.
    “Busy, busy girl,” Samantha added.
    “You’re making fun of me,” said Emily.
    “You’re pretty observant.”
    As they neared Emily’s street, she told Samantha to stop and let her out a block from home.
    “Daddy doesn’t know you left?” asked Samantha.
    “Does yours?”
    Samantha shrugged and smiled. She pulled over to the street corner and killed the engine.
    “Probably not,” she admitted.
    Emily opened the door and stepped out of the truck.
    “Anyway,” she said, “thanks for the ride.”
    She closed the door and had taken a few steps toward home when she heard Samantha’s voice calling after her.
    “Hey, Kessler! If your sister had time for a boyfriend, so do you.”
    Emily turned to respond, but by the time the words had sunk in, Samantha’s engine had already roared to life. In allher years around a pool, Emily had only belly flopped off a diving board once or twice. Now, she had that same feeling, as if all the air had been pushed out of her.
    “Your sister had time for a boyfriend.”
    Emily watched in silence as the older girl’s taillights disappeared into the distance.
    “Your sister had… a boyfriend.”
    It was impossible, right, to live in the same house as someone for more than a dozen years without really knowing her? And yet—Emily’s parents knew nothing about Ben. Emily had never mentioned him, and she’d sneaked out to his party without them knowing. Was it possible that Emily herself had been just as clueless about Sara’s love life?
    Emily turned and started walking home, the words echoing in her mind. What if what Samantha had said was true? What