Under the Dusty Sky (Holloway Farms)

spent a lot of time at our place helping my dad figure out how to care for four toddlers and run the farm after Mom just disappeared like dust on the horizon.
    “ Where are you girls off to tonight?” John asks as Judy frantically scrubs the grease from Mason and the counter.
    Lacy shrugs, “Just going to meet up with Mel and Kels at the Dustbowl.”
    “ Don’t be late, Bear. Stay out of trouble. I know what we used to do down there at your age.” He winks, and Lacy rolls her eyes.
    ***
    As we walk down the cracked and deserted sidewalk, the orange of the setting sun makes everything around us either flare to life in golden fire or recede into the darkness of shadow. I momentarily breathe it in with awe. Echo Hill is beautiful because it’s been lived in. The houses are unique, some nice and some run down, and each family has a history that shows in themselves and their surroundings. I can name every home as we make our way to the school. I can recite who they are, how long they’ve lived here, and who owned their house before them. The Hill is beautiful, yes, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to get the hell out of here as soon as I can. Lacy and I walk in silence, and I listen as the breeze whistles through trees, pushing us toward the only place other than the diner we ever hang out. The Dustbowl.
    The Dustbowl’s a massive ditch behind the football field at our school. It’s strange to see them side by side, the greenest, most cared for, piece of land in our town next to what looks like a nuclear test site.
    The middle of the Dustbowl is all sand and zero vegetation. The rumors in town are that a meteorite hit us forever ago and turned just this patch of land to desert. Whatever the truth is, and I don’t much care, it’s aptly named. We take a shortcut around the back of Mr. Duncan’s dilapidated colonial three-story and come out behind the school.
    I can see specks sitting around a tiny fire, their voices carrying across the field but not their words. I jump up onto the lowest bleacher bench lining the field and walk along it until the end zone. Jumping off, I catch up with Lacy to cut across the field. We follow the chain link fence until the final panel where the fence isn’t attached to the post and duck through.
    There are mostly seniors here, Brandon and Dermott being two of them. Kels waves with a plastic bottle that she’s holding in her hand. They’re drinking. They’re always drinking. But what else is there to do around here?
    Dermott moves as if he’s going to stand, and Brandon grabs his shirt and pulls him down. I reach up and unzip the hoodie I’m wearing so that it’s obvious I’m wearing a bikini underneath. I’m tired of being brushed aside by Ben, and I know D will notice. He always notices me. Dermott looks at me the way I want Ben to. Like if I snapped my fingers he’d drop to his knees just because. His eyes unzip me, unravel me, devour me, but I feel nothing behind it. It used to make my stomach jump, make me smile and stand real close to him just to feel the warmth of his body. D’s hot, but not Bentley hot. D is everyday hot. Brown hair, brown eyes, defined features, thick lips that taste good.
    But his smile is just a smile, not like Ben’s. His eyes, while hungry, aren’t all consuming. His touch is rushed and clumsy, not slow and tentative.
    Looking at Dermott, I feel nothing anymore. That tingly, sinky, floaty, vibratey feeling Ben gives me has destroyed it. This makes my stomach drop so fast I have to brace myself. The feeling is just Ben. The Ben Feeling.
    Lacy makes her way to Mel, and they immediately start talking about my brother, as Mel is one of Asher’s closest friends. Lacy steals glances at me and I try to smile encouragingly, but I have my own problems right now. Like the one where I think I have feelings for Ben. Like, actual real feelings.
    This is not good.
    I sit hard beside Dermott, and he leans back so I can scoot in closer, which is a motion that is natural for us. We’ve been like this since I danced with him on my 12th birthday and had my first real kiss. It’s no secret D wants to date me, but I don’t date, and his best friend Brandon hates me for it. His eyes are hotter than the fire as he looks past D to glare at me.
    Unfortunately, when you live in a tiny town you’re either friends with who you’re given or you’re a total loner and loser like Hunter was. My heart clenches at the thought of my brother. The sight of him