Death Wind
William Bell
Desert Slam
Steven Barwin
Down
Norah McClintock
Enough
Mary Jennifer Payne
Exit Point
Laura Langston
Exposure
Patricia Murdoch
Fallout
Nikki Tate
Fastback Beach
Shirlee Smith Matheson
Final Crossing
Sean Rodman
Firewall
Sean Rodman
First Time
Meg Tilly
Foolproof
Diane Tullson
Grind
Eric Walters
Hannah’s Touch
Laura Langston
Heavy Freight
Sigmund Brouwer
The Hemingway Tradition
Kristin Butcher
Hit Squad
James Heneghan
Homecoming
Diane Dakers
Home Invasion
Monique Polak
House Party
Eric Walters
I.D.
Vicki Grant
Identify
Lesley Choyce
Impact
James C. Dekker
Impossible
Jocelyn Shipley
Infiltration
Sean Rodman
In Plain Sight
Laura Langston
In the Woods
Robin Stevenson
Jacked
Carrie Mac
Juice
Eric Walters
Kicked Out
Beth Goobie
Knifepoint
Alex Van Tol
Kryptonite
Lesley Choyce
Last Ride
Laura Langston
Learning Seventeen
Brooke Carter
Learning to Fly
Paul Yee
Lockdown
Diane Tullson
Masked
Norah McClintock
Middle Row
Sylvia Olsen
My Side
Norah McClintock
My Time as Caz Hazard
Tanya Lloyd Kyi
Night Terrors
Sean Rodman
No More Pranks
Monique Polak
No Problem
Dayle Campbell Gaetz
Off the Grid
Lesley Choyce
One More Step
Sheree Fitch
One Way
Norah McClintock
Outback
Robin Stevenson
Overdrive
Eric Walters
Pain & Wastings
Carrie Mac
Picture This
Norah McClintock
Pinch Me
Gabrielle Prendergast
Plastic
Rat
Lesley Choyce
Reaction
Lesley Choyce
Redline
Alex Van Tol
Refuge Cove
Lesley Choyce
Responsible
Darlene Ryan
Riley Park
Diane Tullson
Riot Act
Diane Tullson
River Traffic
Martha Brack Martin
Rock Star
Adrian Chamberlain
Running the Risk
Lesley Choyce
Saving Grace
Darlene Ryan
Scam
Lesley Choyce
Scum
James C. Dekker
Sea Change
Diane Tullson
Shallow Grave
Alex Van Tol
Shark
Jeff Ross
Shattered
Sarah N. Harvey
Skylark
Sara Cassidy
Sleight of Hand
Natasha Deen
Snitch
Norah McClintock
Something Girl
Beth Goobie
Spiral
K.L. Denman
Sticks and Stones
Beth Goobie
Stuffed
Eric Walters
Tagged
Eric Walters
Tap Out
Sean Rodman
Tell
Norah McClintock
The Way Back
Carrie Mac
Thunderbowl
Lesley Choyce
Tough Trails
Irene Morck
Triggered
Vicki Grant
The Trouble with Liberty
Kristin Butcher
Truth
Tanya Lloyd Kyi
Under Threat
Robin Stevenson
Up North
Jeff Ross
Viral
Alex Van Tol
Wave Warrior
Lesley Choyce
The Way Back
Carrie Mac
Who Owns Kelly Paddik?
Beth Goobie
Yellow Line
Sylvia Olsen
Zee’s Way
Kristin Butcher
Chapter One
It was one of those days. School was just school, but I couldn’t take it anymore. I felt the anxiety creeping up inside me. I couldn’t breathe. If somebody looked at me the wrong way I was going to scream. I felt scared, and I was angry too. Angry at myself because I couldn’t control it. When the bell rang at the end of math, I headed for the back door of the school and ran. I was looking for a place to hide.
There were other kids out and about. I slipped between two parked buses but bumped into Josh and Derek. Those two guys had been on my case since I was twelve. Josh was just lighting up a joint. They both looked at me, saw the freaked-out look on my face, I guess, and laughed. I pushed past them and started to run.
I sprinted across the parking lot, but it felt like my legs were going to give out. So I tucked into a space between two green dumpsters and fell on the ground. It was smelly there, and there was trash scattered all around me, but it was a good place to hide. The lid on one of the dumpsters was open and flipped back, creating a roof for me. I sat there in my own little trashy cave and put my hands over my head. I started rocking back and forth like I do sometimes in my bedroom when everything seems too overwhelming. I sat there and felt the full panicky explosion in my brain overwhelm me. I thought maybe I was going to have a heart attack, my heart was beating so fast.
I stayed like that, my eyes tightly closed, for maybe five full minutes. I heard the bell ring and knew I should go to my next class, but I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t face going back into that building. Not now. Maybe not ever again.
When I opened my eyes, someone was standing there looking down at me. At first I didn’t know if it was a guy or a girl. But when we made eye contact, eyes soft and sad, I was pretty sure it was a girl. But she had really short hair and was wearing boy’s jeans and a flannel shirt. She was wearing earbuds, and I could hear music blaring, but my heart was still beating so loudly, the blood pounding in my ears, it was hard to tell what kind.
I must have looked pathetic. I had really wanted to be alone, but I suddenly felt less crazy as she knelt down beside me. She gently pulled my hands from my head and put the earbuds into my ears. The music poured in like liquid and seemed to push out all my crazy thoughts. I closed my eyes again and just listened.
There was an orchestra and a guy singing like he was in a choir. Somehow he was taking me to some safe and peaceful place. And somehow this person standing here in front of me and I were connected. And not just by these thin little wires. Really connected.
I didn’t move until the song was over. T
hen the girl took the earbuds out and tucked them in her shirt pocket.
We hadn’t even spoken yet. But we’d been spotted.
Suddenly Josh and Derek were looking at us. They started banging on the metal lid. The sound was loud and frightening. Josh was laughing now. Pointing and laughing. “What are you two freaks doing?” Derek said. “Having a weirdo convention or what?”
Derek banged on the metal lid some more, and I felt the panic rising again.
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