20 Chapter 20

“Do you want to hear it? Do you already know, Dougie? It’s pretty sad, really. Kind of funny, maybe. Horrifying…That word works, too.”

I thought a moment, trying to decide which it was as I whipped off my jacket, suddenly overcome with the heat.

“No. Not horrifying. Just sad. Sad fits.”

I flung it back over my shoulder.

“I haven’t told anyone else, not a single soul. Not even Freddie, but here goes. Here’s my big, humiliating secret. I’m—2rdquo;

I spun around, cutting off my own words at the intrusive scuffing of footsteps on dirt. Just my luck, the interloper wasn’t a stranger. 3

“Hi.” Preston wiped the sweat from his face onto the shoulder of his shirt.

“What are you doing here?” Waiting for an answer would have been the polite thing to do. Since Ms. Manners was nowhere in sight, I went another way.

“Hey! Stop. I didn’t mean to…”