Julian. “Here.”
David liked Allie for standing up to Sasha. Sasha was too mean to other girls. He remembered how, a few years ago, some girl skater tried to break Nancy Kerrigan’s leg, and he’d thought, That’s something Sasha would do.
There was a shout, and they looked up to see one of the other runners standing at the top of the hill. “Sasha, Allie!” she called out, her shout scattering the birds from the trees. “What are you doing?”
“Allie turned her ankle!” Sasha called back coolly. “We’ll be right up!”
David edged his backpack over the open hole. Sasha stepped next to him, blocking the girl’s view.
The girl called down, “Is Allie okay?”
“Yes, go back and tell them we’re coming!”
The girl turned around and ran off.
David exhaled slowly, with relief.
“Let’s bury this thing.” Julian squatted, moved the backpack, and put the gun in the hole.
“Pack it deep.” David knelt next to him, shoving mounds of dirt over the gun. His father would kill him if he got in trouble. He had to get good grades and do well. He played varsity tennis and was already a nationally ranked junior player. The next Pete Sampras, his father always said. Meanwhile Sasha and Allie were starting up the hill.
“See you guys,” Sasha called over her shoulder.
“Catch you later,” Julian said, pressing down on the dirt.
“Remember, no telling, Sasha.” David pushed dirt into the hole, relieved to see that it covered the gun completely.
Sasha didn’t reply. “Allie, you have to go fast or she’ll come back.”
“I’m going as fast as I can.”
“Fine,” Sasha said in a way that meant it wasn’t fine.
David packed down the dirt, recognizing Sasha’s tone of voice because his mother used the same one when his father worked late. He wondered when Sasha had turned into his mom, but whatever. She was Julian’s crush, not his.
Julian brushed dirt off his hands. “We need leaves for on top. It can’t look freshly buried.”
“Good idea.” David felt the tension ease in his chest. Julian was smart, even if he was a little weird. They’d been best friends since they both took tennis lessons on the courts at the development. They grew up bonding over forehands and video games like Doom and Donkey Kong and became a doubles team in middle school, winning local tournaments. David was the better player because Julian ran around his backhand. David had taught him not to. Turn your body. Get your racket back. You can do it. That was how David knew Julian didn’t have as much confidence as he acted.
“Here we go.” Julian hurried over with dried leaves and twigs, letting them fall to the ground. “What do you think?”
“Good job.” David could hear the girls arguing as they climbed the hill, then suddenly Allie yelped. He looked over to see Allie sitting on the ground, holding her ankle. Sasha was standing over her, her hands on her hips, another thing that David’s mother did.
Sasha yelled down the hill. “Julian, come here!”
“We’re coming!” Julian stood up, grabbing his backpack, with his tennis racket zippered into the top. “David, we can get the bikes later.”
“Sasha’s in a mood, isn’t she?” David rose and picked up his backpack, too.
“Allie’s such a baby.” Julian started up the hill.
“She’s hurt. She fell on her ankle.”
“It’s not like she broke it.”
“A sprain can hurt worse than a break.”
Julian snorted. “If you’re fat.”
“Shh.” David didn’t want Allie to hear, but he got the feeling that Julian didn’t care. They reached the girls, and David stepped in and took Allie by the arm. “Allie, I’ll help you. All you have to do is stand up. One, two—”
“Not too fast!” Allie said, nervous.
“I’ll go slow, don’t worry. One, two, three.” David eased Allie to a stand and looped her arm around his neck. “There you go.”
“Thanks.” Allie smiled shakily.
“We’ll go ahead.” Sasha started back up the hill, and Julian hurried to fall into step with her. They headed off, laughing and talking in low tones.
David knew they were making fun of Allie, and Allie knew it, too. He wished he could tell her not to care. They climbed the hill slowly, with Allie huffing and puffing, holding on to his neck. He didn’t have a hard time talking to girls, but he felt tongue-tied with Allie, maybe because her sister died. He didn’t know whether to bring up the sister or not, then he thought that if his brother died, he wouldn’t want to talk about it, so he didn’t say anything. Her body felt