Page 11

Noble turned to me. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” I said, noticing that another crowd had gathered, murmuring again, but this time a little less enthusiastic.

Elise used to be my friend. A great friend, actually. In sixth grade though, everything changed, and it became really clear that a tomboy with six brothers was never going to fit in with Elise and the other girls.

I’d accepted it, and I could handle myself with anyone else in the school—even Chet, who knew not to mess with me because of my brothers—but I still hadn’t figured out how to stand up to her.

Until Noble.

Chet and his friends started laughing, pointing at the two of us, then turned to walk away.

Noble looked at me, clearly debating his next move.

I shook my head slowly, a silent warning that it wasn’t worth making an enemy of Chet Cline or possibly getting suspended on his first day, but I have brothers. I understood that in times like these, common sense went out the window.

“Hey, Tubby,” Noble hollered to Chet’s back.

Chet stopped, and the rest of the hallway stopped moving with him. He turned around slowly and glared at Noble. “Oh, I know you’re not talking to me.”

Noble stood, straightened his shirt, picked up the sandwich from the ground and walked over to Chet. He pulled apart the two pieces of bread. “Littering is frowned upon at Silverwood High.”

He smashed both halves of the sandwich, peanut butter side up, into Chet’s chest. One of the other guys tried to quick grab Noble from behind, but Noble didn’t hesitate. He spun around and pushed the guy so hard he careened into a wall of lockers, crumpling to the ground in a heap.

Chet lunged and took a swing at Noble, who ducked. Chet swung wildly again, and Noble easily sidestepped him. Fast as a scalded dog, Noble launched at Chet, wrapping his arms around Chet’s midsection and waist, like a football player with a tackling dummy, barreling into him and slamming him up against the wall. Chet grunted, hat flying off, arms askew. He folded in half, clearly hurt and the wind knocked out of him.

Noble reached down, grabbed Chet by the front of his shirt with both hands and righted him by slamming him up against the lockers one last time.

“You done now?” Noble said, two fistfuls of Chet’s shirt balled up in his hands.

Chet coughed, trying to grab air, and then nodded, his jaw clenched.

Without breaking eye contact with him, Noble motioned toward me with his head. “And tell your sister to leave her alone.”

Chet looked at me, then closed his eyes and nodded.

Noble let go of Chet’s shirt and took a step back. Chet swiped his hat off the floor, gathered his friends, and scrambled down the hall, shouting at people to get the heck out of his way.

I looked at Noble, whose back was facing me. I could tell by his shoulders moving up and down that he was breathing heavy.

I picked up my things, walked up to Noble, and stopped. He turned his head to glance at me.

I looked at him, but didn’t say a word. I just smiled a small smile and nodded.

He nodded back.

Instant connection.

“You’re really dumb, you know that?” I said.

He shrugged. “Never been accused of bein’ smart, so . . .”

Those were the last words we said to each other for the rest of the school day.

I wasn’t the one who told my brothers what happened in the hallway, but by the end of school, heck, in the next half hour, everyone knew. The final bell rang, and we all piled into our old pickup truck and started out of the parking lot when my brother West spotted Noble walking out of the main entrance.

“That him?” he asked.

I groaned. “Yes.” I knew what was coming, and I wasn’t looking forward to it. I appreciated what Noble did, but I didn’t need any of these boys sticking up for me. As far as I was concerned, all he’d done was make the target on my back even bigger.