““My stomach drops and Darren shifts, making me wobble. Bruno’s eyes don’t even register Darren’s existence. “All right?” He looks down at the foot I’m favoring. “She’s fine,” Darren says before I can respond. “Are you?” Bruno rests his hands on each of my shoulders and hunches so we’re eye to eye. “Stop,” I tell him, shifting back. Of course he’d try to stake a claim on me now when there’s another guy around. Why can’t I get this much interest back at school? Darren releases my arm and takes a step away. I can’t look at him. “Tell me,” Bruno says, dropping to his knees to assess the damage. His skilled fingers glide all the way down my bare leg. My face flames so quickly, my eyes water. “I stepped on a rock. My ankle fell out.” In my periphery, Darren brings a fist up to his mouth to suppress a laugh. Bruno looks up at me, puzzled. “Your ankle…what?” “It twisted or something. It’s no big deal.” I swipe at my forehead with the back of my hand. “You cannot walk. Look.” Bruno whistles and points to my foot. “It is…” He makes a gesture with his hands, but I can see for myself. My ankle is swollen like a baseball. Chiara bounds down the hill to us, spouting something frantic in Italian. Her wide eyes take in the scene and she’s at my side, relieving me of my backpack within seconds. “Pippa! What--” “My foot. Rock. Twist. Really, it’s a lot less dramatic then you’re all making it seem.””
