All the Bright Places

VIOLET
148 days till graduation
Thursday. U.S. Geography.
The 
Bartlett Dirt
has named the top ten suicidal students in school, and my
phone is buzzing because Theodore Finch is number one on the list. Jordan
Gripenwaldt has covered the front page of the school paper with resources
and information about teen suicide and what to do if you’re thinking of killing
yourself, but no one is paying attention to this.
I turn off my phone and put it away. To distract myself and him, I ask Ryan
about the “Wander Indiana” project. He is partners with Joe Wyatt. Their
theme is baseball. They’re planning to visit the county baseball museum and
the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in Jasper.
“That sounds really great,” I say. He is playing with my hair, and to make
him stop, I lean over and pretend to search for something in my bag.
For their wanderings, Amanda and Roamer are planning to focus on the
James Whitcomb Riley Museum and our local farm and history museum,
which is right here in Bartlett and features an actual Egyptian mummy. I can’t
think of anything more depressing than to be an Egyptian high priest on
display next to a set of vintage wagon wheels and a two-headed chicken.
Amanda examines the ends of her ponytail. She is the only person besides
me who is ignoring her phone. “So how is it? Is it awful?” She stops
examining long enough to look at me. “What?”
“Finch?”
I shrug. “It’s okay.”
“Oh my God, you like him!”
“No I don’t.” But I can feel my face turning pink because everyone is
looking at me. Amanda has such a loud mouth.
Thankfully, the bell rings, and Mr. Black wants eyes on him, people. At
some point, Ryan slips me a note because my phone is off. I see it under his
arm, waving at me, and I take it. 
Drive-in double feature Saturday night?
Just you and me?
I write: