Of Breakable Things by A. Lynden Rolland

was the world’s hourglass. She was finally old enough to recognize that her differences were hindrances. And she was becoming jealous of other girls, and not in the petty ways she always had—this wasn’t about playing sports or riding water slides. The other girls would get to grow up, and they would have children and grandchildren. They would get to live in ways she couldn’t.
    The Lasalles dominated the volleyball sand, and the shimmering flames of the bonfire lit the scene, accentuating the definition of their muscles. They stood like four Adonises while their opponents were mutts, panting pathetically opposite them.
    “Come on, guys, make this a little difficult for us!” Jonas taunted them.
    “Alex, what’s the score?” Kaleb called, fanning himself with the football jersey he’d draped around his neck. “And don’t lie just because you feel sorry for those guys.”
    “We only need one more point to win.” Chase turned and winked at Alex, and she felt her stomach flutter.
    Jonas continued his bantering. “Do you think you guys might be able to score at least one point? Or are you too distracted by the girls?” His gibe was followed by a tittering of high-pitched giggles from their female audience.
    “Stop being so obnoxious,” Gabe ordered.
    Kaleb threw the ball into the air, but he didn’t direct it over the net. Instead, he aimed it at Jonas’s head. It ricocheted off Jonas and spiraled right to the hands of Gabe, who bumped the ball to Chase. Alex watched him spike it as easily as dribbling a basketball.
    Kaleb pumped his fist, and the girls next to Alex began to whoop and holler like a bunch of drunken cowgirls. She scooted away from them, embarrassed. A redhead leaned in close to her. She reeked of seaweed.
    “Your boyfriend is adorable,” she said with a slight slur, holding her cup out towards Chase.
    “Oh. No. He’s not my boyfriend.”
    “Really? But I always see you with him.”
    Another girl leaned forward. “They’ve been inseparable since kindergarten,” she said to her friend. Alex recognized Posey Freebelanger. She had always been rather annoying, but boys liked her because she was curvy and she had a pretty face. Looks were about all she had to offer, because her name was enough to make her a social outcast, and her IQ wasn’t much higher than the SPF on her sunscreen. She’d once invited Alex to a sleepover and convinced her parents to take them to a bounce zone. A bounce zone! Alex had sat on a bench for two hours watching the other kids jump and scream and laugh, and Posey’s mom had complained she’d wasted money paying for Alex.
    The redhead stood up to get a better view of the game, sloshing her drink and staining the sand. She peered down her long nose at Alex and flipped her hair over her shoulder. “You are such a tiny little thing. You must be freezing.” Her comment could have been an attempt to be friendly, but it didn’t properly mask the scorn.
    Alex recoiled from the girl’s grubby fingers. “I’m okay.”
    “Seriously, do you ever eat?”
    One of the girls sitting with Posey could barely keep her eyes open. Sticks and leaves stuck out from her bleached blonde hair. She lifted a shaky finger at Alex. “Wait, you’re that girl. Aren’t you the one who is like … dying?” Posey tried to shush her friend, but Alex had heard the question loud and clear. She eyed the girl’s disheveled hair and wished she was callous enough to say, But somehow I’m not the one who looks like she just crawled out of a grave.
    Redhead pointed to Jonas. “I used to sit next to him in health class,” she said in a scornful voice. “He’s cute, but he’s an ass.”
    Usually Alex reprimanded Jonas for his behavior, but this girl seemed like she deserved it.
    “Chase is better looking anyway. How do you stand having such a gorgeous best friend?”
    Alex wasn’t quite sure if the question was rhetorical.
    Bleach Blonde was swaying in rhythm with the cattails by the