Why I Let My Hair Grow Out by Maryrose Wood Page A

pointed the camera at Heidi’s tits and zoomed in so they filled the frame. If only this thing had a wide-angle lens—that would be awesome.
    â€œCan you see Colin? And the bike?” Heidi asked, through her frozen smile. “I want to see the bike also.”
    â€œGot it,” I said. And I snapped the photo.
    â€œDanke schön!” said Heidi.
    â€œNo problemo,” I said, tossing the camera back to her. My throw was wild, and she had to jump to catch it.
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the sad thing about digital cameras is that you can look at the photo right away. Out of the corner of my eye I’d watched Heidi look at the camera’s viewscreen and get confused. Then Colin looked too. Then they’d called Lucy Faraday over to take another picture.
    I hightailed it back to my bike, tossed my helmet on the ground (it was making my head too hot, I decided) and prepared to kick off. Lucia could ride with someone else. I was in no mood to be anyone’s buddy right now.
    It was only after I was sitting on my bike about to make my getaway that I realized I did have a problemo, and that problemo was I needed a map for the afternoon, because how the hell did I know where we were supposed to go? And Colin had the maps. We were supposed to get one from him on our way out.
    No way was I going to interrupt his worshipping-Heidi’s-buttfest to ask him for a map now. I figured they must be in the van, so I hopped off my bike again and snuck over to the van as invisibly as I could. I’d grab a map and hit the road before anyone could react to my innocent, whimsical tit-photo prank.
    I opened the front passenger-side door of the van and started rummaging around the mess of papers on the seat. Map, map, where was the map. . . .
    â€œHey,” Colin said. He was leaning casually on the driver-side door. The window was open. “Whatcha lookin’ for, Mor?”
    â€œMap,” I said. I kept rummaging.
    â€œI’ve got ’em right here. No need to tear the place apart.” He reached into his shirt pocket and took out a wad of folded papers. He offered one to me, leaning through the driver-side window and reaching all the way across the front seat to where I was. I took it and shoved it into the pocket of my hoodie without opening it.
    â€œWant me to go over it with you? There are some tricky bits.” I wished he would stop looking at me. It was making it hard not to look back and I was in no mood for eye contact.
    â€œIt’s just a map,” I said. My voice was getting stuck in my throat for some reason. “I’m not stupid. I’ll figure it out.”
    The window opening of the van door framed Colin as if he were a photograph. “ ’Twasn’t your idea to come to Ireland, was it?” he said. A real brainiac, that Colin. Maybe he should be a “leader of tomorrow,” like Raph.
    â€œNope.”
    â€œWell.” He leaned in through the window and lowered his voice. “Doesn’t matter. You’re here now. Don’t act the bitch, all right, Mor? Doesn’t suit you really.”
    I was so surprised I didn’t know what to say.
    â€œSee ya later then.” He opened the door and climbed behind the wheel, then reached over and slammed the passenger-side door shut, with me on the outside. “Keep your phone handy.” The words were friendly enough, but his voice sounded cool. “Right button’s me, don’t forget.”
    Like I would ever, ever ask this guy for help. Jerk.
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i Was a half mile down the road before lucia caught up with me.
    â€œThere you are,” she said, breathless, as she came up alongside me. “Sorry to take so long getting ready. I guess you got tired of waiting.”
    â€œI want to ride by myself now,” I said. “Nothing personal,” I added. That was nice of me to say, wasn’t it? I was being considerate of her feelings, me being a nice person and all. Only a total jerk like