Read How to Break a Heart for Free Online Page B

should go along with Thad’s plan. For now. I see
Nicolás
and me together, admiring a rainbow. Looking up at the night stars, maybe sharing a wish
juntos
. Together. I see us running hand in hand on the beach. Laughing joyously in the rain.
    Oh, my heart is so hungry for him!
    So I say, “Okay.”
    “Great,” he says. We exchange numbers and he says, “I’ll be in touch.” Then he takes off on his brand-new board. A little shakily, if you ask me.
    “Hey! No skateboards!” the mall cop, Captain Jerry, shouts. He takes off on his Segway behind Thad, the swirling red light tailing him. But even though Thad looks a little unsteady, he’s definitely fast—too fast for Captain Jerry, who circles back, points at us, and says, very sternly, “No. Skateboards!” again before rolling off.
    “I hope he calls you soon,” Sirina says. “Thad, I mean, not Captain Jerry.”
    “Sirina, are you really sure I should do this?” I ask her. “You
do
remember what Thad did to me?”
    “Mabry,” she groans. “Fourth grade was, like, a lifetime ago!”
    “Wow,” I huff. “Thanks for the sensitivity.”
    “Come on—we were kids!”
    Oh, she’s
so
forgiving. I sigh. “Whatever, Saint Sirina.” Maybe
she
should join a convent instead of Hermana Ampuero.
    “Mabry! Come on! Don’t forget what I did when he dumped you!”
    And I haven’t. The day after Thad dumped me—Valentine’s Day, of course—she gave everyone in the class a red, heart-shaped lollipop. Everyone except for him. He got a Dum Dum. At the time, it was a brilliant show of friendship and loyalty, the first of many. “I remember,” I say.
    “When have I ever let you down?” she asks me now.
    “Never.”
    “Right. So listen to me, okay? You need to get over Nick no matter what it takes.”
    “I’ll try,” I say. And maybe I should. Maybe Thad can help me get my
Nicolás
back. And then the heartbreak thing? The standing-him-up thing? Well, once Thad and Sirina see us together again, they’ll get over
that
. I’ll make flowers-out-of-fruit out of both of them! I’ll make them both believe in true love.

W ow,
Thad thinks, gliding back home on his new skateboard.
That was easy. She walked right into it.
Here he’s been wondering how he’d ever get back at Nick; and there she’s been wondering how she’d ever get Nick
back
. It’s like peanut butter and chocolate, as his dad used to say. A win-win situation.
    Still, the girl is ridiculous. To be obsessing over such a smear. Wow. Nick hadn’t been so bad in fourth grade, but he’s definitely changed. It shouldn’t surprise him. Everything’s changed in those four years.
    Everything.
    Anyway, what is it with Mabry’s insistence on this love thing? It’s like believing in the tooth fairy. Santa Claus. Unicorns, even. He’s glad he dumped her back in fourth grade. She was ridiculous back then, too, although he doesn’t remember why he dumped her. Probably on a dare. He’s a sucker for those. He once ate a worm on a dare.
    Although he probably shouldn’t admit that. Especially if he’s calling someone else ridiculous.
    Thad sees an orange cone right in front of him. Crap. They’re doing construction on the sidewalk—he didn’t expect that. He has to skate into part of the street. A car honks at him. His muscles freeze for a second, and he almost loses his balance. He’s embarrassed by his response, and by the prickly remains of fear that crackle in his fingertips. He shouldn’t be scared of anything anymore—there’s not a whole lot left to lose, and if he’s going to lose anything else, well, then,
bring it on
.
    He shrinks a little lower on his board. It’s so different, this new world on wheels. Until you’re on them, you never really think about where you can go, and where you can’t. Better cross this route off the list—it’s too rocky for wheels of any type.
    He skates through an intersection—a four-way stop but no cars—and rolls back onto the sidewalk. He relaxes