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frightened. “No, thanks. We got the health care reform bill.” She smiled brightly as she turned back to her friends.
    Paul choked back a laugh and caught my eye. “I should play the lottery or something.” His smile faded, and he jerked his chin toward Julie. “What’s with her?”
    She sat frozen, her eyes glassy and fixed on the description of the law printed on our handout, now clutched so tightly in her hand the paper crinkled under the pressure. My own anxiety faded in comparison.
    She’s upset, man. Find out why.
    Screw that.
    When Kenny’s eyes—which I suppose were my eyes—narrowed, I caved in. “Julie, you okay?”
    She jerked like I’d slapped her. “Yeah. Fine.”
    Kenny nudged me again. Fix it, make it better.
    I laughed and hastily covered it with a cough. Kenny was not a fixer. He was a breaker. Kenny liked Julie, but I didn’t. Could my life get any weirder?
    â€œYou don’t look fine. You look sad. Something wrong with this law?”
    She speared me with a look so cold I swore I could see my breath as I exhaled.
    We still had twenty-five minutes of class left. Lisa scooted her chair to the computers that lined the rear wall of the classroom and Googled the law I’d picked. The screen showed four million hits. Four million.
    â€œHey. Earth to Dan.” Lisa snapped her fingers in front of my face. “How about making yourself useful?”
    â€œUm. Yeah. Sure. Just thinking.”
    â€œFreakin’ blonds,” Lisa muttered.
    I rolled my eyes. The blond was on my mind but not for the reason Lisa suspected. Julie watched but did nothing while her boyfriend almost broke a freshman into pieces. Didn’t even open a cell phone. How could somebody do that?
    â€œHere. Start taking notes.” Lisa tapped the monitor in front of us.
    I clicked a pen, grabbed my notebook, and did what I was told. We learned Good Samaritan laws varied from state to state and existed primarily to prevent rescuers from being held liable for injury or illness that resulted from the rescue itself. In some states, these laws also included a “duty to rescue,” making it illegal to do nothing while witnessing someone in danger.
    â€œThis is a ridiculous law.”
    My eyes snapped to Julie’s. “Yeah, I guess it’s ridiculous to help people who need it.”
    She shrugged, refusing to meet my gaze. “No. Just, well, ridiculous to force people to help. What if you get hurt too? Or maybe you just, I don’t know, freeze up? Can’t think of what to do, so you do nothing? What then? You go to jail because you panic under pressure?”
    Lisa, Paul, and a few other people stared at Julie, who was totally unaware that her voice was quivering. Her eyes shimmered, and it was hard to miss she was on the verge of tears. But that didn’t stop me.
    â€œWhen you stand by and watch someone beaten up just because you think he’s a…a dork, then, yes, maybe you should go to jail.”
    Her eyes popped, and she whispered, “That’s enough.”
    Oh, I was just getting started. “I wonder how many other kids you’ve watched Jeff smack around. This some kind of sport to you?”
    She leaped up so quickly her chair fell over. “Go to hell,” she muttered, swinging her enormous purse over her shoulder and running from the classroom. Two dozen eyes stared at her back. Then two dozen pairs of eyes swung to me, full of “Oh, shits” and “What the hells.”
    You jerk, Kenny screamed. You made her cry. You made her fucking cry. In my head, his raging was so loud I wished I could climb out of my skin to escape.
    Okay. Okay, you win. I’ll find her and apologize. Knock it off.
    The destruction in my head stopped. My eyes slid closed in blessed relief only to fly open when I felt a tap on the back of my head.
    Kenny stood in front of me, hands on his skinny hips. Make it good. You