On Edge Read Online Free

held each other up like a house of cards. If one more fell…
    The moment we climbed up the wall to join the others, I went from being worried about him to wanting to strangle him. My body shook from the swing between moods. Or maybe it was the suppressed urge to smack the dumb out of him.
    Warp stood a few yards away from a writer , a graffiti artist, holding a can of spray paint in each hand. My group had obviously interrupted whatever it was the guy was making, and since my brother took issue with all writers, he couldn’t resist stopping to harass him.
    â€œWhat are you doing over this way, Branfort? This is Kennedy Country. You’re gooping up our walls with your chicken-scratch.”
    â€œTechnically, this is TRA Country, Kennedy. I’m checking out the turf, same as you, I’m guessing.”
    I jumped off the brick wall, landing close to my brother and his adversary so I could run a little interference. Looking at the design, I thought it looked cool as hell.
    Instead of simply tagging his crew’s name or his own call sign, he was making a masterpiece against a subtle swirling vortex background. Off to one side, beaming sunrays parted billowing clouds, glistening off the central face of a pretty girl with long dark hair and greenish-brown eyes. Below he’d written a name in bubbled letters:
    â€œHeather.”
    I hadn’t realized I’d said the name out loud until everyone looked at me, including the writer from Branfort. When our eyes met they held each other like some sappy girly movie at an intro moment.
    Wow.
    I recognized him right away, too, but pretended I didn’t so I could take a second to check him out at close range. He had hazel eyes and dark-brown hair with a little patch of pure white on the side. Yes, we’d definitely run into each other before, but now that I saw him real good, I knew the school board meeting hadn’t been the first time I’d seen him.
    A little over two years ago, he and his family were on the TV begging for a witness to come forward in his sister’s murder. Her name was Heather.
    He didn’t have the white patch in his hair back then and he’d grown into his nose, but I knew him to be the awkward little brother on TV.
    The guy I saw now was nothing if not Depp-fine. What was his name again? Bran, Bren…? I looked at the small sig in the bottom corner of the piece on the wall. Haze . Huh. I was way off.
    Or, like the rest of us, he had a street name. But if someone didn’t pull him and my brother apart, Haze was about to get a new nickname, Native American style: Smear.
    â€œAre you kidding me right now? You stopped the flow to gawk at his artwork?”
    â€œThis piece of shit doodling ain’t artwork, and this asshole needs to learn we’re not gonna tolerate amateur vandalism on our blocks.”
    â€œYou’re being a jerk, Warp. Can we keep going, please?”
    I watched Haze spin the cans in his hands, as calm as if he wasn’t surrounded by a bunch of guys who wanted to kick the crap outta him. “You should listen to your girl,” he said.
    Warp wrinkled his nose. “That’s my sister.”
    â€œReally?” Haze’s eyes twinkled a little and a corner of his mouth curved. “Good. I saw you at the meeting, right?”
    Good? What did he mean good? My stomach squeezed. “Um, yeah.”
    His grin seemed to cover his whole face. “It’s real nice to see you again.”
    I couldn’t decide if Haze was brave, or utterly special-ed. We were in the midst of a serious turf issue and he was instigating a pickup.
    â€œDon’t look at my sister like that!” Warp growled.
    Surge laughed so loud and hard he was doubled over, apparently enjoying Haze’s ballsy-ness. Warp and I glared at him but he only laughed harder. The other members of our group held back their cackling…barely.
    â€œLike what? You got a problem with people thinking your