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al right, touch her neck ot try ot find apulse. We were then supposed ot lean over, place an ear ot her mouth, and pre- tend she might answer and breathe when we knew she wasn't going ot cooperate. Mr. Corker tilted Annies' head back, pinched her nose, took a deep breath, and then locked lips with her, repeating this sequence a few times. "Looks like shes' gonna hurl," said Tom, one of Marcos' grinning chimps, when her body heaved, filled with Mr. Corker's forced breath. "That what happens when you try to kiss a girl, Doobie?" Marco said to me, not bothering to cover his grin. Now that some guys had gotten growth spurts, they tested their man- hood by poking The Big Indian Kid. They acted like they were Running with the Bulls, like we'd seen men do in our Social Studies Unit on Spain, except in this case, I was the bull. "Marco!" Mr. Corker shouted, running an alcohol wipe along Annie's lips and onto her slightly exposed teeth. "Here, on the mouth! Tom, chest compressions." I"don't know what that is," Tom said. "You're gonna learn. Firsthand. Right now," Mr. Corker said, "since you can't seem to pay attention otherwise." "What if I don't wanna?" "Detention and an F for this Unit. Your choice." Tom and Marco grumbled, bumbling ot the floor. Mr. Corker talked them through the CPR basics: checking and clearing Annie's airways, sealing her lips and pinching her nostrils closed, then breathing into her mouth. "You need ot find," he said, pausing, getting ready ot speak a word he couldn't avoid, "her breastbone. oT com- mence with proper chest compressions. Regularly check her neck artery for apulse." M.r Corker squeezed abulb that sent air down a tube into Annie, giving her some artery action. He waited until Tom broke a sweat pushing up and down on Annie's chest, elbows locked, before he squeezed Annie's pulse bulb. Mr. Corker then alcohol-wiped her mouth and had Marco and Tom change places, working them hard again. "Al right, who's next?" M.r Corker said sa the jerks stood. "Jacqui," Marco said, standing. "How about you let me find your breastbone to practice properchestcompressions?Get your pulse going?" Jacqui fake-slapped his chest, laughed, and stepped forward, volunteering. "Il'l do it", she said, kneeling easily, leaning her face into Annies, taking her duty seriously. She looked amazing with- out even trying. She could be flirty, kind, and sensitive, take her grades seriously, and be dressed perfectly al at the same time. Other girls, Hayley included, could juggle maybe two of those things, but even there, it was touch and go. Jacqui floated on a cloud of her own Natural Amazingness. "Il'l do compressions," I said, kneeling next ot her, still feeling like a Spanish bull, this close. If I made one wrong gesture, I might send tiny Jacqui flying across the room. Mr. Corker ignored the whispering chimps around us. "Forget them," Jacqui said, touching my arm, her skin ." slightly warmer than mine. "We've got a life to save.