Page 48 of Wonderstruck

“Sorry, what!” Cora blinked rapidly, her brushfrozen.

“As in my brother?” I don’t think I’d ever seenDaisy look so confused.

“Is the worldending?”

“What the hell is going on?”

“There’s no way!”

I narrowed my eyes, giving them all a flat stare. “Are you done?”

Silence fell again, but it didn’t last long. Cora,predictably, was the first to crack. “What are you talking about? How is this… what is… why—”

“Do you guys remember when I came back fromcheering at the Lions game and went straight to my room?”

All three of them nodded.

“Well…” I exhaled, bracing myself. “Finn and Igot talking. He bumped into me during the game and asked why I was cheering at a hockey match when I’d spent the last year avoiding the rink altogether. And after finding my skates with me in the attic, I couldn't just ignore him.”

Their jaws practically hit the floor, but Iploughed ahead before they could derail me. “Right before he found me, though, I ran into Ryan—the—”

“Asshole who dumped you,” Daisy said, her tonedripping with disdain.

“Right. He came up to me, said some crap, and… well, it got in my head. I started spiralling about how I’d have to come back here and deal with him—and Finn, too. And then everywhere I turned felt like a dead end.”

I hesitated for a moment, my mind replayingFinn’s voice, his grin, the surprising warmth in his words that night. My smile softened without me realising it. “Andthen Finn said he’d teachme to skate again if I helped him with French so he didn’t get kicked off the team.”

Daisy’s face scrunched up, like she couldn’tdecide if she was horrified or impressed. “Wait.Finnoffered to helpyou?”

“Well that’s… sweet,” Goldie sighed, her tone stillincredulous. “But still, my brain can’t process this.”

“And you said yes?” Cora asked, blinking like I’djust admitted to joining a cult.

“Well, yeah,” I said, shrugging like it was obvious.“It was a good deal, okay? Besides, I need the money, and that cheerleading uniform was way too small for my boobs.”

That earned me a giggle from each of them.

“But honestly,” I continued, “after… everything,I think being happy again is only part of it. I want peace too. And if getting over what happened with Finn helps with that, if it’s one less thing for me to worry about then… I’m all for it.”

Daisy smiled warmly, the kind that made you feellike you were doing something right. “Well, I for one am happy to hear that. I’m proud of you, Ror.”

“Me too,” Goldie chimed in.

Cora, of course, narrowed her eyes at mesuspiciously. “I’m proud too, okay. But I also want to hear exactly what happened when you skated for the first time. And you’re gonna need to explain this whole deal with Finn because… what?”

Goldie raised her hand like she was in class.“Actually, me too. I wanna hear the story.”

I giggled, feeling a little lighter with theirsupport. “Okay, okay, I promise.” I glanced back at the door looming in front of me. “But I still don’t think I can do this.”

“Course you can. You’re Rory Greene, for Christ’ssake. You can do anything,” Cora reminded me, her tone laced with that genuine twang we rarely heard her use with anyone but us.

“She’s right,” Daisy said. “And if you did it withFinn, how hard can it be now?”

Before I could answer, Cora snickered. “Ooooh,did itwith Finn? Don’t give her any ideas—”

“Bye, Cora.” I reached for the screen to removeher from the call, but her voice stopped me mid-swipe.

“No, wait, I’m sorry! I couldn’t help myself.” Shepouted dramatically. “I’m just happy for you.”

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