Page 21 of Our Moon
“Like if we ever slept together,” I say quietly.
“You didn’t sleep with Blake,” she says quickly.
“Okay,” it comes out like a question.
“Your brothers are right. Your breakup with Blake was bad. He really hurt you, Ally. I don’t know all the details because you never wanted to talk about it. But I know he screwed around on youbecauseyou wouldn’t sleep with him.”
That is pretty bad. I can only imagine how much it must have hurt to have my boyfriend of two years cheat on me. “I didn’t tell you anything else?”
“No,” she says simply.
“Weren’t we close?” I question.
“Honestly?”
“Please,” I beg. “I need the truth. I feel like my brothers sugarcoat some of the things that they tell me to protect me, but I need to know the truth.”
“We kind of grew apart junior year. It wasn’t really intentional or either of our faults. Or maybe it was both of our faults, I don’t know. I mean, we still talked and all, but we didn’t hang out as much. You were always with Blake or the band, and I was focused on school.”
“Is that why you didn’t stay at the hospital?” I ask. “Alex said you were there for a couple days and then disappeared.” Now is as good a time as any to get clarification on the doubts I have about Lucy’s loyalty to me back then.
“I bet he did. Alex is so dramatic. Some things obviously never change,” she huffs out, not even bothering to hide her frustration with my brother.Interesting. “I stayed at the hospital as long as I could. I was so worried about you and upset about your parents; I didn’t want to leave. No amount of distance between you and me could have changed that, Ally. I promise you that.”
“So what happened?” By now I’ve completely wrapped my hand in the long phone cord and begin the process of untangling it since my fingertips have turned purple.
“My parents,” she grounds out. It’s been a long time, but you can tell she’s still bitter about it. “You know how they are. Well, I guess you don’t know how they are, but you did. They were ridiculous. I swear they didn’t even want a kid. They just wanted to keep up with appearances. Successful doctor? Check! Trophy wife? Check! Smart daughter? Check! Right after graduation, I was shipped off to live with my aunt in California. They chased me down at the hospital to get me on the plane. I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want to leave you. But I had no choice.”
If she’s telling the truth, it makes sense. I see no reason why she would lie about that. Plus, she seems to have the perfect amount of bitterness towards her parents in her voice. “I’m sorry they did that to you.”
“Well, I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you,” she says, and again I believe her. There’s just something about Lucy that’s comforting. Kind of like Chase. I guess inside I can tell that these people were close to me in my previous life.
“It’s okay, it’s not like I would have noticed, I guess.”
She laughs lightly, “I guess.”
“Um,” I begin. “Was I seeing anyone? I mean, after Blake and before the accident?”
“I don’t know,” she says sadly. “Like I said, we weren’t too close at the time. There were a few times when we talked on the phone, and it seemed like you were hushing someone in the background, but when I’d ask you about it, you’d just say it was nothing or there was no one there.”
“Do you think I was sneaking around with someone?” I sit up straight in my chair. Now we’re getting somewhere.
“I can’t see how that would’ve been possible.” I instantly deflate. “I mean, you spent practically every waking moment with your brothers and the band. When youweren’t at school, you were in the garage with them while they practiced, or at their shows.”
This sounds remarkably like my current relationship with Chase. If it’s even a relationship. I sure hope it is, but it’s kind of hard to define something that’s a secret. Is this not my first secret relationship? What type of person would that make me?
“But my behavior was suspicious enough for you to point it out,” I state.
“Yeah, I guess. We didn’t talk much senior year, but a few of the times we did, it really did seem like you were holding something back. I just didn’t know what it was and was so consumed with my own stuff that I didn’t think to ask.”
“Well, I guess if it was a guy, it’s not really worth figuring it out,” I decide, leaning back in the chair again.
“Why do you say that?” she asks, genuinely curious.
“If I was in a relationship with a guy before the accident, where is he now? Obviously it couldn’t have been all sunshine and rainbows if he’s not around anymore. What kind of guy abandons his girl when she’s in a coma? And doesn’t even come to see me after?” I silently wonder if this is something I can just let go of.
“Well, I’m sure your brothers have kept a pretty close watch on you. If you were hidinga relationship back then, maybe he hasn’t had an opening to say something without your brothers around. Maybe he doesn’t know how to approach you, or he doesn’t think you’d believe him since you don’t remember. Or maybe he’s away at school.”
I get what she’s saying, and it’s totally valid, but I still don’t know what to think about all this. “I guess there’s a lot to consider.”
