Page 13 of This I Know
She takes it, knowing I’ll win in the end. “This bed isn’t very comfortable.” She strokes the mattress. “How did you survive here for so long?”
“I know.” I bite into the cookie. It’s peanut butter chocolate chip, and it’s absolutely delicious. “And I don’t know how I survived. Another miracle, I guess.”
“I guess.” She swings her legs back and forth, looking down the cookie in her hand. “Your mom said you’re doing better.”
A pause.
“Are you?”
I give a shrug. “Sure. Slowly but surely. You know how it goes.”
“I was worried about you, you know.” Her eyes are full of care and concern.
“Well, you’ve got nothing to worry about anymore, Mar.” I give her a reassuring grin. “I’m fine. And I’m happy to be going home.”
“Are you going to miss this place?”
I shake my head and laugh. “Not at all.”
We’re both eating our cookies, sitting together in comfortable silence when I dare to say, “How’s Cole?”
She stops chewing and looks at me, her mouth hanging open. “You didnotjust ask me that.”
“What do you mean?”
The shock on her face is obvious. “Avery, I can’t believe you sometimes. Everyone knows what he did to you that night. How he kicked you out of the car and left you there, right in the middle of the street. And then this happened to you.” She gestures around us, as if I need yet another reminder of the situation I’ve been in the last few months. “I don’t know how he is, and even if I did I probably wouldn’t tell you.”
I don’t say anything. I’m absorbing her words, trying to process them.
Mara goes on: “You can’t blame me for not wanting to talk about him.”
Finally, I purse my lips. “It wasn’t in the middle of the street. And so what, we had a fight. All couples fight. It’s not like it was his fault this happened to me.”
“It kind of was, Avery.”
She sounds mad, and I hate it when she gets mad. Her getting mad means that no matter what, I’ll have no say in the matter. Mara’s mind has always been her own, un-persuaded by anyone else.
She scoots closer to me. “He pretty much caused this whole thing. I mean, think about it. If Cole hadn’t been such a royal jackass, none of this would have happened. It wouldn’t. For Christ’s sake, he was the prime suspect until the police finally caught the real guy. Which, by the way, you’re lucky they did so fast.” She shifts her body, squirming. “I can’t even stand to look at him in the hall.”
“So, he’s back at school after this?”
“Of course he is. He never left.” She looks at me, dumbstruck. “Did he even come to see you?”
I get her point, but she doesn’t have to be so blunt about it. “No,” I say.
“Did he even call?”
“No.” I’m shriveling inside.
“Exactly.”
I slump back against my pillows. Mara follows. Our bodies sink right through the cheap fluff and hit the wall. We look at each other, and Mara smiles at me.
“Look, Avery. I’m sorry. It’s just that I don’t want to see you get hurt anymore.” She pretends to punch my shoulder. “You know that’s why I’m so hard on you.”
I take her hand. “I know. Thanks, Mar.”
She adjusts her position, trying to get comfortable. “This place is really bad,” she says, laughing.
