Page 4 of Lorran
Sonia nodded slowly. “Okay…that’s a lot to unpack. You volunteered for the test?”
Wyn let out a sigh. “I’ve been trying to work up the courage to do it for ages now.”
“Sunday flowers?”
“Sunday flowers,” she agreed.
Sonia tossed herself down on the bed next to Wyn. She stretched out, arms behind her head, and stared at the ceiling. Then she giggled. An uncontrollable giggle. The more she struggled to not laugh, the harder it became to stop laughing.
“It’s not funny,” Wyn said.
“You’ve been…buying flowers…for months…” She wiped tears from her eyes. “I thought you just liked fresh flowers, but you’ve been too chicken to do the test. That’s classic Wyn.”
“Yeah, well—” Wyn struggled for the correct words. “I know it’s not a big deal to you, but I’m freaking out.”
“There are loopholes. We’ll get you out of it.”
“I’m not sure I want to get out of it.” There. Her big secret—the tween crush that never went away—out in the light.
Sonia sat up. “You want to go?”
“Maybe? Fine, yes. I want to go. And they’re giving me a stupid amount of money.”
“Blood money, Wyn. They’rebuyingyou.”
“It’s compensation for lost economic performance, that’s what the brochure said, and there’s enough money for you not to work for at least a year and just paint. You can tell the call center to suck it.”
Sonia’s brow wrinkled. “Idoenjoy telling people to suck it,” she said, sounding unconvinced.
“Enough money to help pay for my parents’ meds. Since I volunteered, I have extra time to get ready. And I prefer to think of it as alien booty money.”
“Everyone wins, huh? Wow, that is some internalized oppression. You totally bought what they were selling.” Her words were cynical, but Sonia almost smiled at the mention of alien booty money.
“It’s the best outcome. I’m making lemonade here,” Wyn said.
Sonia pushed her hair off her brow and made a frustrated noise. “This isn’t a make-lemonade-out-of-lemons situation.You’rethe lemon. The patriarchy is making lemonade out of you.”
Wyn sprung up from the bed. “This is why I didn’t want to tell you. I’ve been trying to work up my courage for months,months, and all I kept thinking about was the little lecture you’d give me if you found out.”
“You didn’t want to tell me?”
“It sucks. Obviously. I’m being given—like a puppy—to a stranger, and I barely know his name. Fuck. I think the application to adopt a puppy asks more questions than the volunteer center asked me today. Okay, forget the puppy. That was a bad analogy, but the point is this is happening and it’s happening on my terms. You can respect that and help me, or you can keep your opinions to yourself.”
Wyn paused, waiting to apologize for her harsh words but needing to be firm.
“But I’d really like my friend to support me because it’s fucking terrifying,” she concluded.
Sonia’s eyes went wide. “Oh. Wow.” Then a grin spread across her face. “You found your spine. About damn time, Winnie. I was beginning to suspect that Oscar took that with him when his sorry ass took off.”
“I have a spine.” Wyn crossed her arms over her chest, all keyed up for an argument.
“I’m trying to tell you that I’m glad you’re pushing back. Since he left, you’ve been down. Not as bright. Like your spark was gone.”
“We were together for five years. That’s a hell of a long time. Of course, I felt depressed.” The fucker broke her heart. Okay, maybe not, but Oscar was comfortable, and she honestly could see them together forever.
Then he got bored and the insult to her pride hurt worse than her heart because Wyn was anything but boring. Oscar tagging her in social media posts about his latest inspiration or gallery showing didn’t help. Leaving prompted a burst of creativity for him, and Wyn hadn’t picked up a brush in nearly two years. She made cute little figurines to sell because chasing her muse didn’t pay the bills.
“It’s called grief, and it’s normal,” Wyn said.
