Page 45 of The Heart That Breaks
Haley looks so surprised by the information that her lips move in response, but no sound comes out.
“Carlie.” Nathan bites out her name, clearly furious.
My face goes instantly hot, and I realize that the only way she could know this is if Nathan told her. I look up at him, my heart hammering in mortification. I take a step back, then turn and take off down the hall.
“Ann-Elizabeth!” I hear him call my name, but I keep running, not stopping until I’m outside in the parking lot where the buses have pulled up. I find mine and charge up the steps, making my way to the back where Brandi slides over and pats the seat beside her.
“I thought you might not be here again today,” she says, her voice warm and happy. “I missed you yesterday. Where were you?”
I start to tell her, but then change my mind because my hands are shaking, and I’m trying really hard not to cry. Why would Nathan have told Carlie about Henry and me? Did they have a good laugh together over it?
Humiliation courses through me, and I force an even note in my voice when I say, “Nowhere really. I’m back now. How was your day?”
*
Nathan
I START TO go after Ann-Elizabeth when Carlie grabs my arm.
“Let her go,” she says, her voice a little too high. “Are you kidding me? What has gotten in to you?”
I put my hand on hers and deliberately remove it from my arm. “You’re cruel,” I say.
She gives me a disbelieving stare. “What’s cruel about the truth?”
“Who told you that about her?”
“What difference does it make?”
“Who told you?” I repeat.
“Matt,” she says.
Anger threads steel through my voice when I say, “You don’t know anything about her life.”
She stares at me for a moment, as if I’m speaking a language she doesn’t understand. “Why would you care about somebody like her, Nathan? You and I get each other. We’re-”
“Done,” I say. “Over.”
Disbelief widens her eyes. “You don’t mean that.”
I take a step away from her, holding up a hand as I say, “I’ve never meant anything more in my life.”
And with that, I bolt down the hall, hoping I can still catch Ann-Elizabeth before she gets to her bus.
*
Ann-Elizabeth
I GO STRAIGHT out back to Henry’s barrel as soon as I get off the school bus. No one is home yet, and on a note of complete defiance, I use the key to open the new padlock Nathan had given me to replace the one we cut off his collar.
It clicks open, and I slip the chain from his neck, patting my leg for him to follow me. I walk to the front door and step inside the hallway. Henry sits outside the door, looking at me with a clear question on his face. I swallow a gulp of pain, realizing that he even knows he’s not supposed to be in here.
“Come on, sweetie. It’s okay,” I say. “It’s just for a little while.”
He takes a tentative step inside, and I close the door behind him. With a tucked tail, he trots to my bedroom, and by the time I walk in behind him, shutting the door, he has crawled under my bed.
I stand for a moment, staring at the reality of my situation, the fact that I have a dog I love more than anything, and I cannot care for him. I can’t keep him warm and safe. I can’t give him the real home he deserves.
