What Happens to Goodbye (24 page)

Read What Happens to Goodbye Online

Authors: Sarah Dessen

When I got to school Monday morning, the first person I saw was Riley.
She was actually the only person I saw, as I was way late. Our heat had gone out overnight, and what with calling the rental agency to get a repairman set up, I’d missed the bus. Then I had to wait for my dad to finish a phone conference with Chuckles, who was in London, before he could give me a ride. When I finally got there, fifteen minutes into second period, my hair was still wet, fingers slightly numb. Plus, I was starving, as all I’d eaten was half a banana in the car with my dad as he raced through yellow lights and school zones, now late himself.
I was halfway up the stairs, on my way to my locker, when I spotted Riley sitting on the radiator outside the guidance office, her backpack at her feet. She was on the phone, talking quietly, her head ducked down as I passed her and turned the corner. All I could think about was that text she’d sent to Dave—YOU CHARMER—and, despite the fact that nothing had really happened between me and him, I still felt kind of weird. I’d meant what I said about Dave: he was a nice guy, but I didn’t have time for a nice guy, or any guy, really. I didn’t feel like explaining this again, though, so I steered clear.
At my locker, I stowed some books, then as my stomach rumbled, began to dig around for an energy bar I was pretty sure I’d stashed in there the week before. When I finally found it, I ripped it open right there and took a bite. As I stood there chewing, I caught a glimpse of myself in that awful, feathered SEXXY mirror and decided it was time for it to go. When I reached up to rip it off, though, I found it was stuck on pretty well. I took another bite of the bar, then dug my fingers down the side of the mirror, dislodging it only the tiniest bit.
Damn,
I thought, giving it another yank. Nothing. I stuffed the rest of the bar in my mouth, then used both hands, really trying to pry under the feathers on the edge. It resisted completely. I was just about to give up when, just as I was swallowing, the mirror suddenly came off. What happened next was in quick succession: the bite of energy bar caught in my throat, the mirror clattered to the floor, and the locker door, rapidly swinging shut, cracked me right across the nose.
I stumbled backward, simultaneously choking and seeing stars as I banged into the water fountain behind me. It came on cheerfully and dependably, shooting an arc of water over my elbow.
“Oh my God,” I heard someone say. There were footsteps, and blurrily, as my eyes were squeezed shut in pain, I saw movement in front of me. “Are you okay?”
I coughed—relieved that I could breathe—then swallowed and stepped back from the fountain, stopping the water show. Which left only my nose, which was smarting like I’d been punched. “I think so,” I said.
“That was
crazy
.”
I opened my eyes slowly, to see what I was pretty sure was Riley in front of me, a concerned expression on her face. I blinked, and she came a bit more into focus.
“You should sit down,” she said, taking my elbow. I bent my knees, easing myself down the wall to the floor. “That was a pretty big whack. I heard it all the way down the hallway.”
“I don’t know what happened,” I said.
She turned, walking across the short hallway to where the SEXXY mirror was lying on the floor by my locker and picking it up. “I think you can blame this thing. I think once they’re put up, they are not meant to be removed.”
“Now you tell me.” I reached up tentatively to my nose, but just the slightest touch made my whole face hurt.
“Here. Let me see.” She squatted down in front of me, peering in close. “Oh, man. You’ve got quite a mark there. Look.”
She held up the mirror at my eye level. Sure enough, I had a red bump on the middle of my nose, which seemed to be growing in size as I watched it. I wasn’t sure if it was broken. But it was anything but SEXXY.
“Great,” I said. “This is just what I needed today.”
“Of course it was.” She smiled, then reached down, picking up my backpack. “Come on. We should take you to the nurse, get some ice on that thing.”
I pushed myself to my feet, feeling her watching me. I felt all shaky, in that weird way you do when your equilibrium, not to mention everything else, has been knocked askew. As if sensing this, Riley took my arm, holding my elbow. Her touch was light, but I could still feel her steering me as we turned into the main hall.
Down in the nurse’s office, we were triaged behind a guy who was vomiting (ugh) and a tall girl with a fever and bright red cheeks. I was given a pack of frozen peas and told to wait. I picked a seat as far as I could from the other patients, then sat down, pressing it to my nose. Ahhhh.
Riley sat down beside me. “Is that helping?”
“Big-time,” I told her. Around the peas, I said, “You don’t have to stay. I’m sure you have something better to do.”
“Not really,” she replied. When I glanced at her, doubting this, she added, “I have a free period. I’m supposed to be in the math lab or the library, but no one really checks up.”
“Lucky you,” I said. “How’d you swing that?”
She shrugged, crossing her legs. “I have an honest face, I guess.”
I reached up, tentatively touching my nose again. It was a bit more numb now, but the bump was bigger. Great. Across the room, the vomiter was looking sort of green. I put the peas back on.
“So,” Riley said, as the nurse passed by, collecting the girl with the fever and taking her into the other room, “you and Dave, huh?”
I swallowed. Well, it wasn’t like this was a surprise. “It wasn’t really anything. We just went to the game.”
“So I saw.e="3">  I glanced at her. “My dad’s a big U fan. Watching the games is pretty much mandatory at my house.”
“My dad used to be like that, too,” I told her. “But about Defriese.”
“Not so much now, I bet.”
I took the peas away again. Her face was sympathetic, though, not teasing. “No,” I said. “Not so much.”
We sat there for a moment, both of us silent. Then she said, “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable the other night. When we were talking outside your house.”
“You didn’t,” I told her.
“It’s just . . .” She looked down at her hands, then opened them up, spreading her fingers across her knees. “Dave kind of brings out my overprotective side. I don’t want to see him get hurt, you know?”
“He told me you were, like, his only friend when he started here.”
“Pretty much. He met Ellis in homeroom his first day, but we were the sum total of his inner circle. Plus, he was coming from Kiffney-Brown, which is like another planet. I mean, his best friend there was thirteen.”
“You mean Gerv the Perv?”
“He told you about him, huh? God, is that kid a nightmare. I mean, he’s supersmart and all, but a person can only take so many booger jokes, you know?” She rolled her eyes. “Truthfully, though, I probably wasn’t the best choice either. It’s because of me he started going to parties and doing all that other stuff that got him in so deep with his parents. He would have been better off with just Ellis.”
“You and Ellis aren’t friends?”
“We are now,” she said. “But mostly because we have Dave in common. Ellis, you know, he’s a good kid. Plays soccer, is involved with a bunch of school stuff. I mean, he does the freaking TV announcements. Definitely a better choice for Dave than taking up with me.”
“I’m not sure about that,” I said. “You seem like a pretty good friend.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded, and she smiled.
“I try. Really, though, it’s selfish in some ways. I have this weird thing about wanting to take care of everyone, not just Dave. It makes things complicated.”
I shifted the peas. “Simple has its downsides, too.”
“Meaning what?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I move around a lot. So I hardly get to know anybody. It might be easier, but it’s kind of lonely.”
I wasn’t sure why I was being so truthful. Maybe it was the crack to the head. Riley turned, looking at me. “You think you’ll be staying here for a while?”
“No idea,” I told her.
“Huh. Really.”
She faced forward again. I said, “What?”
“It’s just,” she said, “you haven’t done that here. Not made friends.”
“I haven’t?”
She looked at the green-faced guy across from us. “Mclean,” she said. “I’m sitting here with you, in the nurse’s office, during my free period. That means we’re friends.”
“But you’re just being nice,” I said.
“Just like you were nice to me, the other night at my car,” she replied. “Plus, you took Dave to the game. You invited Deb into a social gathering which, believe me, no one has
ever
done here, to my knowledge. And you haven’t smacked Heather yet, which is a much better record than most.”
“That’s not
that
hard,” I told her.
“Yes, it is. She’s my best friend and I love her, but she can be a total pain in the ass.” She sat back, crossing her legs again. “Face it, Mclean. You might think you don’t want any connections, but your actions say otherwise.”
“Mclean Sweet?” I looked up to see the nurse, a clipboard in hand, standing in the doorway to the examining room. “Come on back. Let’s take a look at that bump.”
I stood up, picking up my bag. “Thanks for coming with me,” I told Riley. “I appreciate it.”
“I’ll stay until you’re done,” she said.
“You don’t have to.”
She settled back in her chair, pulling out her phone from her pocket. “I know.”
I followed the nurse into the room, taking a seat on the cot as she shut the door behind us.
What a weird day,
I thought as she rolled a stool over, gesturing for me to remove the peas. As she leaned in to inspect the damage, I looked through the glass of the door out into the room beyond. It was blurred and thick for privacy, so you couldn’t really see details. Even so, I could make out the shape of a figure sitting there, a presence nearby, waiting. For me.
At lunch, walking out to the courtyard with my burrito and bottled water, I got the distinct feeling people were staring at me. Or maybe
gawking
was a better word. I knew my nose was swollen, but the attention I was getting—and had been getting since my run-in with the locker—seemed excessive. Then again, maybe a girl who looks like she’s been in a bar fight is just big news on a slow Monday.
Riley and Heather were nowhere to be seen, so I walked over to Deb, who was sitting alone under her tree. She had an iPod on and her eyes were closed, listening.
“Hey,” I said. When she didn’t look up, I nudged her foot, and she jumped, then opened her eyes.
“Oh, Mclean!” she said, hurriedly taking out her earbuds. “It
is
true! I thought it was just a vicious, nasty rumor.”
“What?”
“You and Riley,” she said. When I just looked at her, she added, “Your fight? I heard she punched you, but I didn’t want to believe—”
“Riley didn’t
punch
me.” I looked around the courtyard again. Several people were looking right back, and didn’t even bother to break their gaze. “Who said that?”
“I heard itin the bathroom,” she whispered. “Everyone is talking about it.”
“Oh, for God’s sake.” I sat down, putting my lunch on the ground beside me. “Why would she punch me?”
Deb picked up her Diet Coke, taking a sip from her straw. “Jealous rage,” she explained. “She saw you and Dave Wade at the game this weekend and just lost it.”
“She and Dave aren’t together,” I told her, unwrapping my burrito. Honestly, though, I’d kind of lost my appetite.
“I know that, and you know that. But apparently, the rest of the school does not.” She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “You know how it is. Most people think a girl and a guy can’t just be friends, that there has to be something else going on. It’s basic.”
“I guess,” I said.
“So . . .” she said slowly, studying my face. “What really happened? ”

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