Hands shaking more than I’d like to admit, I grabbed Mike’s phoneand dialed her number, which I still knew by heart. Then I turned on the speaker, and my two roommates leaned in to hear better.
Every ring was like an eternity. Nelle had never been the type to pick up right away. In fact, she’d never been much of a phone person at all, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d missed the call. But on the third ring, I heard scratching noises on the other line and saw on the screen that someone had picked up. Then I heard her voice: “Hello?”
She sounded normal. Tired, maybe, but normal. “Hey, Nelle,” I said. “Don’t hang up. Please.”
She waited a few seconds in silence, as though trying to restrain herself. “Why are you calling? Do you have a new number, or…?”
“I’m calling from a friend’s phone.”
“I don’t want to talk to you,” she told me after a short pause.
“Wait!” I heard her phone moving and just knew she was about to hang up. “I just want to ask how you’re doing. That’s all. Tell me that, and you can hang up if you want afterward.”
“I’m good. Are you happy now?”
“Tell me the truth.”
“I did.”
“Nelle, I talked to Spencer. I know everything. I know you lost your job, I know you’re not eating…”
“I didn’tlosemy job, I quit, OK?”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Nelle, listen… I know what you’re going through right now. I was in the same situation. I know it’s…”
“Jenna, you don’t know a damn thing about my situation! You left! You don’t even know me anymore!”
“How am I supposed to? You don’t call me, and you don’t pick up when I call.”
“I can’t pick up, all right?”
I heard her take a deep breath. She was quiet for so long, I looked atSue and Mike, who were staring at the phone attentively. I thought Nelle would hang up, but then I heard her again. “It’s not that easy.”
She was speaking in a soft tone, so different from the excitable, energetic voice I was used to. She sounded as if she were very carefully measuring her words, as if there were things she knew she couldn’t say.
“Trust me, Nelle. It’s not as hard as it seems.”
“Who are you to tell me that?” she asked.
“I was in the same situation as you.”
“No, you weren’t, Jen. You don’t understand. You lived far away, you had a group of friends helping you, you had people who cared about you. I’m here, locking in all day with him. No matter where I go, I can’t make it far before he finds me.”
“He left me alone,” I said.
“Because you’re hours away.”
“Do like Jenna, then,” Sue interrupted us. “Go to school. You can come here. Registration is still open.”
“Who the…?” Nelle asked.
“Or don’t go to school. Just come here,” Mike said. “What have you got to lose?”
Nelle was babbling: who were these people, how dare I let them listen in on our conversation, this was private, and so on. I told her they were my friends, and even if they were nosy, they were right. She should come. She’d be safe, and she could build a new life here. When she protested that it wasn’t that easy, I reminded her that her parents had money running out their ears, and they loved her and were scared of what Monty could do to her. They’d do whatever it took to get her away from him, I had no doubt about that.
“We’ll come pick you up!” Mike burst in. “We can take my brother’s car. If Jen asks him for it, he’ll definitely say yes.”
Sue didn’t look convinced. “How many hours’ drive are we talking?”
