“What are you doing here?” I asked. His expression quickly faded, and he looked hurt by my lack of a warm welcome.
“Can I come in?” he asked, motioning to the bed.
“I guess,” I said, pulling myself carefully up onto the pillows.
“Here, do you need help?” he asked, rushing to my side.
“No, I got it.”
“Okay,” he said, stepping back and then sitting at my side. He had an envelope in his hand. “How are you doing, Superstar?”
“Don’t call me that. My superstar days are done,” I said, as tears welled up in my eyes. He reached for my hand to comfort me, and I pulled it away.
“Hey, you don’t know that yet. The doctor said a few more weeks,” he said. I forgot that he had been there with me at the hospital. I looked back at him hopelessly. His hand was back on the envelope, and he looked nervous. “Your sister came to me,” he said.
“Oh, great, what did she want?” I asked. I was feeling a little loopy from the meds, but nothing like at the hospital, only enough to take the edge off. I waited for his reply as I got lost in his green eyes that I had been pining for all of this time, begging myself not to fall for him all over again. Focus, Allie.
“She told me everything. Your sister is a really horrible person,” he said, and I rolled my eyes at the obvious. “She read your journal, Allie. She told Griffin. She wrote that note telling him that you turned him in.” Once he finished, he waited for me to reply, but I was momentarily speechless until I finally exploded.
“WHAT! I KNEW IT! HOW COULD SHE!” I screamed, and pain coursed through my body all over again. “I’m going to kill her! I HATE HER! Is that what you came here to tell me? If so, I guess you can go now,” I said.
“No, not even close, let me keep going. When Amy read your journal, that’s when she learned about you and me having sex, too. Amy also saw Griffin egg your house that night, and she blackmailed him to carve the graffiti in the boys’ locker room and start the rumor around school about you being a slut. She was so jealous of us that she just wanted to keep hurting you. She threatened Griffin that if he didn’t do it, she would turn him in to the police, which would ruin his chances at a soccer scholarship. I have been so broken from losing you and wishing I could stop the rumors. None of this was fair to you. The way people treated you has been horrible, and watching the way that it has destroyed you has destroyed me, too. I’m sorry that I broke my promise to you. I’ll never abandon you again. Please. I’m still here. I’m not like your Dad; I just needed some time to figure it all out. That’s what I came here to say.” And then he handed me the envelope.
I turned the blank envelope over in my hands and then looked up at him, confused, but he put his hands on it to stop me from opening it.
“Open it later, okay? After I leave,” he said, and I nodded, then set the envelope on the nightstand beside the marble box.
“Can I ask you something?” I asked, fighting back tears from the news of my sister’s betrayal.
“Of course,” he said eagerly.
“Why did you wear your hoodie to school the day after you broke up with me?” I said with deep hurt in my eyes. He looked down, then back at me.
“Because it still smelled like you,” he said, and I sucked in a breath, which caused me to wince at the pain in my ribs from the fall. “Are you okay?” he asked, reaching to comfort me.” I held my hand up to stop him, and he withdrew his hand. “I didn’t mean to hurt you; it didn’t really cross my mind that it would upset you so much,” he said, and my eyes got big at his lack of consideration.
“Why did you give mine back so quickly?” I followed up, feeling like I was going to cry at any moment.
“Because I couldn’t bear the thought of looking at something that belonged to you. It was just too painful,” he said, with a hurt in his eyes that I had never seen before. I nodded, but still didn’t understand.
“All you had to do was stay.”
“I know. I’ll never forgive myself for letting you go.”.
“Thanks for coming,” I said, then I glanced over at the door to signal that it was time for him to go. He reached a hand out and ran it gently down the bedspread on top of my leg in a friendly gesture, but I didn’t react.
“Bye, Allie,” he said as he got to his feet. That was an improvement over the last time he said goodbye. I thought I saw tears in his eyes as he turned to walk away.
“Bye,” I replied quietly.
Once I heard the rumble of his truck fade away, I reached over to the nightstand for the envelope and carefully opened it. As I pulled out the piece of paper and unfolded it, I suddenly realized what Chris had done. It was a police report. He had turned his best friend, Griffin, in to the police for egging our house. That meant that Chris had crushed his best friend’s chances at a soccer scholarship. That also meant that it would no longer be my fault. Chris had taken the fall for me. Then I realized that there was something else in the envelope. It was a note. I pulled it out and set the police report and envelope on the bed.
You once told me that it was always the right thing to do the right thing.
I love you, Allie.
Love, Chris
Why wasn’t he willing to fight for me when I needed him the most? Why was Amy such a terrible person? She was a path of destruction.
