“She said no because you’re grounded. And I told her that I wanted to return the favor for everything you do for me since you’re the best in class and you always help me with my homework, blah, blah, blah.”
“Did that work?”
“Of course not. I told her that the whole class was going to a party at Connell’s house. A questionable guy. A party where Will, James, and all the people I don’t feel like seeing right now will be. I told her that I wanted a better option, like spending a few hours with a good friend like you.”
“What a charmer. And then what?”
Tiffany looked away and got serious.
“Then I told her that I was sorry about your brother, but I was sincere about that.” I gawked at her for a few moments without knowing what to say.
“How do you know about my brother?”
Tiffany shrugged in her leather jacket. “Do you remember the night I came here with Will and James?”
Yes, you guys were sucking face in front of me for a good five minutes, and all you did was whisper jokes in each other’s ears while looking at me.
“How could I forget,” I answered annoyed.
“I noticed the photo hanging in your living room, that’s why I commented on your brother, but James was furious. He made me promise never to say things like that around you.”
I froze.
“Because, yeah, so, he told me that your brother was no longer with us,” she finished with her voice shaking. I had a strange feeling at that moment.
“So it wasn’t James, it was you. You’re the one who told Taylor.” Tiffany’s long eyelashes fluttered nervously.
“Tay started going after you, so I told her that that you didn’t seem so bad to me. She obviously wondered why I was defending you since I barely know you. I realized the only things I knew about you were that you lost a brother and that you don’t let people walk all over you. And that’s what I told her. I didn’t do it out of malice, June.”
I rubbed my forearm nervously.
“A little bit ago when I was talking with your mom, I saw the photo hanging in the living room again. I felt guilty for having said those dumb things. That’s why I told her I was sorry. She broke down, June.”
A chill went down my spine while an invisible weight pressed down on my head, forcing me to lower it.
“It’s her weakness. Sometimes it almost feels like my mom would’ve preferred if—”
“What?” asked Tiffany attentively.
She seemed to be studying every emotion on my face, but I was hesitant to show them.
“Nothing.”
All the negative sensations that I tried to reject piled up inside me, before I could react how I wanted to. Tiffany seemed to notice my discomfort and came up to me to hug me. But the tension didn’t show signs of leaving my body. On the contrary. The suffocating lump in my throat grew excessively when I realized that Tiffany was gently stroking my hair.
I pushed back a sob in my throat as her fingers massaged my forehead.
“I’m here if you want to talk.”
I hadn’t cried for so long that I didn’t even know how to anymore. I didn’t know how, but I always managed to control the rough waters before the storm.
I let Tiffany graze against my cheek with the tip of her nose, and when her lips came close, I accepted her peck on the lips.
“So where are we going for gelato?” I cleared my throat before looking down at the floor.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Connell’s house.
“I don’t know.”
