“Pidge.” I sighed. “Where are you going?”
“Somewhere else,” she said coolly. “Come on, Oberi.”
I’m with you, girlfriend.Oberi huffed and hustled away.
I chased her down the hall. “Pidge, please don’t! You can’t just run away.”
“You’re right. I can’t,” Ava replied. “I’mrollingaway.”
In style, Oberi added.
I scrambled in front of her. “Let’s not do that, either. Please.”
“You’re making it worse.”
“Explain it to me,” I begged. “I just want to understand.”
“I’m notoverreacting, Charlie. I feel disrespected. You tried to get inside my head without asking. That’s like picking up my phone and going through it.”
“Well, I wouldn’t know what that’s like.”
“You’re hurt because you think I’m hiding something from you?” Ava continued. “I’mhurt you would feel the need to poke inside my head, anyway!”
I took a step back. “You’re right. I was out of line. I just wanted to help, so let me know how I can. Can we talk about this?”
“I wanted to talk about it when I was ready,” Ava seethed. “IknowI’ve been forgetting things. I know my mind’s not here half the time, and realize I can’t remember stuff we’ve gone over a million times. It’s fucking embarrassing!”
You two need to calm down, Oberi warned, as if she worried the situation was getting out of hand. She’d gone from snarky to serious in an instant.
“How could I know that?” I asked. “I wasn’t even sure you knew it was happening.”
“It’s just so humiliating that I have to face up to it, after going through everything else. I wish you’d never brought it up. I don’t bring up that you—”
Ava cut off. She sucked in a breath, refusing to say another word.
I furrowed my brow. “You don’t bring up what?”
Ava hesitated. A hint of guilt slipped through our bond, and I could tell she felt bad— terrible even— about whatever she was about to say. “It’s nothing. I’m sorry, I shouldn't have said anything.”
I gritted my teeth.NowI was getting angry. “That’s not fair. If there’s something wrong with me, I should know about it.”
“I don’t want to upset you. Just let it—”
“Ava,tell me.”
Ava drew a deep breath. “I don’t bring up that you can’t see. So don’t ask about my memory.”
I gaped. “We talk about that all the time.”
“Not how your eyes are losing the ability to track.”
My stomach dropped. “I’m… what?”
Ava’s voice got small. “I thought you knew and didn’t want to talk about it. Your eyes don’t move the way they used to. When I met you, I couldn’t tell you were blind. You were good at making your eyes follow movement and noises, because you had to. Now, it’s obvious. They just stay in one spot.”
Terror twisted in my gut. It’d always been a strength of mine, hiding my blindness. People were less likely to take advantage of me. It horrified me to know I was losing my ability to track.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I was always in survival mode until I came here. I had to learn how to hide it. Now, I guess I don’t need to.”
