“I have friends,” Jillian retorted, thinking of the nurses from work back in the city. Sure,they hadn’t called since she came down here, but they were always busy.
“Notrealones,” Amberlee said. “Real friends let each other in, even when it’s embarrassing.”
“You were my baby sister,” Jillian said, as she reached the place on Fox Hollow Road where the houses weren’t as spread out.
“I’m not a baby anymore,” Amberlee pointed out.
“You really want to know?” Jillian asked, trying to buy herself a moment.
“OfcourseI want to know,” Amberlee said.
“Fine,” Jillian said, sighing. “He asked me to the Winter Formal.”
“He asked you to the Winter Formal?” Amberlee asked.
“Yes,” Jillian said.
“Andthatmade you mad?” Amberlee asked. “Every girl at that school probably wanted to go to the Winter Formal with him.”
“The thing was, he wasn’t really asking me,” Jillian said, willing her voice to stay even. “It was just a mean joke. He was making fun of me.”
“What are you talking about?” Amberlee asked.
“He asked me in the hallway, in front of all his hockey team friends,” Jillian said, her cheeks heating at the memory. “He made this big, showy thing out of it.”
“Sounds romantic,” Amberlee said.
“Maybe to you,” Jillian said, as she turned onto Maple Street. “But I’m not like you. I like private things to stay private. And he knew me well enough to know that. The only reason for him to do what he did was to prank me.”
“Jillian, listen to me,” Amberlee said. “I know you’ve been through a lot with Alan. But not every man is a vicious little jerk. Andno onewould do something that cruel.”
“Well, they did it to Emmalene Monk the year before,” Jillian said, the words bitter in her mouth.
“What are you talking about?” Amberlee asked.
“You weren’t in high school yet, Amberlee,” Jillian said. “But one of the guys on the basketball team did a whole prom-posal for her. Emmalene was so happy. And then they pulled the rug out from under her in front of everyone, called her an ugly loser and some other things too. I’ve never seen anyone cry like that.”
“That’s… that’sawful,” Amberlee breathed.
“Itwasawful,” Jillian agreed.
“And that happened to you too?” Amberlee asked, her voice so sad.
“When Tripp invited me to the formal, it was the same set-up. The whole team was out in the hallway, and he was making some big speech. You know we weren’t in the same social circles. We only ever talked at play practice. There’s no way he would have actually wanted to take me. Which can only mean it was a cruel joke.”
“What did you do?” Amberlee asked.
“I ran,” Jillian said. “I wanted to tell him off, but I just… I couldn’t find the words. So I ran instead.”
Amberlee let out a breath.
“That’s really, really awful, Jillian,” she said after a moment.
Her sister’s sympathy hit her hard. Jillian hadn’t really talked about any of this with anyone. Shehad run from the scene as it unfolded, and then locked it away in her heart so it could never catch up to her.
Maybe that’s why she felt like she was fighting back tears now.
Thinking about the whole thing made her feel sick inside all over again, and it made her feel like a fool for mooning over him in the attic the way she did.
