I don’t understand it.
It hurts, but I’m not going to think about it.
I’m dead to my dad, but he’s also dead to me.
Maybe she needs to be dead to me too.
Or maybe sheisdead, and one day I’ll find out and feel guilty for even thinking this way.
Pandora
Sure.
River
There’s that Chinese place we were talking about. We could head there.
The place we’d spent time with Rachel at.
I don’t know if I really want to, but at the same time, it’ll be better to go somewhere familiar.
Pandora
Come to Nightingale Circle. We’re ice skating!
River
What are you doing texting while you’re ice skating?
I don’t have anywhere better to go, though, so I start up my car and head in that direction. Parking is impossible to find, as usual, and I end up having to walk several blocks in the cold to get to the ice skating rink.
When I get there, I search out Pandora. It takes me a few minutes to catch sight of her, even though her bright pink coat should’ve immediately clued me in to her location. I jog over, standing at the side as I wave her down.
Pandora skids to a stop in front of me. Her cheeks are flushed red, and she smiles brightly. “River! I’m glad you came!” She wraps her arms around me from over the rink barrier.
Somebody else stops near us. I glance over to see that it’s Pandora’s brother Ares. He gives me a weird look, like he’s not sure if I’m kindling or not.
“Hey, River,” Ares says as Pandora pulls back.
“Hey,” I say, unsure of what to say to him. I know he hates me; her whole family does. But as long as I’m on Pandora’s good side, he won’t try to set me on fire.
Probably.
“Where’s Samantha?” I ask, glancing around. “Did you leave her at your family’s mercy?”
“No, we’re all here!” Pandora points to one of the benches outside the rink. “There, she’s taking a break with Mel.”
I glance over to them. Samantha’s in her black coat, but Mel iswearing one in deep purple that’s cut to resemble a Victorian era dress.
“Do you want to skate too?” Pandora asks. “I’ll hold your hand so you don’t fall on your ass. Again.”
“That happened one single time,” I huff. “Anyway, I’m not here for long. I’m heading back to Dyschord tonight, and I want to get back before it gets too late.”
Pandora exchanges a glance with Ares, then looks back to me. “Why are you going back?”
Before I can answer, somebody stops next to them. It’s a woman with her hand on the railing, unsteady on her skates. “Could you please move? You’re blocking the rink.”
Pandora and Ares both back up so she can skate past, then some kids go by, then some teens who laugh obnoxiously and flip Ares off.
