Page 2 of Shattered

“Um, do you know me?” I fold up my towel and stuff it into my bag, ready to be in the comfortable confines of my apartment.

* * *

I walk out of the bathroom to find the coffee table in my living room littered with junk food. “What is all of this? I said dinner, not a months’ worth of junk food and a dentist bill.”

She laughs as she walks up to the table, looking over the selection. “Too much?” Her brow wrinkles with the question.

I walk closer. “Let’s see, Chinese, Tai, Pizza, Pringles, popcorn, Twizzlers, Raisinettes, and what is that?” I lean over the table to get a better view.

She frowns at me like I’m a crazy person. “That’s Dirt Cake. Seriously, you don’t remember Dirt Cake?”

I feel the corners of my mouth pull up. “Oh, yeah. God, I haven’t eaten this since we were in grade school.” I pick up the small container of chocolate pudding covered in crushed up cookies with gummy worms, and remove the lid. I sit down on the couch as I grab a gummy worm and pop it into my mouth.

“Really? I eat it at least once a week.” She flops down beside me and grabs the other container.

“Once a week? You’re as bad as a kid.” I laugh.

She shrugs. “What are we watching?”

I turn to her with a smile. “You know.”

“Dirty Dancing?” She grins widely.

I nod, causing her to cheer and bounce up and down with excitement. “God, we haven’t watched this movie in forever.” She pulls the blanket over her legs to get comfortable.

I turn on the movie and crawl beneath the blanket with a carton of Chinese food. “I know, but I bet we can still quote the entire thing.”

She looks at me with a dead serious expression, brows pulled together and lips pooched out. “Nobody puts baby in a corner,” she quotes the movie.

I laugh and smack her knee. “You should see your face when you do that,” I say around my high-pitched giggle.

She quirks her eyebrow at me. “Really? Think you can do a better job?”

I shake my head as my laughter subsides. “Nope, you’re on point.”

She breathes on her nails and wipes them on her shirt. “See, I knew those acting classes would pay off.”

I snort.

She quickly turns to look at me. “What?”

“How much did those classes cost you?” I ask, not turning away from the TV.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Her voice has now taken on a bitter edge that I find amusing, but I do my best to keep the taunting inside.

* * *

The movie is almost over when she turns to me and asks, “so, have you talked to Nick since you found out?”

I feel my good mood leave, as if the simple question sucked it right out of me. “A little. He says he was drunk and didn’t know what he had done until the next morning.”

She rolls her eyes. “You’re not going to take him back, are you?” Her voice is shrill, cutting through me. I feel like she’s berating me, like she doesn’t approve. Of course she doesn’t.

I don’t look at her. I can’t. I’m too embarrassed. I mean, who would do that?

I would. I would do that.

“I don’t know, Katie. It’s hard, you know?”

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