Page 31 of Falling Too Late

I just didn’t know how to tell him about Wren, or if I should. “No man, just have had some things happen, that’s all.” I closed my locker.

“Who’s this girl you have been hanging out with, then? Did you get a girlfriend and just drop me or what?”

“No.” I sighed, running a hand through my hair. Wren and I didn’t have any classes together, and if I wanted to see her at school, I had to go out of my way. All her classes were in opposite halls from mine. “Dude, some shit’s happened and it’s complicated.” I didn’t want to tell him about Wren. I wasn’t ready to share her with him yet.

“Well, you know I’ve always been there for you.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I don’t know why you wouldn’t just talk to me about whatever it is that you have going on.”

In reality, Jonathan and Chance had been hanging out a lot more lately, and I didn’t want Wren around Chance. He could be a douchebag and was pretty shitty when it came to girls. Normally, I wouldn’t care. I could easily ignore his shit, but I didn’t want Wren around him. “It’s not you,” I admitted. “It’s Chance.” I glanced around for prying ears. “I just don’t want him around her.”

“I don’t get it. What did Chance do?”

“Nothing.” I sighed, feeling awkward and frustrated. “Everything. Look, Chance can be a dick sometimes. You have been around him at parties and shit, would you want your sister around him?”

Jon thought about it for a minute before he said, “Okay, I get it. So, this girl, she’s like a sister to you or something?”

“What? No. She’s not like a sister to me. She’s. . .” I tried to find the words. What did Wren mean to me? “Meet me after last period at my locker. I’ll. . .introduce you to her.” I felt like an ass. Jon had never done anything to deserve me being cagey about her.

I just wanted to protect her. Or maybe I wanted to keep her tomyself, but I wasn’t going to stand here and analyze my feelings surrounding her right here in the middle of the hallway.

Wren

Everyone knew about me and my crazy mother the next day at school, thanks to Amanda. I should have stayed home like Gloria said. She was worried about the stress from seeing my mother again, but I just wanted to move on from it.?Alex had told her about the incident the other day.

There were whispers in the hall, other kids stared at me while I was getting books out of my locker. It had been an awkward morning.

I tried to not think about Amanda and. . .whatever her and Alex used to do together. Or still did. I didn’t want to think about it.

Alex and I didn’t talk about sex.??

I didn’t want to talk about it. Sex was the worst thing to ever happen to me, and I didn’t think I ever wanted to experience it again.

Not even if I loved someone.?

It was lunchtime and I was sitting in the commons, waiting for Alex to get here. I needed to borrow the biology book. We had an open-book test today, and it was all luck that Alex and I had the class at opposite times of the day.

I would get a replacement soon. It was kind of a blessing; I hadn’t been able to bring any of my books to school those weeks before the fire. After the fire, I was able to tell the teachers about the fire, bring in the newspaper clippings of it, and soon I would get new ones.

I also wouldn’t have to pay for them.

Since I’d moved in with him, Alex made a point to find me at school, figure out my schedule, and sit with me at lunch. He was the only person who knew my situation.

“Finally, it's halfway through the day.” Juniper sat down next to me, her dyed teal-colored hair a nod to her name. The bright color had gotten on a few of the teachers’ lists, but she was so free-spirited and inherently good at academics that she never stayed on the lists long. “So, what's all this crap about your mom being crazy?”

That was another thing about Juniper; she didn’t know when to not ask a question.

“I don’t want to talk about it, Juni.” I kept my voice low, avoiding the stares of the other kids.??

Juni was sort of my friend. I helped her with homework and listened to her talk. I got all the school gossip that I really didn’t care about through her. Juni talked a lot, and I think that annoyed others, but I liked not having to be the one doing the talking.

After Mom had signed the paperwork, it was like she blew a gasket. She just started screaming at the top of her lungs. Amanda had seen the entire thing. We hadn’t noticed her watching us through the window from clear across the park.

We also didn’t explain to her why I was walking into the house afterwards.??

Alex just told her it was time for her to leave, and we left it at that.??

“You may not, but everyone else is,” she said in a sing-song voice. “Hey, how did Amanda of all people get involved?”

“She was at Alex’s place when my mom lost it. Watched the whole thing, called the cops. It was a mess.” I sighed. The cops took my mom away on a mental breakdown. Stress from the fire, the burns on her arms, her boyfriend still in the hospital. We spun a story the best we could.

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