Page 134 of The Glass Girl

“Tracy said she was fine.”

I look away from his face. He’s seen me, now. Naked. Drunk.Too much.

“Hey,” he says. “That thing, what she showed? I don’t care. I mean, Idocare, because it was hurtful to you. But I don’t think you should be embarrassed or ashamed.”

I look at him.

He speaks more quickly. “I mean, I’m here, too, you know? I’ve…Things have happened to me, too, or I’ve done them. That maybe I don’t feel so great about. I guess what I’m saying is, if you think that video is something that will make me not feel what I feel for you, you’re wrong.”

“I— That’s good to know,” I say.

“So. Also,” he says, shifting from foot to foot. “I’m leaving.”

My heart drops. “What? I thought that was the twenty-seventh? What happened?”

He shrugs. “My parents are pulling me. They’ve had tickets to Cancùn for a while, and I guess they figure a few days early isn’t going to make much difference. They wanted to pull me after they saw what happened when Holly ran. I think that really freaked them out. But I wanted to stay.”

“That sucks,” I say.

“I know. I don’t make the rules. I just try to stay out of their way, you know?”

“I know,” I say. “I know.”

“I just wanted to say goodbye and…you know, well, I hope you’re okay. With everything. I was worried for you. And I hope we can talk. After all this. When you’re out.”

“Yes,” I say. “Definitely.”

He reaches into his back pocket and hands me his phone. I punch my number in.

“Cool,” he says, taking the phone back. “Cool.”

There’s a very warm pocket of something between us. Something I want to lean into.

Josh steps closer to me.

“Four minutes,” Janet calls from down the hall.

He steps away.

“Do you want to…They’re dancing at the party,” he says. “Do you want to dance? I mean, Janet has that music playing and all.”

Janet has a slow Christmas song on, something I don’t recognize, old-timey, maybe from the fifties. A singer with a mournful voice.

I nod.

Awkwardly we step toward each other. Josh puts his hands on my waist and I put mine on his shoulders. Slowly, we move in a circle.

I don’t really know where to look. I can feel his breath on my cheek, and if I actually lookathim, our mouths would be like an inch away and—

I look at him.

He swallows. “Your face looks a lot better. I’m glad I can see the other half now, because they’re equally nice. I’ve been meaning to tell you that.”

He moves his face closer to mine. Time…sort of slows.

The Christmas music abruptly stops.

“Oh, no, no, no, no,” Janet calls out sharply. “Nope, nada, separate, that’s it, time’s up, merry Christmas. Time to go, young man. And time for you to go back in your carriage, Cinderella.”

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