Page 68 of The Art of Us

It had been nearly a week. The gossip had pretty much died down, though he guaranteed it would pick back up if any of the involved parties returned to school. Asha, Bailey, and Cooper had rallied around him—not that he was surprised. They were his friends. Okay, he was a little surprised about Bailey. And when he wrote a new song for Ireland and asked to practice it with them, no one turned him into the latest joke. They practiced the song with him, and on their last run-through, when it sounded near-perfect, Asha gave him a sad look that did not vibe at all with her normally sunny disposition. “That was really beautiful, Superman.”

“It’s a hit for sure,” Cooper agreed. “It hits all the right feels.”

“We should definitely play it tomorrow night,” Bailey said.

Kal scoffed at that. “Too bad she’ll never hear it, huh?”

“Don’t say that, Superman,” Asha said. “You never know.”

He did know. Ireland had made it clear.

“Let’s go again,” Bailey said, not one to wait around for sentimentality.

They ran through it several more times.

“Definitely a hit, man,” Cooper said when they’d finished and were packing it up for the night.

“As opposed to a hitman.” Bailey socked Cooper’s shoulder on her way past him and laughed when he scowled at her.

“Thanks, Coop.”

“I know it doesn’t feel right at the moment. But not telling would have felt worse. Believe me.”

Kal understood what Cooper meant. Cooper had known about Mara and Rowan and hadn’t told. He said he regretted it. Kal probably would have regretted not telling too.

He maintained that he would right his wrongs as much as possible. He had apologized to Ireland, but he hadn’t apologized to Mara. Since Mara and Ireland still weren’t coming to school, he decided he needed to go to them. Well, not to Ireland because she didn’t want to see him. But he would go to Mara. He would explain himself. He would apologize, and then she could forgive him. Or not. Whichever it was, he would have at least done as much as he could, right?

He hated how much he hoped he would see Ireland while at the Washington’s house. Maybe if she saw him face-to-face, she would want to talk to him. Not thatthatwas why he was going to Mara’s house, but it would be a nice perk of going.

Kal checked his phone. It was still early enough to go see Mara. It wasn’t even four in the afternoon yet. He put on a nicer shirt and smoothed down his hair. He told himself he wasn’t doing it to impress Ireland, but because dressing nice to apologize was just polite.

When Kal arrived at Mara’s house, he worried he might throw up. “You’re not here to talk to Ireland. Stop being ridiculous.” The self-talk didn’t motivate him as much he would have wanted. He approached the door and sucked in a deep breath of courage before pressing the doorbell.

Jade, Mara’s little sister, answered. “Hi, Kal. Ireland isn’t here.”

He could have kicked himself for feeling such intensedisappointment. He stomped down the feeling. “No problem. I’m actually here to see Mara.”

“Okay. But you have to stay here while I check with her if it’s okay.” She shut the door on him before he could agree to her stipulation. He waited on the front step until the door swung open again. This time, Mara stood in front of him, not Jade.

She didn’t smile or say anything. She didn’t invite him inside. She leaned against the doorframe and raised her eyebrows in a look that clearly said, “Get on with it.”

“Hey, Mara. I bet you’re wondering why I’m here.”

“I am curious adjacent.”

“Right. Well ... I wanted to say I’m sorry. I never should have gone to Mr. Wasden for help without talking to you about it first. I don’t have an excuse, aside from the fact that I think Rowan is a skeeze, and I worried what he might do next.”

“You’re right. You should have talked to me.”

“I know. I just ...” He sat down on the step. “It’s been a long year.” He told Mara about Brell and everything that had happened leading up to her funeral and his emotional breakdown after the funeral. It was all information he was finally ready to share. He wished he could tell Ireland, but she wasn’t talking to him. And he needed to explain it to Mara so she’d understand why he’d barged into her business the way he had. As he talked, Mara sat next to him on the step.

By the time Kal was wrapping up all the events, Mara didn’t look mad anymore. “Asha told me it wasn’t my job to save people,” he finished. “But after losing Brell, it’s hard for me to see it any other way. I’m just sorry to involve you in my issues. I’m sorry it caused you trouble.”

“That was a good apology, Kal. I accept. You’re forgiven. The truth is that I wasn’t handling the situation very well on my own. I should’ve told someone right at the beginning. But how do you bring up such a thing, right? I mean, I guess you know becauseyou did bring it up, but for whatever reason, I couldn’t. I don’t think I would have. And that wasn’t good for anyone. You telling was actually the right thing to do even if it made me mad.”

“What’s going to happen to Rowan?” Kal asked. “If you don’t mind me asking. And you don’t have to answer. It’s fine if you don’t.”

“Well, what happened to me could have been worse, right? I wasn’t sure pressing charges was the right thing to do. But I decided to go ahead and do it. I have evidence and a witness, and it’s better to have stuff documented to help keep it from happening to anyone else. He’s being charged with misdemeanor sexual battery. Tinsley’s peeved. She says I did it all to spite her. As if. Like I’d get myself attacked just to spite someone. Right.”

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