Page 28 of Vengeful Sins

The only thing on the front is a picture of a birthday cake with lit candles. It was originally blank inside—I slowly open it, dreading what I’ll find, but all I see is a bunch of handwritten words.

Dear Maya,

I fought with myself over whether I should give you this, but finally figured there’s nothing wrong with wishing somebody a happy birthday, even if they don’t want to be your friend.

I still wish I understood what happened, and I still care about you very much. I want you to know I’m always here for you whenever you need me. Anytime.

I hope you had a good day, and I hope I can talk to you soon. I love you.

Wren

It’s the last thing I expected to see, and the one thing I needed to find. A reminder there’s still somebody out there who cares about me, even if I’ve done everything I could to make her feel otherwise.

Now I feel like a total slug for being so distant. I have my reasons, yes, but it does nothing to ease the guilt swelling in my chest as I read Wren’s message again and again. She is the kindest, purest person I’ve ever known.

And I need her. I need a friend. Everything is spiraling out of control, and my world is crumbling around me. This card might be the first step in finding my way back to something like a real life. At the very least, I need to thank her. In person.

I’m in the car and on my way to Briggs’s house in no time. It only occurs to me once I’m a couple of blocks away from schoolto call Wren and actually find out if it’s okay to come over. “Hello?” she answers, sounding tentative. I hate that she sounds so unsure of why I’m calling. I must have really hurt her, which means she must have fought back a lot of nerves to leave me that card. She didn’t know how I would react.

“It’s me.” I don’t know what to say beyond that. There’s so much she deserves to hear, but I can’t find the words. “Can I come over? It’s okay if you say no.”

“Oh, my god! Yes! I’m home—Tia is at a friend’s house, but Briggs is picking her up later. We have the whole place to ourselves.”

“Say less,” I reply, and we share a soft laugh. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“I’ll be waiting.” My god. She sounds so happy. It’s humbling, in a way. So happy to hear my voice and know I’m coming to see her. Somebody actually thinks I’m worth that level of excitement. I will not squander this friendship. It’s the best, most precious thing in my life. All it took was a little time without her to realize how much I need her.

She’s outside the house when I arrive and doesn’t bother waiting for me to get out of the car before she runs over with her arms outstretched. “Hi!” she happily chirps before giving me a hug that heals something inside me. I take a moment to soak it in, hugging her back, breathing slowly. This is good. This is something I want to feel. I don’t want to rush through it or take it for granted ever again.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, almost crushed under the weight of the pressure in my chest.

“It’s okay. Come on in,” she urges, pulling away with tears sparkling on her cheeks. But she laughs, taking me by the hand and leading me inside. “Are you hungry? There’s tons of food.”

Now that she brings it up, I’m sort of starved. I was too confused and conflicted this morning to do more than stumblemy way through getting ready for the day while avoiding thoughts of Tucker, like my life depended on it. Food was the last thing on my mind. By the time I got to school, the idea of going to the cafeteria, where people would only make fun of me, seemed like the worst idea imaginable.

In other words, I haven’t eaten anything. “I am hungry, thanks.” There’s something comforting about walking through a quiet, peaceful house after practically tiptoeing around to avoid Dad and his unpredictable attitude.

Not to mention the lack of ugly memories when we pass the stairs. I didn’t kill anybody here. I can relax a little.

“I really am sorry for acting the way I did,” I tell her again once we reach the kitchen, where she flings open the fridge so I can look inside. My stomach growls loudly at the sight of lunch meat and cheese, fruit and yogurt, pasta salad and smoothies. I grab a smoothie, along with an apple, before perching on one of the stools by the counter.

“That’s not nearly enough. You look like you’re losing weight, and you don’t have much to spare in the first place. Are you not eating?” She pulls out a package of turkey, along with a package of cheese and a bottle of mustard. “I’m making a sandwich. Do you want a sandwich?”

Now that she’s mentioned it… “Sure. Thank you.” The answer seems to make her happy—she smiles wide before pulling a loaf of bread from the counter and taking out four slices.

The fact she doesn’t grill me for answers makes my heart swell in a nice way this time. The pressure is pleasant.

She’s a good person. I shouldn’t have pushed her away. When I tell her that, she frowns a little but eventually shrugs. “I know you must’ve had your reasons. And I’m here to listen whenever you want to share them. Even if you don’t, that’s fine. Just, you know…” She glances my way. “Maybe don’t take it out on me next time.”

“I swear, I won’t.” But now that we are here together, just the two of us, a yearning starts to stir in my chest. It would be so nice not to carry this all by myself. I would never tell her about Mom—I can’t shake the feeling she would always look at me differently if I did. And she doesn’t need to know about my cutting, either. It’s bad enough Tucker knows about it.

Still, there’s a lot I’ve been keeping from her, but I don’t want to keep so many secrets anymore. All secrets do is make a person feel disconnected, and I’m tired of that now. I’m tired of so many things.

“Can I tell you something?” I ask as she slides the sandwich my way. Sinking my teeth into it is maybe the best thing I’ve done all day besides finding her card. It’s the simplest thing in the world, but she made it with love. It might as well be a gourmet meal.

She nods, murmuring her encouragement. “I really need to find a way to get out of my house and away from my dad,” I confess. “He’s trying to make me marry some business partner of his.”

“What?” Her mouth falls open so suddenly, turkey almost falls out before she catches herself. I’m so glad I told her, because her reaction tells me I’m not totally wrong for being repulsed by the idea.

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