Page 44 of Sincerely, Your Enemy

I don’t listen, gathering the chunks of ceramic into my hands.

“Lacey, stop. I’ll take care of it.”

I pretend as though I don’t hear him and take the mug to the trash. I stay perfectly still in front of the garbage once the mug’s been disposed of.

TJ gives me space at first, but it doesn’t take long before I hear him close in on me.

“Please don’t slap me for this.”

I’m not sure what he means until he takes my wrist into his hand and whips me around. Then his arms are around me, squeezing me.

It’s terrifying how fast I sink into his embrace, surrendering to the affectionate gesture. I even hug him back, pressing my cheek flat against his chest. The next thing I know, his hand is in my hair, massaging my skull slowly.

I go from crying silently to sobbing without restraint. TJ doesn’t say a word for the next five minutes, just holding me and playing with my hair.

And as I cry, I was wonder if perhaps I was wrong.

Perhaps TJ is more my friend than an acquaintance after all.

Lacey

Things go back to normal faster than I’d anticipated.

I couldn’t wait to get out of my house, and as soon as my symptoms lifted, I was back at the café, picking up any shift I could to make up for missing a week of work.

I step off the bus a little after five. I didn’t have class this afternoon, so I covered a coworker’s shift. Traffic toandfrom work was horrendous, but at least I made some decent tips.

I’m just glad my car will be out of the shop soon so I can finally stop commuting everywhere. My stepdad gave me some money to get it fixed.

A text pops up on my phone as I’m walking home.

It’s TJ.

TJ

I aced the exam.

His message makes me squeal with joy.

He did it.

Lacey

YAY! So proud of you!

We managed to fit in a quick lesson before his test on Tuesday, and it paid off.

TJ

All credit goes to my tutor. She’s pretty cool.

His message warms my heart.

Lacey

How’s your hand? Better?

He had this bad cut on his palm when we had our lesson on Tuesday. He said he cut himself after breaking a glass. It looked pretty nasty, and I convinced him to go to the doctor to get it checked out.

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