Page 89 of Keep Me Safe

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

Her bottom lip shakes as she tries to hold in her tears, and my heart sinks. I pull her into a hug. She melts into me, a sob escaping her lips. I hold her while she cries, rubbing small circles on her back. She takes a few deep breaths and releases me.

“Lucy and I… we aren’t together anymore,” she explains, voice cracking at the mention of her. That is the last thing I expected her to say. They were so happy together. She notices the confusion on my face and sighs.

“Lucy isn’t out to her parents.”

I nod slowly, starting to understand.

“I thought I would be okay with it. It’s college. We’re not really around our parents anyway. But her parents visit every weekend, and I get introduced as herfriendevery time,” she says with air quotes.

“I can’t be someone’s secret, Kira. I spent too long hiding from myself. I can’t go back to that.”

My heart breaks for her. I can’t imagine something like that. I grab her hand, gesturing for her to look at me.

“You deserve someone who is openly proud to be with you. Maybe that can be Lucy eventually, but if not, I need you to know that you are a fucking catch, Maddie. If your person doesn’t show you off, they’re not good enough for you.”

Tears still stream down her face as she smirks at me. “Sounds like you need to take your own advice, Kira.”

I let out a breath, shaking my head.

“You know that’s different.”

“Is it?” she asks, her eyes narrowing.

The only difference is Jared. His anger and hurt about our relationship are valid, and I don’t want to make it worse.

“Look, right now, it’s still fresh with Jared, and I get that, but the same goes for you. You deserve someone who will love you shamelessly.”

“I think it’s time for ice cream,” I announce, changing thesubject.

“I second that statement,” Maddie says with a small smile.

We load our bowls full of all the possible toppings. I cover my ice cream with strawberry syrup and sprinkles. If this were a fro-yo shop, the bill would be massive.

“Gilmore Girls or Supernatural?” I ask as I plop onto the couch.

Maddie grabs a blanket and snuggles in next to me, ice cream in hand.

“Supernatural. Start on season four, though. I need some Destiel tonight.” That earns a giggle from me as I select the show.

We’re halfway into the episode when Maddie’s phone goes off. We both glance at the caller ID, and Lucy’s name lights up.

“I’m not answering,” she asserts, but conflict wars in her eyes.

Despite her noticeable desire to do the opposite, she lets the phone ring, not reaching for it once. When it stops, we look at each other, still silent, both jumping when it starts to ring again.

“I’m just going to tell her to stop calling,” Maddie rationalizes as she lifts her phone from the table. I’m about to snatch it back, but she swipes to accept the call. She musters up as much confidence as she can before speaking.

“I don’t want to talk right now.”

Her face quickly shifts, though, from hurt to complete concern.

“I’m at Kira’s, why? What’s going on?”

Her face goes white as Lucy answers, and I catch a few words.

Fire. College dorms.

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