Page 41 of Wish You Were Her
“What?” she pressed.
“Well,” he shrugged one shoulder and kicked a piece of glass on the ground with the toe of his boot. “I’m autistic, so nothing is really built for people like me. But your world sounds particularly uninhabitable.”
For a moment, everything went away. “What did you say? You’re autistic?”
He glanced at her. “Well, yeah. Did the sorting system at the shop not give it away?”
“I…” Allegra felt her voice dry up as she stared at him. “I’m…”
“Please don’t say you’re sorry.”
“I would never,” she blurted out.I’m like you. You’re like me.
“Anyway, I’m only saying it because I’m guessing you’re feeling pretty vulnerable right now and it’s apparently good to share with people in situations like this, so they feel less exposed. At least that’s what my terrible ex-therapist used to say.”
Allegra laughed. A light, happy sound.
“Mind you,” Jonah added, oblivious to her inner sandstorm of emotion, “the arts is probably a great place for a fellow autistic to hide. Lots of opportunities for escaping into imagined circumstances, characters, and stuff.”
“You think so?” Allegra said breathlessly. She shook her hands, drawing Jonah’s eyes to them.
He studied her for another long moment before concern started to edge into his face. “You sure you’re all right?”
Allegra had a thousand answers to that question but she settled for the safest. “I’m fine. Thanks again.”
There was silence between them for a moment before Allegra asked, “Do you know any other neurodivergent people in Lake Pristine?”
“Hera, who runs the arcade? She’s ADHD. But we’re definitely part of a small pool.”
“Hera,” Allegra said with a smile in her voice. “Such a great name.”
Jonah nodded. “You like Greek mythology?”
“Dude. Of course. I’d say I was even low-key obsessed when I was fifteen. There were whispers about a full-blown adaptation ofThe Odysseyand I made a real nuisance of myself trying to get a meeting.”
Jonah laughed. “Did it get made?”
“Nope. Greek mythology is so hard to get right on screen.”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed that.”
“What about you?” she asked him, as they walked side by side and at a slower pace along the backstreet behind the bar. “Did you have a shrine to Persephone in the corner of your room or were you normal?”
He laughed once more. “I definitely hyper fixated when I was younger.”
“Which story?”
“Well, all of them. I found this massive book in Brooks Books when I was twelve. Greek myths for teens. Great illustrations. The minotaur, Medusa,The Iliad. But…”
Allegra didn’t push him. They both remained invisible to the rest of the world as they walked the hidden streets behind the main, bustling town.
“I loved Hephaestus.”
His words surprised her and so she glanced at him. “Really? The blacksmith?”
“Well, yeah,” he shrugged, looking a little defensive. “He—Well. He was the only god with a disability.”
Allegra’s eyes widened in understanding and she felt a sudden piercing stab of vulnerability. “Yes.”
