Page 63 of Through My Window
She takes off her glasses, and her face tightens in concern. She hurries over to me and grabs me by the shoulders. “What happened? Are you okay?”
I just manage to nod.
“God, let’s go inside.”
In my room, I don’t bother to hold back my tears, not anymore. I sit on the floor against the wall and cry. Dani sits next to me, saying nothing, just sitting there, and that’s all I need. I don’t need words of encouragement, I just need her to be there, next to me.
I need to let it all out. I need to get this pain out of my chest, and I feel that by crying I can externalize it so that it never hurts like this again. There is something therapeutic in crying with all my heart. There is a certain peace that comes afterward.
Dani slips her arm behind me and grabs me so that I rest my head on her shoulder. “Let it out. That’s it. I’m here.”
I cry until I have no more tears, and my nose is so stuffed up that it’s hard to breathe. The peace settles over me. Dani kisses my head.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
I push myself away from her and straighten up, pressing my back against the wall. I wipe away my tears and blow my nose. I tell her everything.
Dani’s face turns red with rage. “Fucking jerk! Argh!”
I don’t say anything.
She blows an unruly strand of hair out of her face. “I want to punch him in his stupid face. Can I? Just one punch and I’ll run. He won’t even notice.”
“Dani . . .”
“I learned a superpunch in my self-defense class, I know it will hurt, and there’s always the typical punch in the balls. Oh yeah, I think I prefer that one.”
Her crazy anger steals a sad smile from me. “I appreciate the effort, but . . .”
“Or I can tell Dean. They’re on the soccer team together. I’ll tell him to give him a kick that looks accidental.”
“Dani, you can’t send your brother to beat him up. Dean is very passive.”
“But also excessively overprotective, I only have to tell him that Ares did something to you andboom! Ares gets what he deserves.”
“I don’t like violence, and you know it.”
“Fine!” she snorts. “I’ll get some ice cream, and you find the most romantic movie you can get online.”
“I don’t think—”
“Silence! Let’s deal with this anger as it should be. Today you will cry and shout insults at the movie screen and talk about how unfair life is because those things don’t happen to us.” She puts her hands on her hips. “We’ll have a sleepover, and tomorrow you’ll wake up a new person, leaving everything behind.”
I try to smile. “I don’t think I can do that overnight.”
“At least give it a try, and then we’ll go party with some guys. You’ll get distracted and realize that idiot isn’t the only guy on this planet. Are we clear?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I didn’t hear you.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Okay, now look for that movie, I’ll be right back.”
I watch her leave and smile like a fool, grateful to have her by my side, otherwise I would be falling apart. I think what upsets me the most is that, even knowing what my mother had to go through with my father, I still fell for that idiot. Just another girl, blinded by love. I’m disappointed in myself.
I turn on my computer and open the browser to search for a movie. My Facebook automatically opens while I type into the address bar. I hear a new message ring and my heart crumples in my chest when I see the name and message.
