Page 15 of The Assist
“Coming right up.” The men recover from their surprise and scurry off, presumably to get our drinks.
“Thatis why I can’t go to Valley. I’d rather hide away in my parents’ house than spend all day, every day, watching people react to my face.”
“Ignore them. Those guys are idiots.”
“It isn’t just them,” she insists. “Last week, a kid in the dentist waiting room cried when I sat beside him. Hecried, Blair.”
“Your scars are not that bad.” I cringe at the way it sounds, but honestly, I don’t see her the way she must see herself. She’s still stunning. The scars didn’t change her obvious beauty – only her confidence. “And anyway, college is different. I promise. No one cares. There’s a guy in two of my classes who never wears shoes. He has these dirty, calloused feet, and he just owns it, and no one says a thing.”
“Not to his face, just over drinks with friends.”
The guys return, cutting our conversation short, and set four shots onto the table.
“What are we drinking to?” The guy closest to me asks.
I grab two shots, hand one to Gabby and lift the other in the air. “To Gabby. Happy twenty-first birthday to the most amazing chick I know. Love you, Gabs.”
“Love you too,” she says with a smile before we clink glasses and throw back the fiery cinnamon liquid.
Shortly after we’ve thanked them for the drinks, the guys seem to get the memo that we aren’t interested and return to the bar. Gabby and I sit and chat about anything and everything. With each glass we finish, Gabby acts more like the confident and happy girl of the pre-accident days.
“So, Vanessa is still dating the baseball guy, any prospects there for you?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “I haven’t met any of his teammates.”
“Vanessa is dating a hot jock, and you haven’t scoped out his friends? What’s wrong with you?”
“I’ve been studying.” I point a finger at myself. “Failing statistics a month into the semester.”
“Lame. You need to get back out there.” I resist the urge to throw the advice back at her. It’s too good of a night to ruin.
But Gabby isn’t done doling out the advice. “Seriously. You haven’t dated anyone since David. What’s up with that?”
“Nothing is up with that. I’ve just been busy.”
She gives me a no nonsense look that has always caused me to cave under her peer pressure.
“All right fine. I’ll scope out the hot baseball guys.”
Satisfied, she smiles. “And report back.”
6
Blair
I haven’t seen muchof Vanessa since she dropped statistics. She’s taken to staying at Mario’s most nights, and during the day, our class schedules keeps us out of sync. It goes without saying that when I find her rummaging through our closet singing along to K-pop the next night after work, I’m caught completely by surprise.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were staying at Mario’s again tonight?” I ask as I set my backpack down at my desk. Four hours of working at the café has left me with sore feet and a kink in my neck. Not to mention, splattered with the sticky sweet syrups I can’t seem to wash off my hands and always manage to smear in my hair.
And worst of all, my quotes went completely unappreciated tonight. I usually get at least one smile or thanks. So much for putting good out into the universe and getting it back.
“I am,butthe guys are having an after-hours party andyou’recoming with me.”
I attempt a smile that I’m sure looks more like a grimace. “Tonight? Shoot, you know I’d love to hang out, but I’m exhausted and have a class at eight tomorrow.”
“Who signs up for eight a.m. classes past sophomore year?” She shakes her head. “And that was your excuse the last two weeks. You’re coming.”
“It was the only time advanced econ was available.”
