Page 92 of Until the Ribbon Breaks

My chest thumps, and I drop my head. “I miss you too.”

“At least you can go and do things.”

“I can’t do shit. No license, remember? So, I need you to get out soon because Brent is over having to drive me around everywhere.” Again, she goes quiet. Even though she’s never said it outright, I know it annoys her that the person she despises the most is one of my best friends. I don’t blame her. We made her life hell. “It’s my birthday today,” I tell her, shifting her focus.

“What? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I just did.”

She huffs. “You know what I mean.”

“It’s no big deal.”

“Um, you’re eighteen; it’s a huge deal,” she tells me before giving me a sincere, “Happy birthday.”

I smile, but it doesn’t last long. Not that I don’t appreciate her saying it, I do, but it’s knowing that no one else will that has me bummed.

“Thanks.”

“What else is going on?”

“Not much. Prep day is tomorrow.”

“I wish they’d let you get my schedule and parking tag. As if people don’t have enough to tease me about, I’ll be the only one whose mother is there.”

Growing up in this town, we pretty much know everyone’s parents, so there’s no way people aren’t going to notice. “She can’t go another time?”

“Nope.”

“It’ll be fine,” I try to assure her. “I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“I just hope I’m out before school starts.”

I still feel horrible for helping spread the rumor about her being pregnant when she missed half of her junior year. “I won’t let people talk shit if you aren’t.”

“People talk no matter what, you know that,” she says, and it’s the truth. “Anyway, how are things at home?”

“Mom and Kurt were still sleeping when I left this morning, so I didn’t have to deal with anything.”

“Do you think your mom would be as bad as she is if Kurt left?”

“At this point, yeah. She’s in it pretty deep,” I tell her. “As much as I hate the guy, I’m scared to think of what would happen to her if they broke up.”

“What do you mean?”

“I feel like she needs a constant babysitter, and even though he’s always blasted, at least she isn’t alone in case she drinks too much and gets alcohol poisoning or whatever.”

“You think he’d call for help?”

“God, I would hope so.”

“That’s scary to think about,” she responds softly, and it is.

I hate thinking about what could happen to her, to possibly lose her. It terrifies me because she’s all I have.

“Oh, guess what,” she says before continuing, “I finally made a turtle on my own without Jeremy’s help.”

“Yeah?”

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