“I didn’t do anything,” I said again, surprised at the lump that suddenly rose in my throat. “I didn’t deserve this.”
“No,” he said. “You didn’t.”
“I don’t have to understand.”
“Okay.”
I swallowed over the lump, then blinked hard. It had been such a long day, and I was so, so tired. I wished I could just leave, disappear inside, but there was always something else required, a way to get from here to there.
Thinking this, I looked up at the sky, cold and clear overhead, and took a breath. One, I thought, finding the Big Dipper a. Ars pricked my eyes. Two, and I swallowed again, trying to calm myself as I spotted Cassiopeia. I was searching for a third when I felt myself starting to shake, desperate to find something familiar up there, somewhere. It was so cold, looking through my blurry gaze, but then, suddenly, I felt Dave slide his arm over my shoulders. He was warm and close, and at the same moment I realized this, I spotted the outline of Orion. Three, I thought, and then rested my head against him, closing my eyes.
Eight
When I got to school Monday morning, the first person I saw was Riley.
She was actually the only person I saw, as I was way late. Our heat had gone out overnight, and what with calling the rental agency to get a repairman set up, I’d missed the bus. Then I had to wait for my dad to finish a phone conference with Chuckles, who was in London, before he could give me a ride. When I finally got there, fifteen minutes into second period, my hair was still wet, fingers slightly numb. Plus, I was starving, as all I’d eaten was half a banana in the car with my dad as he raced through yellow lights and school zones, now late himself.
I was halfway up the stairs, on my way to my locker, when I spotted Riley sitting on the radiator outside the guidance office, her backpack at her feet. She was on the phone, talking quietly, her head ducked down as I passed her and turned the corner. All I could think about was that text she’d sent to Dave—YOU CHARMER—and, despite the fact that nothing had really happened between me and him, I still felt kind of weird. I’d meant what I said about Dave: he was a nice guy, but I didn’t have time for a nice guy, or any guy, really. I didn’t feel like explaining this again, though, so I steered clear.
At my locker, I stowed some books, then as my stomach rumbled, began to dig around for an energy bar I was pretty sure I’d stashed in there the week before. When I finally found it, I ripped it open right there and took a bite. As I stood there chewing, I caught a glimpse of myself in that awful, feathered SEXXY mirror and decided it was time for it to go. When I reached up to rip it off, though, I found it was stuck on pretty well. I took another bite of the bar, then dug my fingers down the side of the mirror, dislodging it only the tiniest bit.
Damn, I thought, giving it another yank. Nothing. I stuffed the rest of the bar in my mouth, then used both hands, really trying to pry under the feathers on the edge. It resisted completely. I was just about to give up when, just as I was swallowing, the mirror suddenly came off. What happened next was in quick succession: the bite of energy bar caught in my throat, the mirror clattered to the floor, and the locker door, rapidly swinging shut, cracked me right across the nose.
I stumbled backward, simultaneously choking and seeing stars as I banged into the water fountain behind me. It came on cheerfully and dependably, shooting an arc of water over my elbow.
“Oh my God,” I heard someone say. There were footsteps, and blurrily, as my eyes were squeezed shut in pain, I saw movement in front of me. “Are you okay?”
I coughed—relieved that I could breathe—then swallowed and stepped back from the fountain, stopping the water show. Which left only my nose, which was smarting like I’d been punched. “I think so,” I said.
“That was crazy.”
I opened my eyes slowly, to see what I was pretty sure was Riley in front of me, a concerned expression on her face. I blinked, and she came a bit more into focus.
“You should sit down,” she said, taking my elbow. I bent my knees, easing myself down the wall to the floor. “That was a pretty big whack. I heard it all the way down the hallway.”
“I don’t know what happened,” I said.
She turned, walking across the short hallway to where the SEXXY mirror was lying on the floor by my locker and picking it up. “I think you can blame this thing. I think once they’re put up, they are not meant to be removed.”
“Now you tell me.” I reached up tentatively to my nose, but just the slightest touch made my whole face hurt.
“Here. Let me see.” She squatted down in front of me, peering in close. “Oh, man. You’ve got quite a mark there. Look.”
She held up the mirror at my eye level. Sure enough, I had a red bump on the middle of my nose, which seemed to be growing in size as I watched it. I wasn’t sure if it was broken. But it was anything but SEXXY.
“Great,” I said. “This is just what I needed today.”