Page 26 of One Breath After Another

“Bad day.”

“Idiots again, or ...?”

Penny shrugged. “Bad thoughts.”

That was her way of letting them know without saying something about her depression. She kind of felt like it was a check on herself, in a way. If other people knew she was having dark thoughts, she was less likely to act on them with self-harm, or something of a similar nature. It didn’t always work, but it helped.

Especially with Naz and Roz.

They didn’t judge.

Naz folded his arms behind his head and eyed her from the side. “I do work, actually. And do you know what else I do?”

“Not particularly.”

“Get phone calls from the school when you skip out. I figured you would be coming home, so I said I would be there to meet you. I should be on the other side of the city, though.”

Huh.

“Where’s Roz?”

“You have to stop skipping school.”

“I would if I could do it online.”

Naz lifted a brow. “You’re supposed to socialize. It’s a good thing to learn.”

“I do. With you, Roz, and people around here. That school is annoying.”

“Is it, or is it—”

“I hate that school, and the people in it.”

“You chose that school.”

Penny rolled her eyes so hard it hurt. “Because I had to.”

Naz pursed his lips. “Two days at the school, three days at home online.”

“Oh, we’re bartering now?”

“Everybody gets something they want.”

“What will the social worker say?”

“Fuck her,” Naz said, “her shit doesn’t work, anyway.”

Well ...

He had a point.

“Two days there, three here,” she agreed.

Naz nodded, clearly pleased. “You only have a few months left to go before you graduate. At least try to make it until then.”

“Yeah, but then what happens?”

He was silent.