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“You still have Mike, Holly, and me.”
“I do.” That cheered her up some.
“I promise to be less careful around you. It’s only that everything between us is so new, I don’t want to screw it up.”
“To me,everythingis always new, except when it’s also overwhelming. That at least is familiar.”
“Right. I didn’t think of it that way.”
And by Andi’s single, simple nod, so unlike Jeremy’s multiple excited nods when he grasped any new idea, Miranda understood that Andi had filed the change away and would never make that particular mistake again.
“Also, if you need it, we can request a new person.”
Miranda shuddered.New.Such an awful word. In these last months, her autism seemed to be becoming more reactive, squeezing in harder and harder like a cherry tomato that was going to burst and spray out everywhere with no warning. Shehatedcherry tomatoes for that reason—didn’t even like removing them from her salad when a restaurant included them against her instructions, in case they went off without warning.
And finding a good metaphor wasn’t cheering her up either. Everything that was supposed to become easier was harder than ever. Knowing that Jeremy and Taz’s departure was probably the root cause did nothing to ease the pressure that squeezed in on her.
Although…perhaps Andi was right as usual.
“Last yearyouwere new.”
“Last year I was a goddamn train wreck,” Andi groaned in that way of hers that said she was half joking. Miranda still didn’t always get why, but it was a good measure of Andi’s generally positive mood.
“But now you’re a good thing.”
In answer, Andi leaned in and whispered so close to her ear that it tickled, “Then let’s go solve a plane wreck.”
“Good idea.” She could either focus on her mood or on the crash, but her ASD made it almost impossible for her to do both at once. She pulled out her notebook and entered a note.
“What was that one?” Andi asked as Miranda stood.
“MyAdvantages of ASDpage: able to fully concentrate on only one thing at a time.”
Andi took her hand and squeezed it tightly. “I can personally attest to the advantages of that particular ability.”
Miranda assumed that was clever in some way she didn’t understand.
Without staking the lone wheel, they headed back along the runway to where Mike and Holly had finished photographing the wreck and were investigating the debris field itself.
Miranda turned to see if Jeremy was following…and sighed.
Eighteentimes today.
