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be. “Sure. Okay. Go ahead.”
“Why did you not say anything that afternoon? You bullied me about
everything under the sun, but the one thing you could have nailed me for,
you never did. Why was that? I’ve never understood.”
Arabella thought back to that day. She knew exactly which one June
meant. It was cold. The wind was biting. Arabella remembered that because
she wished that she’d worn her mitts, but she’d forgotten them at home. She
was very forgetful that day. She’d left her favorite sweater on the bleachers
during cheer practice and then she’d gone to get changed after and had
gabbed with all those girls she called her friends, putting in the time. It had
always been about putting in the time. She’d been a quarter of the way to
her car in the student parking lot when she remembered her sweater. She’d
thrown her jacket on over her flowy blouse. She would have just left it, but
it was her favorite. She’d turned around and walked back, never expecting
to find what she’d found.
When she realized that June was waiting for an answer, and probably had
been for quite some time, Arabella forced herself to take a breath. All she
needed to do was fill up her lungs and it would be easy to say what she
wanted to say, wouldn’t it? No, it probably would never be easy. She was so
nervous that her hands were actually damp, and she had to rub them on her
cotton pajama shorts. She glanced down, surprised to find that she was
wearing the ones with the little dogs on them. Pink with purple and darker
pink puppies. She could have sworn they were blue striped.
“You don’t have to answer that,” June said, attempting to be nice,
because that’s who she was. She never wanted to cause anyone any pain.
She hadn’t gone through her high school years like a full team of guys hell
bent on demolishing everyone and everything in their wake like Arabella
had.
“No. I-I’ll answer you. Sorry. I was just thinking about it.” Arabella
knew her voice was too small. She swallowed hard against the burn at the
