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After a moment of silence, Alana whispered, “Remember. You needed the fuel to get home.”
Julia stood up, impassioned. She looked on the verge of asking this girl what her plan was, how she thought she would make it out of high school alive. But Alana knew about eating disorders. She knew it was counter-intuitive to drag the secret into the limelight and scold the suffering person. The girl already stewed in shame.
“I just moved back to Nantucket,” Alana began, her voice light.
The girl studied her as though the conversation was a trap.
“I’ve been gone for twenty-seven years if you can believe it,” Alana continued. “And I’m terrified of what comes next.”
Julia nodded, sensing where Alana was going with this. “We’re both getting divorced.”
The girl mumbled, “I’m sorry. That stinks.” After that, she added, “My parents got divorced, too.”
Julia and Alana glanced at one another. Terror played out across Julia’s face, probably regarding her own daughters and how her divorce would affect them.They’re grown up, Julia. Alana wanted to tell her.They’ll be just fine.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Julia said.
The girl shrugged.
“Are you dating anyone at Nantucket High?” Alana asked.
The girl shook her head. This was a sore subject.
“That’s for the best,” Alana said, laughing. “High school boys can be difficult.”
The girl cast her a look that said:You don’t even know.
Oh, but Alana knew.
“Why don’t we exchange numbers?” Alana asked suddenly.
The girl arched her brow. “Why?”
“Why not? I’m new on the island. I don’t have any friends. And like I said, I still want to pick your brain about your eyeliner technique.”
Teenagers always saw directly through whatever you said. Alana knew that well. But to her surprise, when Alana unlocked her phone and brought up a NEW CONTACT, the girl accepted her phone and typed in her information.
Her name was Sarah.
Alana texted Sarah’s number immediately after. “Now, you’ve got mine. So, you can reach out to me for whatever. We can talk about divorce or hot dogs or eyeliner or whatever you want.”
Sarah nodded, her eyes toward the ground as she stood up on rail-thin legs. “Um. Yeah. Thanks, I guess.” She leafed her phone out of her pocket to read the message.
UNKNOWN NUMBER: This is Alana :)
“Text me when you make it home?” Alana asked.
“If I remember,” Sarah returned, tracing a dark strand around her ear. After a long pause and a dramatic step back from where she’d come from, Sarah added, “And um. Thanks.”
Sarah then turned on her heel and, with a tremendous amount of sudden energy, whipped forward and ran down the boardwalk. Alana and Julia watched her, both broken-hearted.
“She has to run off that hot dog,” Julia whispered.
“You’re right about that,” Alana said with a nod. “God bless her. I hope she finds her way out of this soon.”
