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But I did it for her. I wanted to show her and see her smile.
“Hey, Devon. Do you know if Ally is here today?”
I look up and see Laurel Lindley leaning against the table in front of me.
“Apparently not,” I tell her. “Why? What do you want from Ally?”
“So defensive,” Seth says.
I shrug.
“Well, I’m just kind of worried about her. She said some stuff to me on Friday—nice stuff; I didn’t think much about it. Then, I went home, and over the weekend, I couldn’tstopthinking about it.”
“What do you mean?”
“It just that—and I don’t want to freak you out—but it sounded like she was saying goodbye. In a very final way.”
And I want you to be happy—all the time, no matter what that means. Even if it’s without me. I’d be okay with it if you wanted to move on. I wouldn’t blame you.
Shit.
“I have to go,” I tell her. I push my chair back with enough force that it topples over on its side, throw my bag over my shoulder, and race out of the school and through the parking lot. I jump into my car and drive until I’m parked right in front of Ally’s house because fuck it. Fuck them, and fuck the camera.
She better be here. She better be okay.
After I try the doorknob and find it locked, I head over to the same bathroom window I’ve climbed through before.
“Ally?” I call out. “Are you here?”
But there’s no answer.
I take the stairs two at a time, then run down the hallway to Ally’s bedroom and push the door open.
“Allyson?”
I pull the covers back and find her there in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. Dried blood covers a split in her swollen lower lip.
“Come on,” I tell her. “Let’s get out of here.”
I reach down to help her sit up, and she wretches in pain.
“I can’t,” she says. “I can’t move. It’s my ribs. I think…I think they’re broken. It hurts to breathe.”
I lift her shirt to her bra, revealing a purple and green stained torso. And that’s how it looks—stained, like someone dipped her in ink.
“We have to get you to a hospital, Ally.”
“I can’t walk, Devon. It hurts so bad.”
“You’re going to have to let me move you. It’ll hurt, but we don’t have a choice, Ally. I’m going to pick you up now, okay?”
She nods, and I reach under her body and lift her from the bed. She grunts in pain and buries her face into my chest.
“It’s okay,” I tell her, carrying her quickly from the room and down the hallway. “You’re going to be okay. You’re doing great.”
She grits her teeth together and screams as we descend the staircase.
“I’m going to set you down so I can open the front door, okay? Then we’re going to go. My car isn’t far.”
