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“Thank you for that.” I slumped into the chair across from her. “So, what now?”
Toying with the edge of the placemat, I continued taking inventory of the house. Mom had grown her house plant collection, from the looks of it. There were several draped along the side of the sink. Nora would likely walk over any second and start inspecting them. She loved house plants.
Nora clicked her tongue and reached forward to grab my hand. “Now we become grownups, I guess.”
I wanted to comment that I had been a grown up, working three jobs just to make rent, but I didn’t want to make her feel bad. My thoughts drifted toward what had driven me away, making my stomach churn.
“But what if he—”
She shook her head, cutting me off. “He doesn’t matter. I hate that you left because of him.”
“I left for college.” My voice dimmed, betraying the lie.
Nora’s scoff told me she had picked up on it. “You had no plans to go to college, Rae. Before that night, when you found that asswipe Davis, you hadn’t applied anywhere, and the two grueling years at that community college in New York proves it.”
Hearing her say his name was like a quick slap of reality. The hurt, the humiliation—the entire reason I had moved so far away. The fact that what he did still outweighed all the things I had overcome these past four years. Living in a tiny box while working three jobs, attending community college, breaking my neck to get across campus because I chose not to add on-campus housing to my growing debt. The endless night shifts, the early morning classes, the smell of living in New York with no money. It wasn’t glamorous. It was shit.
Pure shit.
Yet, this gaping wound from Davis still apparently bled, while all the other battle scars were stitched up.
I didn’t respond to my friend’s comment, because she was right. I hadn’t planned on going anywhere back then, because I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Davis. I honestly had thought he’d fall in love with me after I had graduated from high school.
So pathetic.
“You think he’s still up there?”
“Rae, are you hearing me?” Nora stopped inspecting her nails, and leaned closer. “It doesn’t matter.Hedoesn’t matter. You matter, and this town matters, and believe it or not, Macon really needs you.”
I sobered at her tone and the serious glint in her eye. She was right, but my thoughts still churned like lumpy butter.
“Besides,” she suddenly piped up. “If he were to still live around here, would he even recognize you?” Nora eyed me while digging into the basket of fruit my mother had on the table. Peeling back a banana, she ignored my confused expression.
“Of course, he would.” I laughed at my friend, because the object of my obsession and the man who broke my heart would recognize me in a heartbeat. I had stood mere inches—well, feet—from his face. I mean, he didn’t reallylookat me, but he saw me.I was right there. Of course he would know me. I hadn’t changed that much.
She raised a dark eyebrow. “You had short, curly hair with chunky highlights, braces, a flat chest, and acne—on a much rounder face.”
“Hey!” I slapped her arm.
She reared back, holding her hands up. “I’m just saying, Rae…you looked totally different back then, and you’re definitely not flat-chested now.”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s the bra.”
“Okay, but what about your long hair, with all those flattering layers and highlights, and your skin? Bitch, you’re hot.” Nora suddenly leaned over to deliver a slap to my arm, but the banana was half in her mouth, causing the other half to fall.
“Nora, eww! Keep your banana in your mouth.” I playfully slapped her back.
She was laughing so hard now that she had to spit the remaining mouthful out. On a labored breath, she wheezed out, “That’s what she said!”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not cleaning that up, and you realize that made no sense, right?”
She rubbed a napkin over the mess she’d made, giggling to herself. “I’m just jealous because we’re both single and going to have to pull from the very shallow dating pool of Mount Macon.”
Groaning, I laid my head on the table. “Don’t remind me.”
Maybe she had a point about not being recognized, and it wasn’t likeheever really saw me anyway. All my antics, and he never,everacknowledged me.
Nora toyed with the placemat, softly offering, “You know I can ask my parents if he’s still around, if you want, just to be sure.”
