Fracture by Megan Miranda

Author:Megan Miranda
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Published: 2012-01-16T23:00:00+00:00

Troy’s car rumbled to a stop outside our house a little before three. He had dressed up. His hair was pushed out of his face. He wore a maroon long-sleeved shirt. Okay, he was still wearing jeans, but he was more dressed up than normal.

I saw him walk up the steps. I knew he was standing on the porch. But he didn’t ring the bell. I waited a few more seconds, but he still didn’t ring the bell. So I pulled the door open and found him turned around, one step off the front porch. “Where are you going?”

“I thought maybe I was too early.” It was 2:56.

“Come in. Dinner’s not ready yet, but there’s shrimp.”

We stood awkwardly around the cocktail sauce on the dining room table, dipping the shrimp and discarding the tails in a ceramic bowl. Mom came out with napkins.

“Oh, Troy! I didn’t hear you come in! What can I get for you? Apple cider? Soda? Oh, and I just whipped up some eggnog. Delaney says it’s gross, but she never liked it anyway.”

Troy frowned at Mom and looked back at the shrimp bowl. “Seriously,” I said. “It’s gross. Don’t let her bully you into trying it.”

Mom pretended to slap me on the back of the head. “Eggnog sounds perfect, actually,” he said.

Mom smiled and left to get his glass. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” I said. He smiled at me, but it was painful to watch. I didn’t ask if he was okay. Troy was not okay. He was with strangers on Christmas.

We ate ham and stuffing and banana bread and mashed potatoes and green beans. Troy said “please” and “thank you” and “please pass the salt” but not much else. My parents tried to engage him in conversation.

“Are you from around here, Troy?” Dad asked.

“No. I’m from San Diego, actually.”

“This weather must be a shock to your system then.”

“Delaney says you live with friends. Are they the reason you moved out here?” Mom asked. I could tell she was fishing for information on his living arrangements.

He grinned at me, sensing the lie. I felt myself blush, and he seamlessly continued. “I didn’t know them at first. They’re people I met at school.”

Mom considered this for a moment and seemed okay with it. “So what brought you out to our neck of the woods?”

“Well, after everything happened, I just wanted to get away. From the way everyone would look at me. This was about as far as I could go without a passport.” Mom looked at Troy in precisely the way he must’ve hated.

Dad cleared his throat. “Where do you work?”

“The assisted living facility in town. I’m studying for my nurse’s aide certification at night.”

“Good for you,” Dad said. “Takes a lot of drive to put yourself through school. Delaney’s mother did it herself, too.”

“Takes a special person to do a job like that,” Mom said, nodding. “How did you get into it?”

Troy moved the green beans around his plate. “I don’t like people suffering.”

Mom put her fork down.

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