Unravelling by Elizabeth Norris

Author:Elizabeth Norris
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

ow could you not have told me!” I scream at Ben when the five of us are alone and cutting through the soccer fields on the way back to my house.

Ben sticks his hands in his pockets and shrugs, eyes looking down.

“Do you realize I’ve had no idea what happened that night— for years!”

“Give it a rest, Janelle,” Elijah says, grabbing my arm and turning me around. Ben takes a step toward him, but Elijah just laughs. “Dude, I think she can take care of herself.” Then he looks at me. “What did you want Ben or any of us to say to you?”

“What’s wrong with the truth?”

“Okay,” Elijah says. “How about this? Hey, Girl I’ve Never Met or Talked To, my friend Ben has a thing for you, so he went apeshit when he heard Sam Hines might be having sex with you, and he beat the shit out of him, we all got into a fight, and the cops came and broke shit up, and you weren’t where we left you, so we weren’t really sure what that meant.” He spreads his arms out wide. “How’s that? Feel fucking better?”

“You could probably soften that a little,” Alex says.

No one says anything, then Reid starts laughing.

Ben pushes him, and he says, “What? He’s right.”

They’re both right, I guess. But I am too. I needed to know what happened. I shouldn’t have had to wait like this. Of course, things could have been worse.

Alex looks at me and tilts his head in the direction of my house, and I turn to Elijah and offer him my hand. “Thanks.”

His eyes narrow. “For what?”

“For beating the shit out of them for me.”

“I aim to please.” He snorts as a smile breaks across his face, and he reaches out and shakes my hand. “You know, Tenner, I might not like you that much, but I sure as hell respect you after that number you did on Hines tonight.”

I turn to Reid, but he’s so drunk he’s looking a little like he might hurl, and I doubt he’s going to remember much from tonight. Then I turn to Ben.

“Janelle, I’m sorry, I—”

I shake my head. “Let’s talk about it tomorrow.”

And as Alex and I move to walk away, Ben reaches out and squeezes my hand, and neither one of us lets go as we move in opposite directions, until the last possible moment.

That’s one mystery solved. The mystery I never told my dad about. Guilt squeezes its way inside my chest and just throbs there. It was the only secret I ever kept from him. At least, the only important one.

“You okay?” Alex asks.

I glance over at him. He’s flushed, but he looks relieved. This secret was a weight on him. And he bore it for me, because I needed him to.

I nod, even though things are far from okay. Because this time Alex needs me to. I can’t keep asking him to pull me back from the cliff, and he shouldn’t have to keep worrying that I’m going to fall.

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