Fix by J. Albert Mann

Author:J. Albert Mann [Mann, J. Albert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2021-05-11T00:00:00+00:00

Who You Want Me to Be

IT’S NOW JUST ME AND THOMAS AQUINAS.

“Um,” I say. “I should go to bed.”

I pull off Mary Fay’s blanket.

Thomas moves uneasily, as if to help me from the couch.

“I got it,” I tell him.

I don’t feel so snarky anymore. I guess he doesn’t either.

He takes his time choosing a seat so as not to watch me logroll off the couch, finally settling into the gold armchair. I’m immediately reminded of Lidia in that very same chair. And I’m dizzy from the strangeness of it. That he is here. That she is not.

“You don’t have to stay,” I blurt. “I’m fine.”

“It’s no problema,” he jokes.

Seeing me cringe, he adds, “Truthfully, I really have nowhere else to be.”

We look at each other with that sentence hanging between us, and so instead of just saying good night, I say, “And you’re already in the chair.”

He smiles, settling with extreme exaggeration into the seat. “I am. Already in the chair.”

“Okay, good night then.” The words stick a little coming out because it feels too weird to be saying this to him.

“Good night,” he says. “I’ll be right here, in the chair, if you need me.”

I nod super-awkwardly, and then get the hell out of there before anything else ridiculous can leave my mouth.

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