I scowled at the time before pocketing my phone. “Now we’re late.”
“Where is it?” Lucy continued to ransack the closet, shoes and loose clothes flying behind her.
“How do you keep losing it?” It was getting harder to sit still. Lucy’s panic was making me antsy.
“Hey, you stab your finger everyday and tell me you’d want to keep track of it.” Lucy sat back on her carpet, chewing her lower lip and scanning the room. “Where in –”
“Lucy-Bug, you left your meter on the couch again.” Mr. Murray’s reprimand held a note of humor. “I almost crushed it under my–”
My throat seized as his big frame filled Lucy’s door.
“Oh, Molly.” He shuffled awkwardly on his feet, his gaze averted while he juggled Lucy’s glucometer between his palms. “It’s good to see you.”
Yeah, so good that he couldn’t even look at me. I tried to offer a polite smile. “You too, sir.”
“Sir?” At this, he looked up, sneering. “Jeeze, Molly-Bear, what’d I ever do to you?”
The question fell into the room like a bomb. It was my turn to look away.
Lucy coughed awkwardly and held out her hands. “Thanks for the delivery, Dad.”
“Huh?” Mr. Murray had to yank his eyes off me, shaking his head. “Oh, oh yeah.”
He handed his daughter the meter sulked out, tossing out a barely audible, “See you around, Molly.”
I wasn’t sure why my stomach suddenly hurt. The rejection wasn’t fresh. Lucy coughed and pulled out the lancing device, wincing as the needle pricked her finger.
“Don’t they have bluetooth options for that?”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Yeah.” dabbed her finger on the test strip. “Mom’s trying to save up for one.”
I nodded and that ugly silence fell between us, like a heavy curtain.
“He can’t even look at me.” The words were out before I could stop myself.
“Sixty-seven.” Lucy grimaced at the digital read out, pausing before she could finally say, “Dad doesn’t look in the mirror anymore, either.”
***
“Where have you been?” James glanced between us. “Don’t even try to claim you’re fashionably late.”
My best friend stuck out her tongue as we dismounted our bikes.
“Sorry, Lucy needed a snack.”
For anyone else, that excuse would sound lame, but James has seen what happens when Lucy’s blood sugar dips. Pretty sure he could do without the trauma. James rolled his eyes and mussed our friend’s hair, making her blush.
“Stop!” She swatted him away as we locked up our bikes and walked into the park. Any day now, Lucy would get the guts to tell James how she felt. I wasn’t really sure how he’d react. James was fun to hang out with, but he was a lot like me, keeping his cards close to his chest.
The gravel path crunched under my ragged sneakers. I wasn’t sure what James had in mind, but it wasn’t like I was overscheduled at the group home. They’d decided to give the interviews a rest after I’d flunked the third one in a row. It was just impossible to care after the Murray’s. I’d blown my perfect shot, why bother with a bunch of pit stops.
The case worker would recommend therapy, as though I had a choice. As though I could tell them anything.
I kicked a rock off the trail, wincing when a squirrel skittered out of the brush, squealing with frustration. “Sorry, little guy.”
“Who are you talking to?” James and Lucy finally caught up to me.
I opened my mouth then thought better of the explanation. James didn’t need an excuse to nickname me Snowwhite. “Nevermind. What are you two keen on?”
“Keen?” James snorted. “Who says keen?”
I shrugged. “The girls were watching some British show last night.”
Lucy rolled her eyes and kept walking “You watch the weirdest stuff.”
“Um, need I remind you we lived together.” From the look on her face, I’d made my point Though I really doubted James would judge her The Twilight Zone marathons.
James laughed and shook his head. “Anyway, there’s an old building building up here. Thought we’d explore.”
“What, like a haunted house?” Lucy was walking backwards as she talked.
James considered this, rubbing his acne-speckled chin. “More like the skeleton.”
