TMI (2014 Collector's Dream Winner)

TMI - Chapter 31

Meg's hand burned with the fury of a dozen sunburns.

When they were twelve, Bailey thought it would be fun to slather baby oil all over their bodies and bake in the sun. It wasn't. For two days, Meg couldn’t get dressed. For three days after that, she looked like a snake that couldn’t figure out how the shedding process worked.

She stared at the bandage on her hand. Ten days before the stitches could come out, the doctor had said. She winced and hoped she could survive this burning for nine more days. With her head down and her hand cradled against her chest, she slipped through the corridors. Nobody threw underwear at her, so the day would have been better than yesterday, except for one thing.

Chase.

She'd divulged way too much information and she needed to regroup. It would be easy to blame the trauma of getting hurt or the drama that had led up to her injury, or even the meds they'd given her in the hospital. Who knows? Maybe all those things were to blame – in part. But the truth was, Chase was way too easy to talk to.

He’d asked her why she didn’t want him. And she’d told him the truth. Just blurted it right out. She didn’t want anyone — especially him — to feel like they had to love her. Oh, sure, at first, he’d scoffed and tried to laugh it off, but she wouldn’t let him. He wanted the truth and he deserved it.

So she gave it to him. She told him how her parents never really wanted kids. How tight money was — still is — since she’d been born. How it was her fault her dad died. Her fault that her mom worked twenty out of twenty-four hours, collapsed in bed, and then got up to do it all over again. She’d told him it was her responsibility to grow up as fast as she can, get out on her own, take care of herself.

He’d tried to hand her all the reassurances and promises he thought would solve everything, but she’d heard them before, heard them every time, every single time, her parents had the same fight. She fell asleep with him still trying to talk her into believing him. Or believing in him.

Either way, she’d let him down.

He was different today. Around her, around Bailey, around everyone. It was obvious the truth changed him. She tried to justify it, but she couldn’t. So then she tried to forget.

She answered the few people who expressed interest even though they disguised it as concern. By lunch, the medicine Kelly Gallagher had given her had worn off and the burning in her hand worsened to a steady flare. She sat at an empty table with a turkey sandwich, one of the few things she could eat with one hand. She had a bottle of water but couldn’t open the cap, so it sat on her tray while she thought about her home test for The Cooper Union. With her left hand injured, now was as good a time as any to begin work on her ink project. India ink or stylus? She clicked her plain old ball point pen and doodled on a notebook page, the turkey sandwich forgotten, until a shadow passed through her light.

She glanced up at Chase. Without a word, he took the bottle of water, unscrewed the cap, and handed it back to her. Then, he turned to leave.

"Chase, wait."

He turned back, shot out one hip, impatience sizzling.

"What happened last night? Your dad said my house got trashed?"

Chase's jaw tightened and he jerked his chin at something behind Meg. "Ask her."

She glanced over her shoulder.

"Hi, Meg! How's your hand feeling?" Bailey sang.

Meg glared. "It hurts." Duh.

Bailey's sunny smile faded. "Yeah. Do we need to—um—clean it, put medicine on it, or something?"

Meg nearly laughed. Bailey almost hurled when she got her ears pierced. If she saw the angry black line of sutures across Meg's hand, she'd probably fall to the floor in a dead faint. "Thanks, but I can manage."

Bailey sat, uninvited, at Meg's table and Meg supposed that was because in Bailey's eyes, things between them were once again smooth. That things were not smooth in Meg's eyes usually didn't occur to Bailey unless she pointed it out.

"What happened at my house last night?"

Bailey forehead crinkled and she looked ashamed for a moment. "A bunch of people toilet papered your front yard. But I didn't put them up to it, I swear!"

Not directly, Meg thought.

"After you and Chase cleaned up, what did you do?"

Bailey shrugged. "I went home, posted what happened to you on Facebook and told everyone to leave you alone."

Meg's eyebrows shot up. "Thank you so much for calling off your troops."

"Oh, Meg, they're not my troops and I didn't call anybody off just like I didn't put them up to it in the first place."

"You did, Bailey. You did as soon as you told my secret."

Bailey's wide eyes fixed on hers and she pouted. "Only because you told one of mine first."

"I didn't.” Meg insisted. “I never told anybody — not even Chase — any of your secrets. I didn’t talk about you throwing up, I didn’t talk about that poem you stuck in Jordan’s locker, and I didn’t even mention what almost happened with Mr. Milner back in ninth grade.” Meg’s dark eyes flashed.

Bailey’s eyes went wide and she whipped her head around, looking for eavesdroppers. “Shit, Meg, will you shut up?”

“Why should I? If you’re gonna punish me for things I didn’t do, I may as well as — you know — ACTUALLY DO THEM.”

Bailey’s darting eyes caught sight of a teacher bearing down on them. She held up her hands, tried to make peace. “Well, I thought you did and I was wrong about that and I said I was sorry."

“Only because Ryder made you.” Meg sneered.

“No, not only. Chase did, too. And I didn’t need either of them. I was already on my way over to your place on my own.”

Meg wasn’t so easily convinced. “If you’d trusted me, you wouldn’t have to apologize. I can’t believe you trusted him over me.”

“I didn’t. Not at first. I even texted you, but you ignored me.”

Meg frowned. That could have been true; she’d ignored a message that day. She huffed and crossed her arms and tried to wrap herself up in her anger. It hurt. So she sighed and gave up. “Okay. There’s only one way we’re gonna get past this.”

Bailey looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“We need to meet Ryder. Up close and in person.”