THIRTY-THREE | SILVER

After the fire had died down, and we had all said our last farewells to David, I’d trudged up the curling stairs to my room. I hardly had the energy to put one foot in front of the other, let alone go to school. 

Aradia had given me one look, and immediately had offered to call Aspen High’s office for me. I felt bad, with everything she had to deal with, but I couldn’t face a day of sitting beneath those too-bright fluorescent lights, trying to pay attention, and then, worst of all, having to talk to people. Because it wasn’t actual talking, not really; nobody at school knew me, not beyond the pretence, the façade, the part that I played for them. And, because of that, I didn’t really know them, either.

I told myself that that was why I was shrugging off my wet clothes and climbing into bed, when the truth was, in fact, much simpler. It could be boiled down to one word, and one word alone: D