Aftershock

Aftershock — page 5 — at the southern end of the park Harper photographed the action for a while Then she’d called I’ll be right back gonna grab some more photos of the hotel in this light About fifteen minutes later they’d wrapped up their game and walked to Drew’s house a few blocks away Drew had a huge backyard with a fire pit And excellent speakers And a wide range of beverages Flash forward half an hour to Ray looking down at his phone By then he had eight missed calls seventeen texts and two Snapchat messages from Harper Liam’s and Sasha’s phones told similar stories They’d forgotten about Harper They’d left her at the park Ray called her back immediately He even put her on speakerphone so Liam and Sasha could apologize with him We’re at Drew’s We thought you were with us We just didn’t realize with the big group But Harper hung up on them and never showed up at Drew’s Now more than two days later Ray had run out of ways to apologize 5

Aftershock — page 6 — But Harper hadn’t run out of reasons to be angry The damage is done she was saying now She sounded close to tears but her expression was pure anger And I lost the keychain that night too The keychain was probably Harper’s most prized possession She kept it clipped to her camera case It had belonged to her mom who died when Harper was four The keychain was nothing special to look at a flat circle of metal shaped like a compass rose with the four cardinal directions marked N S E W But Harper loved it more than she loved the camera Oh man Harper Ray said quietly I’m sorry Maybe it’s still there I went back Saturday and looked for it I couldn’t find it But that’s not even what upsets me most What really hurts is that you guys forgot about me Harper it was a mistake said Liam We weren’t like purposely ditching you And it’s not like we’ve ever lost track of you like that 6

Aftershock — page 7 — before It definitely won’t happen again So what do you want from us I guess I just wonder if I mean if you didn’t miss me then maybe you wouldn’t even notice if I stopped hanging out with you completely Ray shook his head Come on Harper you know that’s not true We’re like a rhombus said Liam All four sides are equally important Ray almost laughed Seriously man A rhombus Harper didn’t look amused or convinced But that’s what I’m saying I don’t think I am equally important You never would’ve forgotten Sasha The moment the words left her mouth she froze Ray felt himself stiffening too Well said Sasha quietly I’m kind of hard to miss Lucky me I didn’t Harper stammered I didn’t mean it like I know Sasha cut her off But what do you mean Harper Do you mean you don’t 7

Aftershock — page 8 — believe we care about you Is that what you’re trying to say For a second Harper looked as if she might burst into tears But then she snapped Maybe it is Before any of them could respond Harper turned and started speed-walking away from them Ray watched her blonde head move toward the doors She dropped her tray on a random table and left the cafeteria Bet she’s going to see your mom said Liam to Sasha whose mom was the school nurse With a migraine Sasha shot him a disapproving look Don’t say it like that Harper does get migraines Yeah but sometimes she just feels like going home early said Liam When she just can’t deal or whatever Seriously guys isn’t it starting to get old We did leave her behind Sasha said like anyone needed reminding And it was thoughtless of us I understand why it ticked her off 8

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