Aftershock

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

Aftershock — page 9 — Here’s the thing though Liam pressed on Everything’s a huge deal with her She turns the smallest things into drama Yeah we probably wouldn’t have left you behind Sasha but if we somehow had would you hold a grudge over it Would any of us get this worked up over an honest mistake He’s right Ray thought The rest of them all had other good friends The rest of them all did things on their own Harper didn’t have any other real friends and she hated being alone So that left Ray Liam and Sasha to hang out with her to support her It got not old that wasn’t the right way to put it Draining Feeling like whenever they weren’t available they were letting her down Feeling like there was never a point when she didn’t need something from at least one of them Yeah Ray agreed I mean there’s only so much we can do She should know by now that we all love her and want her to be happy and yada yada But like we also have our own lives We didn’t sign a contract that says we have to drop everything for her all the time 9

Aftershock — page 10 — And it’s not fair for her to expect that from any of us I just worry about her murmured Sasha We’ve only got one year left of high school What happens when we graduate We’re not all going to stay in Edson We’ll all do our own things go our separate ways What’s Harper going to do then I think said Ray carefully only Harper is responsible for that We’re her friends but we can’t always be her safety net Sasha nodded slowly She of all people would have a hard time arguing with that She’d never expected any of her friends to treat her differently after her accident She’d never wanted special treatment or reassurance or protection When people who’d never even spoken to her tried to be friendly or helpful she appreciated it but it also seemed to Ray that she felt weirded out And when people who used to be friendly started avoiding her she said Their loss and moved on I still feel like crap though Sasha said I mean knowing Harper’s this upset 10

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