I'll Stop the World (101)

With that, she stormed out of the room and down the stairs, running into the kitchen to yank the phone off the hook. Please pick up, please pick up, she chanted in her head as she counted rings.

Click. “Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me. Can you come pick me up?”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just . . . need to get out of here.”

“Are you at home?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, give me ten minutes.”

“Lisa?” her mom called, peering curiously at her from the living room, where she and Jim were getting Emmie’s shoes on before heading to the community center to help set up for that evening. “Honey, where are you going? What’s wrong?”

“Sorry, Mama,” Lisa said, forcing back tears as she hung up the phone. “I know I said I’d help set up, but would it be okay if—”

“Shhh, baby, it’s all right,” Diane said, coming to her and folding her into her arms. “You want to tell me what’s going on?”

Lisa shook her head, knowing she was getting wet spots on her mom’s shirt. “Not yet,” she said. “But maybe soon?”

“Of course, sweetheart. I’m here whenever you’re ready,” Diane said, stroking her back.

“I’ll be there tonight for the debate,” Lisa promised. “Is it okay if I go to Charlene’s for a little while first? I know you asked me not to see her, but—”

“That’s fine,” her mom said, kissing the top of her head. “Never mind what I said. You go be with your friend. And you remember, I love you forever,” she whispered into Lisa’s hair.

Lisa nodded. “Thanks, Mama.”

She closed the door and walked to the curb, wiping stray tears from her eyes with the back of her hand as she scanned the street. The seconds trudged by in a dismal parade as she waited for what felt like ages. With each one, she half expected to hear the front door open, and for Rose to come out and apologize. But the door remained stubbornly shut.

By the time Charlene’s car pulled onto the street, slowing to a stop in front of her, Lisa was feeling mostly composed, although she was still mad at Rose. She yanked open the passenger door and flung herself inside.

“Lees? You okay?” Charlene reached tentatively across the seat to touch her hand.

Lisa had thought her crying was over, but as soon as Charlene’s hand touched hers, the tears started to fall.





Chapter Sixty-Two


ROSE

Her conversation with Lisa had been playing on a loop in her head all morning as she joined the rest of her family at the community center to set up for the debate. Regret had enveloped her as soon as she heard the front door open and close. Why had she said those awful things?

The truth was that she wasn’t nearly as shocked as she let on. It actually made a lot of sense. And despite how she’d reacted, she wasn’t really mad that Lisa had waited to tell her.

She was mad at Justin. At the horrible things he’d said to her, and the impossible situation he’d put her in. And she’d taken it out on her sister at the worst possible time.

After returning home that afternoon, she tried calling Lisa at Charlene’s a few times, but got the answering machine every time. It didn’t seem right to leave an apology on the Derrins’ answering machine, so Rose just hung up.

Her body hummed in anticipation of the evening, made all the worse by her guilt over Lisa. She and Noah had agreed to meet at her house tonight and head to the high school before the fire started. Rose figured that while she still may not know who would set it, they could at least prevent Bill and Veronica Warren from going into the building. Two entrances provided quick access to the guidance office: the main one at the front of the building, and another door around the side, near the office window. Rose and Noah planned to each stake out one of them and turn away the Warrens as soon as they arrived.

If they were successful, they could still get to the debate before it started, with everyone safe and no one the wiser.

She still had a few hours until she needed to meet Noah, though. Making up her mind, she grabbed the car keys off the table by the door and ran outside.

The drive to Charlene’s felt like it was over in a matter of seconds. One moment Rose was pulling out of her driveway, and the next, she was working her way up the Derrins’ winding drive. She still didn’t have any idea what she wanted to say, only that she needed to fix what she’d broken that morning.

She rang the doorbell, shifting her weight nervously from one foot to the other as she listened to the muffled echo of the chimes inside the cavernous house. Charlene opened the door, her mouth set in a frown. “She doesn’t want to see you.”

“Can you please tell her I’m sorry? Please?”

Charlene looked conflicted, but didn’t move from the doorway. “You really hurt her feelings, Rose,” she said, lowering her voice.

“I know. I’m really, really sorry.” Rose tried for a smile, although it felt tight. “Is she okay?”

Charlene tilted her head, her green eyes narrowing slightly. “Would you be?”

Rose wrung her hands, trying to think of anything she could say to make this better. “I shouldn’t have said any of those things,” she said, her voice shaking. “I didn’t even mean them. I was mad about something else and I took it out on her, and that was a bitchy thing to do and I suck.”