City Love(73)

“Oh my god.” Austin hugs me tight. “I’m so sorry.”

“I lost the sister I never even got to have.”

Part of me wants to keep talking. I want to tell him about how I turned my anger into hope for a better world. About how I channeled my energy into warm fuzzies and random acts of kindness. But some of that anger still undulates beneath my optimism. And if I start ranting, I’m afraid I will never stop.

“My parents were crazy suffocating last year,” I say. “I used to have nightmares after the accident, but they eventually went away . . . until last year for some reason. I guess I woke up screaming a few times. My parents kept having these whispered worried chats and throwing me pity glances. My mom kept harassing me to go to counseling. They made it impossible to move on. I couldn’t wait to move out. I even hauled a ton of dirty laundry with me, I wanted to leave so bad.”

“I hear you on the suffocating thing,” Austin says. “Feeling trapped is so frustrating.”

“When did you feel trapped?”

Austin doesn’t answer. He just goes back to rubbing my arm in slow strokes.

Eventually we need a snack. I agree to forage in the kitchen. Opening my door feels strange. It’s like I forgot this whole world beyond my room existed. Austin met Rosanna on the way out of the bathroom this morning, but that’s been the extent of our interaction with other people today. As I head to the kitchen, I see Rosanna on the couch in the living room. She does not look happy.

I go over and sit next to her. “What’s wrong?” I ask.

Rosanna shakes her head miserably. “I don’t want to bother you. How’s the romantic weekend going?”

“Rosanna. What happened?”

She takes a deep breath. “Remember that girl I told you about at the camp party who hated me for no reason? The one I’d never seen before?”

“Nasty Girl?”

“Except Nasty Girl has a name now. Addison. And guess where Addison’s housing is? In the same building as Mica. They ran into each other in the hall. And guess what Addison told Mica? That I’ve been talking all this trash about her. That I called Mica a selfish bitch who doesn’t like kids and is fine with living in poverty for the rest of her life taking government handouts.”

“What the what?”

“Yeah, no, it gets better. Addison said that we were good friends in high school and I stole her boyfriend at the junior prom. Sadie, she didn’t go to my school. I’d never even seen her before the party. But she knew all this stuff about me, like where I’m from and personal things about my family. How does she know all that if I don’t even know who she is? And why does she hate me so much?”

This sounds like something out of a horror movie. Those twisted ones where a deranged girl is stalking another girl and creates this whole alternate reality in her mind. Addison sounds like a lunatic. I hope Rosanna is safe.

“Are you sure you’d never seen her before the party?” I ask.

“Never! I’ve been racking my brain. The party was the first time I’d ever seen her.”

“That’s so weird. Is there a way to get in touch with her? So you can ask her what her damage is?”

“I could call the Upper East camp and get her number. They’re closed until Monday, though.”

“You should definitely call them. I can’t believe she turned Mica against you. Why did Mica believe her?”

“Everything she said seemed believable. What motive would she have to lie? Mica just met me a few days ago. At first I was surprised she believed Addison. But then I realized that even when you click with someone right away, you don’t really know them.” Rosanna rubs her arms like she got a sudden chill. “No one really knows anyone.”

“Excuse me, but I know you’re a good person. And we just met. There’s no way you’d say or even think those things about Mica. This girl is going down. If anyone named Addison confronts me, I will get in her face so fast she’ll wish we’d never met.”

“What would your Random Acts of Kindness group say?”

“They’d congratulate me for defending you against a negative, horrible person. Kindness isn’t only about spreading happiness. It’s also about reducing the amount of suck in the world. It’s pretty clear that Addison sucks more than anyone.”

My door creaks open a little. I peer over my shoulder to see Austin peeking out.

“Go back to your hot man,” Rosanna says. “I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“If I can stop staring at the phone. D hasn’t called today.”

When Rosanna told us how she ran out of D’s place, I could empathize. Being in a new relationship that’s moving too fast is scary. Not only that, but being with a grown and sexy man in his fancy apartment for the first time, just the two of you? That’s intense. Especially if you don’t have a lot of experience. Rosanna hasn’t said much about her past love life, but I get the impression that the boyfriend thing is new territory for her. Of course she ran out of there. I’m proud of her for having enough courage to even go back to his place.

“Actually . . . he called last night,” Rosanna says. “Right after Mica hung up on me. I didn’t feel like talking to him. I was too afraid I would start crying or something. He doesn’t need to be bothered by this catty high school drama. Only . . . I’m not in high school anymore. My expectation was that all of this petty nonsense would cease to exist in the real world. What a colossal disappointment to discover that’s not true.”