None of the Above(37)

“I’m just going out for a second,” I told her, standing out of sight so she couldn’t see my blotchy face.

“Make sure to be back in time for dinner,” she said, barely looking up from her crossword puzzle. “I’ve got a roast in the oven.”

I decided to run my three-mile loop, which took me through the older part of our development, the one with fewer kids in high school. As soon as I felt the pavement under my feet the cloud in my mind lifted, and my legs took over.

My incisions pulled as I ran, but the soreness was a sweet kind of pain, reminding me that I wasn’t the same person—the same thing—that I had been the day before. The wonderful tangibility of it struck me for the first time. I would have scars to prove what I had done.

What I had done for Sam. Surely he would be able to see that?

With a subconscious eagerness, I found myself turning onto my five-mile loop. My eyes had dried; my nose no longer felt like a cherry tomato. In my mind, I ticked off the landmarks at each half mile:

The library.

The old farmhouse with the barn, once red, that had faded to a light pink.

Sam’s house.

With a jolt of recognition, I stopped. The world spun.

The light in his room was on, a shining beacon. Was I imagining it, or could I almost make out the shadow of a person? Who knew how long I would’ve stood on the sidewalk in front of the Wilmingtons’ house with a staccato heart and gasping breath, if a car hadn’t pulled up into his driveway and brought me to my senses.

I turned to flee back the way I’d come. But then a door slammed, and I heard a woman shouting behind me.

“Kristin! Hey, Kristin!”

I turned around. Sam’s mom walked down the driveway to meet me, her wide grin so similar to her son’s it made me want to cry. As much I wanted to run, I couldn’t.

“Kristin,” she said, holding out her arms. “I haven’t congratulated you yet for Homecoming! Tell me, have you come back to earth yet?”

As I sank into Mrs. Wilmington’s hug, I realized that Sam must have been too embarrassed to tell his mom. It was almost worse than her running me off the property.

I plastered a pleased look onto my face, praying that it would be convincing. “Nope, it’s still sinking in.”

“Please tell me you’ll come in and have something to drink. Sam’s been holed up in his room the past couple of days. He and Bruce must’ve had some sort of spat.”

“Oh, I’m only halfway through my run,” I said, jogging back a couple of steps.

Mrs. Wilmington clicked her tongue and grabbed my hand. “Don’t be ridiculous, Kristin. The season hasn’t even started yet, and Madison misses you. She hasn’t seen you in weeks.” I allowed her to pull me toward their driveway, partly because I didn’t want to be rude, but mostly because I couldn’t help but dream that being brought in by Mrs. Wilmington would put me under a spell of protection. Sam would have to listen to me if I was with his mother.

Walking into the Wilmingtons’ felt like coming home, right down to the spot in the shoe rack for my sneakers.

“Sam! You’ve got company,” his mother yelled. When he didn’t respond, she shooed me toward the stairs as she went into the kitchen. “I’ll get you some Gatorade. Blue, right? You know where to go.”

I hadn’t even gotten to the bottom step when the door to the basement rec room flew open and a twelve-year-old whirling dervish flew out.

“Hey, who’s here? Krissy, is that you?” Sam’s little sister, Madison, threw herself at me with such force that I almost lost my balance.

“You never emailed me the pictures of your dress,” she said reproachfully when she let go. “Sam just had one little teeny shot on his phone and the lighting sucked.” I had to laugh at how stern she looked, even with her curly brown hair frizzing out in all directions from her run up the stairs. “And why aren’t you wearing your ring?”

My grin froze on my face. “I had to get it sized a little. It was a bit too small. But it was beautiful. Sam said you helped him pick it out?”


“I did,” she said proudly. “Sam wanted to get you this awful gold thing but I told him that silver and green would be better colors for you. Did he tell you about our Christmas pageant? I got the part of an angel. Promise you’ll come to opening night?”

I tried so hard to keep smiling that it hurt. “Congratulations, sweetie! You know I’ll do my best to make it.”

“Okay. I’m going to look beautiful. Want to see a picture of my costume?” She was tugging me toward the rec room when her mom came in.

“Maddie, I know you’re excited to see Kristin, but why don’t you let her go up and talk to Sam for a little while?” Mrs. Wilmington handed me a cup of Gatorade.

Madison pouted. “But it’s not going to take a little while. It always takes forever!”

“Then maybe you should think of something to do that’ll take a long time,” said her mom. “Why don’t you give Allison a call?”

“Okay.” Madison slumped. “See you soon,” she told me.

I nodded wordlessly as she went back downstairs.

My hand only shook a bit as I drank the blue Gatorade. “Thanks so much,” I said, handing the cup back to Mrs. Wilmington.