Part 11 (2/2)
She peeks at me through her dishwater bangs. ”Ask your grandma if she wants to adopt me?”
My heart sinks into my gut, and my stomach twists in knots. I knew Corrine had a tough home life, but I had no idea it was this bad.
”Corrine, you have to go to the police or something. They can't get away with treating you like this-”
”There's nothing the police can do. It's their word against mine. And besides, what would happen to me? I turned seventeen a few months ago. Foster care? Yeah, like that's gonna happen. And I have no money, no job, no nothing. I'm stuck here.”
”Corrine, there's gotta be something we can do.” I rack my mind trying to find a solution. Obviously staying with me is out of the question. But maybe... ”I have an idea...what if I gave you some money? Would that help?”
Corrine looks confused. ”I don't see how...”
”Money...to stay at a motel or get your own apartment or something.”
”I'm a minor. Mom would just call the cops on me...”
”Well, what if-”
Corinne shakes her head and holds up her hand. ”I know I gotta get out of here. And someday I will. But it's usually not this bad. This was kind of an unusual fight. Normally you can't see the marks. I'll be fine in a few days. No worries.”
I bite my lip and stare at the ground. Clearly something has to be done...
”How'd you get here?” she asks, interrupting my thoughts.
”Oh, um...a car...”
”Where'd you park? I don't see it anywhere.”
”Uh...around the corner.”
”Why? And why're you acting funny?”
I let out a guilty sigh. ”Don't be mad, but Tristan drove me. I had him park down on the street around the corner...”
”Ahhh. Didn't want him to see the sort of trash you hang out with?”
”Corrine, you know that's not true! I did it out of respect for you, not because I'm ashamed of you!”
She twists her hair around her finger and chews on her lip. ”Yeah, I know. Sorry. Don't know why I'm being a b.i.t.c.h.”
”Oh, please. You have every right to be a b.i.t.c.h right now. I don't know how you're being so cool and collected after what happened-”
”Liora, just stop. Please,” she whispers hoa.r.s.ely. ”I don't want you feeling sorry for me. Your pity hurts worse than being punched in the face.”
”I'm sorry...I just wish there was something I could do for you.”
”Me too. If there is I'll let you know,” she says.
I nod and pat her knee, feeling helpless.
Corrine glances around. ”So where's Tristan? Waiting for you in the car?”
”Yeah, I asked him to stay there while I came to check on you.”
”I'm surprised he let you out of his sight for five seconds,” she mutters, looking down.
”What's that supposed to mean?” Even though I secretly agree with her sentiment, for some reason it's more offensive having someone else point it out like that.
”I just mean, you've stuck to him like white on rice since the moment he came to this school. It's like Kieron never existed or something, and instead, you totally jump on the next guy who shows you attention and completely ignore everyone else-”
I spring to my feet and face her. ”What do you mean I completely ignore everyone else? h.e.l.lo! I'm here checking on you right now!”
She looks away, the corners of her mouth turning down in a frown. ”I gotta go back inside.”
”Corrine, wait. Don't go yet. C'mon. Let's talk.”
She shakes her head. ”I don't want to fight with you, too.”
”We're not fighting, we're talking. C'mon...are you mad at me or something? If so, spill it,” I plead.
She sits back down and brushes her hair back from her face. The frames on her gla.s.ses are bent, and the lens has a tiny crack in it. She sighs and clenches a fistful of hair. ”I'm not mad at you...just kind of disappointed, I guess.”
”Disappointed why?” I ask, confused.
”I dunno, I just never thought you'd be the type of girl who'd drop everything for some guy and completely shut out the rest of the world-”
”Corrine, what are you talking about? I don't do that!”
”Yeah, you kinda do. You didn't do it when you were with Kieron. With him, you were totally yourself, just better. Happier. But when you're with Tristan, it's like no one else exists or matters except him. And you...I dunno...it's like you're disappearing or something.”
”You're imagining it,” I whisper hoa.r.s.ely.
”Oh, am I? Do you realize this is the first time you and I have had a conversation like this since he arrived on the scene? Where you're looking at me and talking to me and actually hearing me? Not like I'm just some second-best s.p.a.ce-filler who's only good until someone better comes around? I feel like I've been some invisible third-wheel with you guys. Like at lunch or something...I'm sitting there trying to talk to you, but you'd never even know if I was there or not-”
”That's not true-”
”Yeah, actually, it is. I swear, sometimes it's like he has you hypnotized or something. You get this gla.s.sy, far-away look, and the way you look at him with your adoring big, blue eyes...well, it's gross! Seeing you with Tristan...well, I don't like it. Not one bit. It makes my skin crawl. You didn't ever act like this with Kieron...with him you were much more normal.”
Oh, sweet, naive Corrine. If only you knew how altogether not normal Kieron and I are....
”You're just jealous,” I snap. ”Jealous that I have a guy that likes me and you don't.”
”Oh, I promise I'm not jealous of that. Especially when the guy is as creepy as Tristan.”
<script>