The Easy Part of Impossible - Sarah Tomp Page 0,43
to leave?”
Cotton just kept typing frantically, as if he’d make the right answer suddenly appear.
Except there wasn’t one.
Nineteen
Later that afternoon, Maggie tiptoed into Ria’s room, looking wary and carrying a plate of peanut butter fudge and brownies. “Do you want to have a horror marathon?” Except they both knew she said it as whore-er in honor of all the poor slutty girls who’d fallen to their deaths immediately after having sex.
Ria raised her eyebrows. “Can we fantasize that Chrissy is the first to go?”
“Of course. Are you okay?”
She shrugged away the concern she heard. Maggie knew Benny, almost as well as Ria, but almost wasn’t an exact match. With all the not-talking they’d done, she’d lost track of what Maggie knew to worry about. “You brought me sweets and promises of bloodshed. What else could I need?” She’d always loved a good solid night of terror. It was a way to flirt with fear.
As Maggie sat beside her, she reached out and pressed her finger against Ria’s arm.
“Ouch! What are you doing?”
“What are you doing? That’s one helluva bruise.”
Ria turned her arm so she could see it better. Maggie was right. The large yellowish spot traveled from her elbow halfway to her wrist. She didn’t remember hitting her arm specifically, but all the many bumps and knobs inside the cave were hard to see. There was a fair amount of crashing into things. “From this angle it looks like a penguin. See the feet?”
“Maybe. How’d you get it?” Maggie twisted her head around, obliging.
“I must have bumped it on a rock,” Ria said.
This might be the time to tell Maggie about caving. Except how could she explain it, and whatever she felt about Cotton, when she didn’t understand it herself?
“Are you diving with someone else? Did your parents get you a new coach?”
She stared at Maggie, not following this ricochet of thoughts.
“You have that bruise. And others, too. I saw them when we were at the pool. You’re still as strong as ever. Is that why you were upset to see Benny?”
She’d certainly had bruises from diving before. Bruises meant she was pushing past easy, making progress, moving on to something tougher. But to have Maggie question her now made her suddenly aware of the giant chasm between them. On the one side they had all this history, all this shared experience. But on the other side were the places they didn’t go together anymore. Futures that had nothing to do with each other. She had to be careful where she stepped.
“That was the first time I’ve been on a board since LA.” Not meeting Maggie’s stare, she tried to shift the focus back to the comfortable topic of horror. “So, what movie should we watch? Remind me, which one made you cry?”
“They’re all sad. Everyone always dies.”
“That’s the point!” Ria laughed, until she looked up. “Are you already crying?”
“Are you breaking up with Sean because of Benny?”
“What does that even mean?”
“Sean told me you aren’t answering his texts or calls. I know you’re pissed that Benny showed up at the pool. But that wasn’t Sean’s fault. That was me.”
“That was Benny. I know he put you up to it.”
“We should have warned you.” Maggie looked miserable.
True. But if she’d been warned, she wouldn’t have gone. She wouldn’t have been on the board, wouldn’t have surprised herself how easily it all came back, wouldn’t be phantom-diving in her head.
“I had to do it. He insisted. I didn’t know you’d get so upset. You were always his pet.”
“I was his diver.” Ria peeled back the foil and sniffed the sweets more closely. Maggie baked whenever she was nervous. “If we watch Prom Night we’ll learn what to expect.” Maybe that would help her figure out if she’d miss not going to her own.
“What did he want?”
“Who? Your prom night lover? He wants you, of course. I bet it’s Principal Roglio.”
“You know I meant Benny. I thought he was going to beg you to come back. That’s why I did it. But, ewww, Ria, Mr. Roglio must be a hundred years old. And he has nose boogers.”
“So he must be a very experienced lover. You can bring tissues. Bad news is, if I get slashed, it’ll be all your fault. Good news is, if we’re still virgins, we might survive.” She was actually kind of freaking herself out.
“He’s changed lately. He seems almost human. Definitely more relaxed.” They both knew Maggie didn’t mean their principal. “But he’s still different with you.”