Hades Read Free Page B

looped their arms
    affably through mine.
    “What have you got now?” Hal ie asked.
    “Math,” I replied suspiciously. “Why?”
    “Perfect,” Savannah said. “Walk with us.”
    “Is something wrong?”
    “We just want to talk to you. Y’know, have a girl-to-girl
    chat.”
    “Okay,” I said slowly, wracking my brain to think what I
    might have done to warrant this strange intervention.
    “About?”
    “It’s about you and Xavier,” Hal ie blurted out. “Look,
    you’re not gonna like hearing this, but we’re your friends
    and we’re worried about you.”
    “Why are you worried?”
    “It’s just not healthy for you guys to spend so much time
    together,” Hal ie said expertly.
    “Yeah,” Savannah chimed in. “It’s like you’re joined at the
    hip or something. I never see you apart. Wherever Xavier
    is, you’re right behind him. Wherever you are, he’s there …
    all the frigging time .”
    “Is that that a bad thing?” I asked. “He’s my boyfriend; I
    want to spend time with him.”
    “Of course you do, but it’s too much. You need to get
    some distance .” Hal ie emphasized the word distance as if
    it were a medical term.
    “Why?” I looked at them dubiously, wondering if Mol y had
    put them up to this or if it truly was their personal opinion. I’d
    been friends with these girls al through summer, but it stil
    felt a little early for them to be dispensing relationship
    advice. On the other hand, I’d only been a teenage girl for
    less than a year. In some way, I felt I was at the mercy of
    their experience. It was true that Xavier and I were close,
    any fool could see that. The question was, were we
    unnaturally close? It didn’t feel unhealthy given everything
    we’d been through together. Of course, these girls could
    never know about our struggles.
    “It’s a researched fact,” Savannah broke through my train
    of thought. “Look, I can show you.” She reached into her
    bag and yanked out a wel -thumbed copy of Seventeen
    magazine. “We found a quiz for you to take.”
    She opened the glossy cover and flipped to a dog-eared
    page. The image showed a young couple sitting in chairs
    facing opposite directions but bound together by chains
    around their waists and ankles. The expression on their
    faces was one of confusion and dismay. The quiz was
    cal ed, “Are you in a co-dependent relationship?”
    “We’re not that bad,” I protested. “It’s about how we feel,
    not how much time we spend together. Besides, I don’t
    think a magazine quiz can measure feelings.”
    “ Seventeen gives pretty reliable advice—,” began
    Savannah hotly.
    “Okay, don’t take the quiz,” Hal ie cut in. “Just answer a
    few questions, okay?”
    “Shoot,” I said.
    “What’s your favorite footbal team?”
    “Dal as Cowboys,” I said without hesitation.
    “And why’s that?” Hal ie asked.
    “Because it’s Xavier’s favorite team.”
    “I see,” Hal ie said knowingly. “And when was the last
    time you did something without Xavier?” I didn’t like the way
    she sounded like the prosecutor in a court case.
    “I do plenty of stuff without Xavier,” I said dismissively.
    “Real y? So where is he right now?”
    “He has a first-aid training session in the gym,” I said
    brightly. “They’re going over CPR, but he already learned it
    in ninth grade during a water-safety program.”
    “Right,” Savannah said. “And what’s he doing at lunch?”
    “He has a water-polo meeting,” I replied. “They have a
    new junior that Xav wants to train to play defense.”
    “And dinner?”
    “He’s coming over to make barbecue ribs.”
    “Since when do you like ribs?” The girls raised their
    eyebrows.
    “Xavier likes them.”
    “I rest my case.” Hal ie put her face in her hands.
    “Okay, I guess we do spend a lot of time together,” I said
    grumpily. “But what’s wrong with that?”
    “It’s not normal is what’s wrong with it,” Savannah
    declared, enunciating