Melt Read Free Page A

was
    Dorothy
    and I thought,
    Where’s
    Toto? But thank god I kept my trap shut that time ‘cause how many chances
    do
    you
    get
    really before you’re chalked up for the
    jerk
    you
    are?
    Â Â Â Â Â Â We were still holding hands looking at each other I was just glad I wasn’t
    drooling
    or something I’m such a
    doofus and then
    fucking
    Amy
    cleared her throat
    A-hem
    and Dorothy
    let
    go.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â You coming or what, Amy asked her and she said
    yes
    she
    was.
    She said
    nice
    to meet
    me and all that crap.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â I figured,
    That’s
    that.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â She went to the counter and ordered a croissant and a mocha latte for crying
    out
    loud. What made me think
    someone
    like
    that
    would like
    someone
    like
    me?
    Someone who’d pick a
    croissant
    over a bagel or a donut.
    Someone willing to pay
    three
    times
    the
    price to have
    foamy
    milk
    on her coffee.
    She could have anything
    she could have
    anyone.
    So
    why
    the
    hell
    would she ever want
    me?
    Â Â Â Â Â Â I started heading to the guys. I stared straight at the
    psychedelically
    pink
    wall tried not to catch their eyes ‘cause defeat’s hard enough without having to
    look your friends
    in
    the
    face.
    The smell of
    brewing
    lattes
    was making me dizzy.
    The white ceiling lights beamed
    down
    on my head
    bright
    bright
    bright.
    The noises in that place were
    way
    too
    loud.
    My Nikes
    slipped across
    pale smoke tile
    I could barely lift my feet.
    It was all I could do not to
    shut my lids and
    melt
    right
    into
    the
    gray.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â But then I heard
    my
    name.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â She called
    my name
    she called my name she
    called
    my
    name.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â She called me
    back over.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â So I
    went.

Two
    Dorothy
    Â Â Â Â Â Â It was hard enough coping with all those swarming emotions without Amy there watching. I mean, I knew how she felt about Joey, and her standing there was like an invasion of our privacy. And she kept shooting these looks at him, like he was a gob of gum someone smushed under one of the tables.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Even though I didn’t know him, I wanted to shield him from her glare.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â The crazy thing was, even though I didn’t know him, I did.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â I don’t like gossip. Usually they’ve got it wrong, somehow. And even if they’ve got it right, it always sounds like a judgment on the person they’re talking about, who’s not invited to give his side of the story. On the surface it sounded like she was trying to warn me about Joey, but deeper, it was really that she needed people like Joey to put down, to make her feel better about herself. If he was bad, then she must be good. But things are never black and white like that.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â When she broke in and asked if I was coming, it wasn’t a question. There wasn’t room for me to say no, not if I wanted to go meet everyone—everyone who counted, according to Amy. I caved, without thinking. I said yes, I was coming, and kind of brushed him off.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â I didn’t mean to, but I did.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Standing at the counter waiting for my stuff, I looked back for him. But he wasn’t watching me anymore. He was kind of slogging back to his table. His shoulders were slumped—those beautiful arms practically dragged at his side, and he moved so slowly ….
    Â Â Â Â Â Â I couldn’t bear it.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â â€œJoey,” I called out over the sounds of grinding coffee, “Hey, Joey, come back.”
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Amy made this tut-tutting sound. She said she’d be in the other room if I decided to come, and then she sashayed away the way some girls do when they’re just too cool. Personally, I walk. I don’t wiggle, strut, or even stroll. I make