Ashley Cooper's Arc

Chapter 2 of 37

Ashley reached school early, ready to show Tyler her arm on her own terms. But the plan cracked before first bell. A whisper followed her down the hall. People turned. Two girls covered their mouths and stared at her left sleeve. Someone had seen the bone flash at her locker yesterday. Now the story was loose, and it was running faster than she could. She found the source by the spires near the front doors. Tacky Jackie stood in orange plaid shorts and rainbow socks, freckles bright, frizzy hair loud. She held court with three sophomores, hands moving as she talked. Ashley heard her own name. She heard the word "bone." Jackie was the last person Ashley wanted holding her secret. Ashley never spoke to her. She had spent two years pretending Jackie didn't exist. Now Jackie owned the only thing that mattered. "Jackie," Ashley said. Her voice shook. "Stop." Jackie turned. Her grin was sharp, not cruel. "There she is. The one who never shows her arms." The sophomores giggled. "I saw it, Ashley. White as chalk. You're a walking Halloween." "Please," Ashley said. "Don't tell him. Don't tell Tyler. I have to do it myself." Jackie tilted her head. She looked Ashley up and down, at the long sleeve, at the panic. Something changed in her face. "You think I'd wreck that for you?" she said. "I know what it's like when people whisper. I get it every single day." She waved the sophomores off. They scattered. Ashley blinked. "Then why were you talking?" "To find you before they did," Jackie said. "That whole crowd was about to text everybody. I steered it wrong on purpose. Told them it was fake glue-on bones for the play." She shrugged. "Nobody believes anything I say anyway. Comes in handy." Ashley's throat tightened. For two years she had looked past this girl. Jackie had just bought her time with a lie no one else could sell. Then the doors opened. Tyler walked in, blonde Mohawk high, earring catching the light. He scanned the hall and found Ashley. He came straight for her. "You texted me," Tyler said. "You said you had something to show me. Then people start saying you've got a skeleton hand." His jaw was tight. "So what's true?" The whole hall watched. Jackie didn't move. Ashley understood the choice was here, now, not later on her terms. She could deny it and let Jackie's fake story cover her. Or she could stop the almost. Ashley raised her left arm. She gripped the cuff and pulled the sleeve back. Bone showed in the morning light, white knuckles, thin wrist, no skin at all. Gasps ran down the hall. Someone dropped a book. Tyler stared at the bare bone. He didn't speak. "That's true," Ashley said. "All of it." She had shown him. She had shown everyone. Now she stood in the open, sleeve pushed high, and waited to see if Tyler would stay or run.