Ashley Cooper's Arc

Chapter 4 of 37

Saturday came, and Ashley couldn't stay home. She drove to the glass mall downtown, the one with bright lights and loud music, hoping the crowd would swallow her. She wore a long sleeve out of habit, then rolled it up at the food court. A few kids stared. She made herself keep it up. But her thoughts stayed on Tyler. He had walked away certain she was a lie, and she still had no words to fix it. She found a bench near the fountain and sat. Her phone stayed dark. Tyler hadn't texted. She had typed a hundred messages and sent none, because every one sounded like an excuse. How could she explain two years of hiding? There was no good reason. There was only fear, and fear was not a defense. "You look like someone stole your fries." Mike Henderson dropped onto the bench beside her. He still had his mustache and his easy grin, red jacket now instead of a jersey. He was the boy who had high-fived her bone hand in front of the whole school, the one who made the hallway laugh the good way. "Tyler thinks I lied to him," Ashley said. "He's right. I don't know how to make him not right." Mike shrugged. "Some people need proof. Some just need it handed to them." He reached into his jacket. "Found this in your locker vent. It was sticking out. Figured you'd want it before someone else grabbed it." He passed her a folded paper, soft and creased like it had been opened many times. Ashley opened it. The handwriting was careful and round. Dear Ashley. I love you more than words can say. You are perfect just as you are. I cherish every part of you. I love your skeleton arm. You are beautiful to me in every way. With love, your secret admirer. Ashley read it twice. Her throat went tight. Someone knew the truth and did not run. Someone loved the arm she had hidden for two years. She looked at Mike. He was watching the fountain, not her, his ears a little red. "Do you know who wrote this?" she asked. "Maybe," Mike said. He stood and stretched. "Maybe whoever wrote it thinks you don't owe anybody an explanation. Maybe you just owe yourself one." He walked off toward the sneaker store before she could answer. Ashley folded the note and held it against her chest. She had spent all week trying to find words for Tyler, words to earn back a boy who had already decided. Now she saw the truth. She didn't need to win Tyler back. She had been chasing the wrong person. She pulled her sleeve higher, past the elbow, and let the bone shine under the mall lights. She would stop apologizing for it. And she would find out who wrote the note.