Ashley Cooper's Arc

Chapter 6 of 37

Ashley still held Mike's bone fingers in his warm ones when she saw Tyler moving toward them. He was the football captain who had walked away from her in front of the whole school, blonde Mohawk stiff, earring catching the light. His jaw was tight. She knew that look. He was ready to make a scene, and she had never wanted one less. "Ashley." Tyler stopped close. He glanced at their joined hands and his mouth twisted. "So this is what you do now. Him." Mike stepped half in front of her. "Back off, man." "I'm not talking to you," Tyler said. He looked at Ashley. "You hid the truth from me for two years. Now you hold his hand in a doorway like it's nothing." Ashley felt her heart slam. The old fear rose, the one that wanted her to pull her sleeve down and shrink. Instead she let go of Mike and faced Tyler alone. She kept her bare bone arm in plain sight. "I did hide it," she said. "From you. From everyone. I was scared." Her voice stayed level. "You were right to be angry. But I'm done apologizing for what I am." Tyler blinked. He had come to fight, and she was not fighting. "Mike didn't ask me to cover anything," she said. "He liked me with the bones showing. That's the difference. You wanted the girl who lied. He wanted the real one." A few students had slowed to watch. Tyler noticed them. His shoulders dropped an inch. "I'm not going to make you look bad," Ashley said. "I don't want a scene. I just want you to let it go. For both of us." For a long moment Tyler said nothing. He looked at her arm, then at her eyes. Something in his face gave up the anger. "Fine," he said, quiet. "Whatever. You two deserve each other." It came out mean, but tired. He turned and walked off down the hall, and this time he did not look back. Mike let out a breath. "That was—" "Loud," a sharp voice cut in. Mrs. Poo-Poo stood in the library doorway, thin and stern behind her glasses, a stack of books against her hip. The strict librarian had been drawn out by the noise. "This is a place of learning, not a stage." A faint smell drifted from her, and two nearby students stepped back. She fixed Ashley with a hard stare. "Miss Cooper. Student council should know better. My office. Now." Ashley's stomach dropped. She had faced Tyler down and won. But the librarian ran discipline reports straight to the office. A council officer caught in a hallway shouting match could lose her position. Mike squeezed her bone hand once. "I'll wait." Ashley followed Mrs. Poo-Poo through the library doors. Tyler was gone. The new problem was already waiting on the other side.