by Frankie Rose
BY SOME miracle my nose isn’t broken, after all. Casey’s elbow just made it bleed like hell and bruised me up pretty badly, but the bone is in tact and I’m not going to end up looking like a boxer. Morgan drives me across the city from the hospital. I silently take in the steam rising from the sidewalks and the thousands of yellow cabs, the people buried inside their layers, the food vendors, the buskers, the city an endless machine, feeling nothing. My phone doesn’t stop ringing for a full hour after Morgan drops me off at Luke’s. She offered to take it with her when she left me, after I’d insisted I wanted to be alone, but I’d declined. I’d planned on calling Brandon as soon as I was by myself but then Noah had started texting and I was too numb to do anything but stare at the screen.
Noah: Avery, please pick up. I’m so sorry. I’m not kidding, I thought it was all a joke! I couldn’t answer when you called. I was in the middle of a lecture. Seriously, believe me, I wouldn’t have sent that text if I’d known it was for real!