My gaze immediately focuses on her scars.
The angry lines from where the doctors must have sewed her up are pink and look like her leg has been clawed by a fierce animal.
By her knee, where the biggest sets of marks are, I think is a skin graft, because it's a darker shade and doesn't match the rest of her soft, ivory skin.
Tearing my gaze away from her leg, I look up at her. "I'm so sorry, Maggie," I say.
Her expression is hard, her eyes shuttered. "Go away, Caleb. Or do you want to take a picture so you could show Kendra? Then you'd both have something else to laugh about."
FORTY
Maggie
Caleb doesn't even know Mrs. Reynolds died. When I saw him in the hall this morning, I was going to tell him. But then I caught Caleb and Kendra together. Before our relationship started, I could understand. But I thought he liked me enough not to need someone else. I thought what we had was real. Ugh. I don't want to think about Kendra Greene and her perfect blonde hair and her perfect, perky boobs or the perfect way she walks. But I can't help it. Because I'm not perfect.
I'm sitting in the nurse's office to prove it. Ever since Caleb stood there frozen, gawking at the scars on my leg, I've been dying to get out of here. "Can I go back to class now?"
The school nurse is bent over my leg with rubber gloves, examining it. She looks up. "Does it hurt?"
You mean my heart? "No. It's fine," I say. "Really."
"There's a little blood here. I'm concerned there might be internal damage."
"It's just a little scratch," I say as the woman is putting antiseptic on a cotton ball and rubbing blood off my knee. "A big deal was made for nothing."
I know why Caleb came running over to me and acted all concerned. It's because he feels guilty that I overheard details about his relationship with Kendra. Drew was only telling the truth, that I was responsible for putting him in jail. Caleb and I should never have started talking. We should have kept ignoring each other at Mrs. Reynolds' house.
Because if we didn't talk, I wouldn't be so connected to him.
If we didn't talk, I wouldn't have kissed him and wanted more. I wouldn't have let him manipulate me.
Nurse Sandusky doesn't look happy as I get down off of the examining table and carefully lower my pant leg. But I'm not going to sit here and sulk all day. I'm going to get up and stand tall--to Caleb, to Drew, to Kendra ... and whoever else decides to get in my way.
When I'm dressed, I breathe a sigh of relief. My scars are covered. So why do I feel so exposed? Because Caleb has seen the scars from the injuries he put on my body.
The forever scars that will make me think of him and the accident every day of my life.
Unfortunately I have to pass Meyers office on my way out. Caleb is sitting in front of the secretary's desk, his head slumped in his hands.
As if he knows I'm watching him, he lifts his head up. His eyes bore into me as if they're seeking warmth or connection. Does he think I'm a fool who wants to be humiliated? I look away, wait for the nurse to write me a pass, and leave the office as fast as I can.
As if the day couldn't get worse, Kendra and Hannah are walking down the hall. They haven't seen me yet. I duck into the girls' bathroom ... I've had enough for one day.
I look at myself in the bathroom mirror. Dull hazel eyes, hair that hasn't decided if it wants to be dark or light, and a nose that's too big for my face. On top of all those flaws, I have a limp.
How could I ever have thought I could compete with perfect Kendra Greene?
The bathroom door creaks open. I hide in one of the stalls and soon enough I hear Kendra say, "I can't imagine the two of them kissing. Can you?"
"Puh-leaze, Kend, don't gross me out. Caleb is, like, Hollywood tough guy and Maggie is, like, a total dork. She probably kisses with her lips all pursed and her hands at her sides."
"Exactly. You should have seen her this morning. I thought she was going to cry right in the middle of the hall."
The two of them laugh.
I want to die. Forget standing tall, deep down I really am a dork and a coward.
I peek through the door opening. Hannah is putting on her lipstick while Kendra is playing with her big, blonde hair.
"He's always going to love you. You two have a bond that can't be broken," Hannah says.
Kendra stops playing with her hair and leans against one of the sinks. "Caleb told Brian he was interested in Maggie to throw him off."
"Why Maggie? Isn't she the least likely person to snag him? He did hit her with his car, you know. And she milks it for all it's worth."
Kendra hesitates.
"What?" Hannah asks.
"Did you check under the stalls?"
Oops. I'm dead meat. Balancing on top of the toilet seat with a bum leg is not an option.
The door to one of the stalls creaks open. Oh, no. I'm trying to peek through the door, but I don't want to stumble or make any sounds to alert them I'm spying.
"You two are so pathetic. You should have looked before you started babbling about your pathetic lives."
It's Sabrina, my cousin.
"What did you hear?" Kendra says.
"What do you think? I heard all of it."
"And you'll keep it to yourself, won't you Sabrina?"
Sabrina puts her hands on her hips. "I don't know. Why don't you stop spreading rumors about my cousin? She may limp, but she's got more to admire than both of you put together."