When We Were Friends Read Online Free Page A

stars and all that.”
    “Sounds great,” Sydney said, scanning through the portfolio too quick, closing it and handing it forward.
    “Thanks.” I tried to reach for it and almost dropped the baby. I grappled with her for a moment, feeling the damp on my shoulder, tears or drool, then reluctantly handed her to Sydney. Sydney slung Jacqueline over her arm like she was a wet towel, and Jacqueline stopped crying as if appalled. “So Ms. Gristler will give me a call?”
    “Sure,” Sydney said nonchalantly, meaning, probably, that I wouldn’t get the job. When I always got the job; I was the best around at what I did. Except Sydney must have other reasons for turning medown, which was kind of gratifying in its own way. “She has your number?” she said.
    “I think so. It’s the same number I had when we were kids, my mother’s number. I’m staying there for a while, me and Keith both, because Star’s been having a hard time. Keith’s so good about it all, though.”
    “That’s great,” Sydney said. “Maybe we should get together sometime, drinks or something, reminisce about the good old days. I’ll call you.”
    She had no intention of calling, obviously. I rolled my eyes to the ceiling to show I wasn’t stupid. “I’d rather you didn’t actually,” I said. “I love my life now, it’s pretty much everything I ever wanted it to be, so I’d rather not muddy it with the past.” And then I strode out the door, nearly tripping on a loose nail. It was only outside that I noticed how wildly my heart was pounding.
    I drove home with my portfolio on my lap, trying not to replay every word. I’d always thought the idea of closure was just some psychological bull, but now I could feel the jarring of un-closure, like I was just hanging in midair from a marionette string still tied to those two awful years. I could pretend it wasn’t there, but it didn’t let me get off that easy. I could create a new life, grow past it, but every once in a while something would happen to tug on that string, a whisper at a party that might or might not be about me, a man who didn’t call after a first date, my thighs chafing together when I walked, and that string pulled me right back into adolescence. I had the feeling that if I didn’t cut it off, and soon, I’d end up just like Star, locked away because everything outside the window could grab you and pull you back into the things you didn’t want to remember. By the time Star was my age she’d been married and widowed and had a kid, but still she couldn’t escape that pull of fear.
    Back home, I brought the hair scissors into Star’s room. “Something pretty this time,” I said. “Layers maybe.”
    Star studied my face intently. “Something happened.”
    “Nothing happened, absolutely nothing. It was great seeing Sydney; she wants to get together for drinks.”
    Star raised her eyebrows. “She wants something from you. Get me my cards.”
    “Christ, Ma, what the hell? You think there’s no reason for her to want to spend time with me? You don’t think much of me, do you?”
    “That’s not it, I just don’t think much of Sydney.” She reached for her deck and handed it forward. “Shuffle.”
    I took the deck, stuck it into my back pocket. I should’ve done that a long time ago, crept in here while Star was asleep, jammed the deck in my pocket and sat on it, rubbed my butt hard against the floor. The cards were so old they’d have to crumble eventually.
Well look at that
, I’d say.
How weird
.
    “Listen,” Star said softly. “God has a plan for you, you know that, right? I made up a chart for you when you were born, and I’d never seen such a thing, your sun signs, your triads. I’ve never been so excited as when I made up your chart.”
    “Guess I’ve been pretty disappointing so far.” I made my voice light, but I meant it. She knew I meant it.
    She took both my hands. “You haven’t fulfilled your destiny yet is all. But I think soon, the