"Wellsomeonehad to," she said. "And I didn't giveyoua D-minus."
She'd given me a C-plus, which, yeah, was probably more generous than I'd deserved.
The assignment had been to write a fictional story starring a character like ourselves. Me? I'd scribbled out two pages of bullshit, starring a space alien who devoured the world.
But Arden? She'd typed up ten, maybe fifteen pages of lollypops and gumdrops.Not even kidding.Her main character, Clara Cooper, had lived above a candy store, where all the neighborhood kids had come daily to get wise advice from Clara's doting parents.
The whole thing had made me sick.
I said, "Better a D than an F."
"A D-minus," she corrected.
With my free hand, I reached up to rub the back of my neck. At the time, I'd thought the minus was a nice touch. Now, I had to admit, it was a dick move. But hell if I'd admit it toherwhen she was hassling me over something that happened seven years ago.
And besides, the teacher had the final say, so it's not like the D-minus would've stuck, especially to a teacher's pet like Arden Weathers.
I told her, "Yeah, well, maybe your story had too many gumdrops."
She glared up at me. "It was relevant to the story. Theydidown a candy store. Remember?"
Hell yeah, I remembered.And Ialsoremembered the story's mom baking homemade casseroles and the dad asking about homework while taking her out for ice cream – as if a fucking candy store weren't enough.
Like I said, sickening.
In the attic, Arden gave her hand a hard yank. When I refused to let go, she made a sound of annoyance. "That's how you knew it was me in the shower, wasn't it?"
At the thought of Arden in the shower, my brain went fuzzy. "What?"
"When you asked for my name," she said, "I gave you that stupid character name from my story."
"At least we agree onthat."
"On what?"
"The name Clara."
Through gritted teeth, she informed me, "That was my grandmother's name."
"Hey, don’t blameme," I said. "You're the one who called it stupid."
"Yeah, well, I meant it differently."
"Good for you."
At this, she gave her hand the hardest yank yet. "Will youpleaselet go."
"Yeah," I said. "When we reach the stairs." Still gripping her hand, I turned and made a move toward the stairway.
Arden didn't budge as she announced, "I can make it on my own."
I stopped and turned to look at her. "Maybe. Maybe not. But I'm not taking that chance."
"Why?" Her tone grew sarcastic. "Because you're such a nice guy?"
"No. Because if you fall through, it'll be my ass on the line."
"Oh, for crying out loud," she said. "Will youpleasestop talking about your ass."
