DINNER & DIATRIBES. . . JACKSON AVERY!

chapter nineteen: these arms of mine

Briar sighs when she walks into the bathroom, seeing April struggling to braid her hair in the mirror, her face twisted up almost as much as her hair now is.

"Sit down." Briar tells her, rolling her eyes when April doesn't move, her reflection staring at her in shock. "I'm not gonna, like, murder you or anything. Jeez. Just sit."

April slowly does as she was told, taking a seat on the toilet cover and watching as Briar gathers up a bunch of hair supplies and the abandoned brush from the counter. Briar doesn't mention the staring, instead just filling up her spray bottle and grabbing her leave-in conditioner, before coming around to stand behind April and tilting her head back as gently as she can.

"French or dutch?"

"What?"

"The braids. French or dutch?"

"Oh, uh, whichever. I don't know. What's easier?"

"French it is then." Briar says, and then tilts her head. "You know, I can teach you how to braid your own hair, if you want."

"You'd do that?" April asks, surprise coating her voice. Briar just nods, tilting April's head to a better angle. "Really? Even though you don't like me?"

"We're not in high school, April. I don't have to be your biggest fan to help you out." Briar says honestly, before asking for her to hand her the spray bottle. "So yeah, I'll teach you to braid your hair."

"Thanks." April says softly. Briar hums in acknowledgement, focusing on unknotting April's hair, and then on soaking and braiding it. She gets the right side braided before April speaks up again. "I really am sorry, by the way."

"Sorry for what?" Briar asks, even though she knows. When April doesn't say anything, she continues her thought process. "Look, for me apologies don't mean anything unless you specify what you're apologizing for, why you're apologizing for it, and how you're going to do better in the future. Otherwise, people tend to repeat the same behavior over and over again."

"That makes sense." April says slowly, sounding uncomfortable. Briar thinks that's a good sign for her actually being sorry. "I, um. I'm sorry for what I said at Joe's, after you told me your secret. I never should've said anything about it."

"No, you shouldn't have." Briar says honestly, even as she focuses on not messing up the braid. "It's not . . . It's not a secret, so to say. I'm not happy that any of that happened to me, of course, but it's part of my history. I don't shout it from the rooftops, and you saying that honestly hurt me. It's not your thing to tell people, and I know you didn't really tell them, but you used it as a 'gotcha' moment while also pointing out other people's trauma responses, and I don't respect that at all."

When April says nothing, tears in her eyes, Briar sighs and continues.

"Look, everyone makes mistakes. Everyone does things they're ashamed of. You just have to learn from it, and . . . I don't know, be better. I appreciate the apology. Also, if you need advice on how to defend yourself without being too hurtful, I can help with that."

"Really?" April asks, her voice thick, and Briar smiles.

"Yes. Really. We can have braiding and bitching sessions." Briar says with a laugh, before tying off the second braid. "Alright, all done. Do you want a ride to work?"

"I'd love that." April tells her, matching her smile.

✦

"How have you changed since the shooting?" One of the cameramen prompts Briar, who just stares at him in disbelief, stopping in the middle of the hallway.