Girl by Blake Nelson

Chapter 37

So that's where Cybil was. The last survivor of Bed Head, Thriftstore Apocalypse, and the original Sins of Our Fathers. I didn't know what to think. On Saturday I drove by Cybil's and then Matthew's but neither was home. Monday I had this strange feeling they would show up. They didn't. On Tuesday I saw Mrs. Katz talking to Greg in the hall and I went over to listen and they were talking about Cybil and Matthew and Mrs. Katz said that she wasn't responsible because Cybil was eighteen and Matthew was so close that by the time they dragged him back he would be. So they were free. No one was waiting for them to come back. No one except me.

And then Greg's story got to Hillsider and everyone talked about it and Amy Brubaker said that obviously Sins of Our Fathers was no longer Hillside news if they didn't go to school here anymore. Nathan asked me about Greg and if they should do an article about him and I said that Greg was really freaked out and they should leave him alone. But Amy just scoffed and Nathan said it couldn't hurt to ask and then I got mad and said they didn't know what they were dealing with and this wasn't some stupid swim meet or food drive and if they were smart they'd stay as far away from Greg as they could get.

And I guess I was right because the next day word went around that Greg had fallen asleep at the wheel of his station wagon and went off the road and got a concussion and a broken leg. In a way I was relieved because maybe it would shock him out of his depression. But then after lunch a new rumor went around that he was in Intensive Care at the hospital and he had taken a bunch of his mom's tranquilizers and he hadn't fallen asleep at the wheel, he had blacked out. And it was so weird because they called me into Mrs. Katz's office to talk to this counselor guy because Greg didn't have any other friends. And it was so horrible because the counselor guy was creepy and it was all secret and like an interrogation about what I knew and they wouldn't even tell me if Greg was okay or what had really happened. So after school I got Henry and we drove to the hospital and went in and they wouldn't let us anywhere near him. And they wouldn't tell us anything. And when I finally went home my parents asked me about it and I tried to explain what happened and how he got kicked out of the band. But they couldn't believe that being a drummer in a band in high school was that big of a deal. And I got so mad and said Sins of Our Fathers have lawyers, they have managers, they're in the paper in Seattle, and it's a huge deal. But my mom just said she hated the name Sins of Our Fathers and how people should take responsibility for themselves and stop blaming everything on their parents.

The next day was the same. Nobody knew anything. And the teachers were all being really weird and pretending everything was okay. And then at Hillsider there was a big argument about if they should write about Greg's accident and if they should mention that he had been kicked out of the band. Which was a pointless argument since Mrs. Schroeder would never let them print anything about it.

Later I went with Henry to Taco Time and I just missed Cybil so much. I just wanted to see her and talk to her about every- thing and I was so scared she was going to vanish up into the spotlights and I would be left down in the horrible real world. And I told Henry the whole history of Greg and the band and how Greg thought everyone talked about him and how he was going to have a studio in his basement and all these other bands were going to record there. And then I remembered when he and Cybil had matching shaved heads and I started crying and Henry came and sat with me on my side and put his arm around me. And I swear he must have grown a lot because all of a sudden he was taller than me and his arm fit over me perfectly.

On Friday morning it had been almost three weeks since they left and Matthew and Cybil's cars were still not in the parking lot. And when I walked into senior hall I could tell something was wrong. People were acting weird and avoiding me and one girl almost dropped her books when I walked past. Then I saw Mrs. Schroeder. She was standing by my locker. She tried to smile as I approached and then she told me that Greg had brain damage and he was a vegetable. My knees collapsed and she tried to hold me up and then a boy helped me into a classroom where I could sit down. And I tried to focus my eyes and there were all these people standing around me and I looked up at them like, What are you staring at? Mrs. Schroeder shooed them away and I tried to stand up but I was too wobbly. And I was trying so hard not to cry but I couldn't help it and Mrs. Schroeder gave me tissues but something about her just made me furious and I wouldn't let her touch me.