Backwoods Backwards

Thirty-Five

Angela crosses her arms over her chest, looking like she's as awkward and uncomfortable as me right now and without her usual grin. "I came to check on you. After you- after what happened last weekend," she says, avoiding eye contact, "you just kind of went radio-silent. No one's heard from you, not even Perry." She pauses. "He's worried about you, you know."

And I do. The number of repetitive texts and calls I get and leave unanswered on a daily basis are true testament to that. I can't say that all of those messages are filled with concern, though. With how I left the Hollow, hand-in-hand with Duke, I'm sure Perry has questions, and I know he'd have judgements, too, if I answered him.

I fiddle with the hem of my shirt, plucking at a loose thread. "Yeah, maybe." I get quiet, then I add, "I'm fine though, really."

Angela looks around my mess of a room, and I know she knows I'm lying. Thankfully we're not close enough for her to be allowed to call me out for my bullshit, so instead all she says is, "If you're sure."

"Not completely," I say seriously, looking up at her, "but I'm getting there."

Her gaze meets mine. "You should call Perry."

"I can't." The words come so fast, but I know they're true.

"Why not?"

"He'd hate me, Ang. He already does."

"He doesn't hate you, Lacey. He couldn't."

My voice gets solemn. "If I told him everything, this time he would."

Angela blinks really fast. "You promised me you'd tell him. You said you would if I kept things to myself." By things, she's referring to Duke and the day she caught us, and I'm well-aware.

"I know, and at that point I believed I would. It's just, it's gotten a lot more complicated now and the damage would be too great. It's best if he just lets me be."

"I don't really think you know Perry that well, then, if you think he's just going to let you hide away in silence."

Her words resound in the room for a minute, bouncing off the walls and off me. "I'll walk you out."

I think Angela knows she can't change my mind because she doesn't argue, and she follows me downstairs and to the front door. I step out onto the porch with her and wish I hadn't.

Perry stands in my driveway, frozen at the sight of the two of us, with his hands clenched into fists at his sides. The tension immediately rises, and I already feel sick to my stomach.

I open my mouth timidly. "Per-"

"So you don't have time to talk to me, your best friend and the one who has left you a thousand messages, but you have time to talk to my girlfriend, who you barely talk to?" His voice is sharp, cruel. Angry. Hurt.

Angela bounds down the stairs to his side and touches his arm. "I came here to ask her to talk to you."

It's like she's not even there, for the first time in Perry's life. For the first time, he is solely focused on me over his girlfriend. "Wanna tell me what the hell has been going now?"

Angela sighs like she's about to argue on my behalf, but I cut her off. "Now isn't the time, Perry-"

"When is it ever the goddamn time, Lacey?" Perry spits, his fury only growing. "I'm so sick of you pushing this off, you know that? It's fucking time you tell me what the hell happened for the last few months."

I know he's right, but I don't know if I can. The very thought makes my eyes water. "I don't know where to start."

"Maybe from the beginning," he suggests sharply, stepping towards me. "Maybe start with Wesley, back when you cut him loose. I have a feeling there's a lot I don't know."