How It Ends by Catherine Lo (classic books for 13 year olds .TXT) 📕

“It’s not nothing,” my mom snapped, her arms crossed over her chest. “It’s Annie, isn’t it?”

I rolled over, hiding my face from her. “No.”

“Jessie. You know, we’re not blind here. Annie hasn’t been over since she ran out of here weeks ago. What’s going on?”

I considered my options. What answer would make her go away soonest?

“We’re just having a fight. It’s not a big deal, and I can handle it myself.”

She sat down beside me on the bed. I felt almost repulsed by her and wondered what was wrong with me. “What did you fight about? Talk to me, Jess.”

Yeah, right.

That was a minefield I didn’t want to navigate. There were too many areas for her to find fault with. I wasn’t ready to hear that I was wrong. Not even a little bit.

“It was stupid. We’ll work it out.”

“I don’t think so. I’ve spoken with Dr. Morgan, and we feel you’re showing signs of depression.”

That woke me up fast. “What happened to you taking a step back and letting me manage myself? You have no right to talk about this stuff behind my back.”

“I have every right, Jessica. When you stop taking care of yourself and start letting your health suffer, it’s my job as a parent to step in. Now, you’re either going to talk to me, or I’ll book you an appointment with Dr. Richards, but I will not sit back and watch you let your health suffer.”

“This is exactly the kind of thing that makes me not want to talk to you!”

“What kind of thing? Me caring? You talk all the time about how no one in Annie’s family cares about her. You’d think you would be appreciative of having a family that does care.”

“You go beyond caring, Mom.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You interfere. You’ve interfered since day one. I just want to handle this on my own.”

“You’re doing a fabulous job,” she said. “You’ve stopped eating, studying, and interacting with other people. Clearly I’m not needed here.”

“You have no magic cure, Mom. What are you going to do, call up Annie’s parents and tell them to make her play with me? It’s complicated, Mom. It’s high school.”

“I’m aware of high school, Jess. I went there myself, you know.”

“Yeah, like five hundred years ago. And you were pretty and popular. And you had a boyfriend. Your life was easier than mine.”

The fight went out of her a bit. “I’m not saying your life isn’t hard, Jess. I know it is. That’s why I want to help.”

I stared hard at her, seething.

“It’s incredibly painful when friendships fall apart. But I know one thing: you and Annie fit together so well. You really care about each other. Things will work out.”

“How? How will they work out?”

“I think it might be time for you to tell Annie about your anxiety.”

“What? God, no!”

“I don’t know what you girls fought about, but I’m sure there are many things about you that are puzzling for Annie. She’s expecting you to react like anyone else, without understanding your situation or limitations.”

“My limitations?” My fury was white-hot. “I’m not a freak, Mom. And there’s no reason Annie needs to know anything about my anxiety. It has nothing to do with why we fought. Telling her about that stuff wouldn’t fix anything. It would just complicate things.”

“Just hear me out. You and Annie are like puzzle pieces. From the first time I met her, I saw how well the two of you fit together. You snapped into place and complemented each other perfectly. High school is a messy time, and your puzzle has gotten all jumbled up. But I have every faith that with a little effort, the pieces will fall back into place. For you, that effort might mean being brave enough to show Annie the real you. Annie loves you. I know that. Telling her about your anxiety will show her that you trust her, and it’ll give her the chance to understand you better.”

Things are so simple in my mom’s world. “I’ll think about it,” I lied. I didn’t bother to tell her that the real reason our pieces don’t fit together anymore is that pieces from other puzzles have snuck their way into our box. Courtney, Larissa, Scott . . . they don’t belong in our puzzle, and it’s become impossible to sort it all out and see what belongs and what doesn’t. Annie is stubbornly holding on to all these misfit pieces, trying to force them to fit. She won’t listen to me when I tell her it’s not right.

Annie

My heart plummets as Mrs. Avery swings her car into my driveway. I really, really, really don’t want to do this.

I take deep breaths as I walk down the front steps and climb into her car. This is going to be a disaster. I’m sure Jess has told her about all the things I said during our fight, and I’m so ashamed that I can’t even look Mrs. Avery in the eyes.

“Thank you for agreeing to meet with me,” she says. “I thought we’d go back to the same coffee shop we went to in the fall. Does that sound okay?”

I nod and squirm in my seat. She doesn’t seem angry with me. I sneak a peek at her as she drives and silently curse Jess for crying to her mom about our fight. How am I going to explain myself to Mrs. Avery?

By the time we sit down with our drinks, my heart is beating so fast that I’m afraid I might faint.

Mrs. Avery frowns at me over the top of her coffee cup, and I’m convinced that she hates me. “I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing talking to you, Annie,” she begins, “but I feel like there are some things about Jessie that you should know.”

I blink in confusion. “Is she okay?”

“She’s taking the fight you two had very hard, but that’s not the reason I brought you here to talk.