Page 60 of 10 Rings I Hate About You
“Is it now?” Gladys didn’t look up from her clipboard.
“Final question.” Martha leaned forward. “What does Delaney need when she’s emotionally hurting?”
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
The question sat there.
I searched through my memories. Of the summers we’d spent in each other’s orbit. The times she had come back to visit her aunt over the years. The look on her face when her parents hadn’t shown up for our big presentations—how I’d asked directly because I noticed and didn’t understand why it was the wrong thing to do.
“She needs someone to stay,” I said. My voice came out quieter than I’d intended. “Long enough that she stops waiting for them to leave.”
Silence.
Martha’s expression softened into something almost maternal.
Gladys’s pen stopped moving.
I stared at the carpet and deeply wished for a trapdoor to open up.
Fuck it all.
I knew I couldn’t completely blame my younger self. That version of me was still trying to understand social cues. Trying to figure out why I sometimes pissed people off, made them sad, or just didn’t want to talk to me.
“Interesting choice of words,” Gladys said gently.
“It's a logical assessment,” I insisted.
“Sure,” Martha said, in a tone that meant the opposite.
I shoved my glasses up the bridge of my nose. We were here because of an event we needed to plan. One whose timetable had been sped up. An event that could make or break whether or not the animal shelter got the money it needed to stay open.
Tonight should have been about planning.
About logistics.
Not about feelings.
From the dining room Goldie’s laugh rang out, followed by Delaney’s voice—severe, defensive—then a sound that was unmistakably Delaney sputtering. I couldn’t make out the words.
But I could picture the scenario. Delaney cornered. Delaney resisting. Delaney trying to not let anyone see she cared.
I stood. “Sounds like they’re finished.”
Neither woman stopped me as I strode out of the room.
I didn’t look back.
I couldn’t.
We regrouped in the dining room like survivors returning from separate natural disasters.
Delaney sat in her original seat, cheeks flushed and eyes narrowed to slits.
Glamma wore a satisfied smirk on her face. One that indicated she was the victor in this mad scheme.
Goldie was practically giggling in excitement.
Coco darted between our legs, then sat near the table as though she were overseeing the events.
