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I reach for his hand to hold, and he gives it to me as he sits next to me. Paper presses around my wrist, and I have no clue what’s going on.

“Are we good?”

Sebastian leans over me and gives an approving, “Yeah. You’re good,” before looking down at me. “You ready?”

“Is it going to hurt?”

“No worse than any of the other shit we go through,” Sam says. “Take a deep breath.”

The buzzing of the gun is the next thing I hear, and when the needle makes contact, I close my eyes. Sebastian never lets go of my hand.

Time bends into an abstraction, and I swear this is right where I’m meant to be—in this very moment with my best friend, the only person I trust enough to see me for exactly who I am. It’s strange how paths can cross, how we misjudge so easily, how nothing is as it seems. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but I don’t ponder it for too long before the buzzing stops. Sam continues doing something to my wrist, and when I finally open my eyes, Sebastian has a cheesy grin on his face.

“What?” I ask, but he doesn’t respond.

“You ready to see?”

I face Sam when he says this and then look down to see a thin gray strand stretching around my wrist, almost like a delicate bracelet.

“Look underneath,” Sebastian tells me, and when I turn my hand, I see it isn’t a bracelet at all.

It’s a ribbon.

Over my scar, it’s tied into a tiny bow with the tail ends loosely curled. It’s simple and unobtrusive, and makes the most gruesome part of me a little less ugly.

Laying my head back, I hold my wrist above me and cry as I settle in the fact that, with Sebastian, I don’t have to worry about explaining the whys when there aren’t any to even explain.

HARLOW

From over my sleeve, I rub my wrist to soothe the itch that’s been irritating me. Sam gave me some ointment to use while the tattoo heals, but I left it in my room this morning. I’ve managed to hide the ink from my mother, which hasn’t been hard to do, but my dad knows. He caught a glimpse of it the other day when I was hanging out at his new place.

He was pretty calm about it, and I was beyond relieved when he agreed not to tell Mom.

I’m in the clear for a while because he left for Australia yesterday.

As everyone rushes to their last class of the day, I stop by my locker to grab my anatomy book and spot Sebastian and a few of his friends on the other side of the hall. Spinning the dial to my combination lock, I hear Brent’s unmistakable laugh. I’m so ready for Thanksgiving break next month so I can get some time off from this place.

When I lift the latch and open my locker, something falls out. It isn’t until I squat down that I see it’s an origami turtle. I smile, and when I stand, I flip it over to find a note from Sebastian.

You need to make your deformed turtle some deformed friends.

I laugh under my breath as I look over my shoulder. He reaches into his pocket and slips out the top part of the turtle I made him. When Sebastian gives a pouty face, I shake my head before we both crack smiles. As I turn back to my locker, I catch Kassi glaring at me from down the hall. She then shifts her eyes over to Sebastian, and I know she saw our exchange. I grab my book, close my locker, and head to class.

Noah is already at his desk when I enter the room.

“Hey, were you able to finish the research last night?”

“Crap,” I mutter.

“Harlow, it’s due tomorrow and you promised you’d get it done.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” I tell him, but he’s already aggravated.

“What is going on with you?”

“Nothing, I just ...” I try to think of a lie, but I’m distracted when Kassi comes walking in with Cara.

Both shoot daggers at me, and my skin flames.