Page 61 of Run Away With Me

‘Are you sure you’re okay?’ I asked Brooke, brushing my thumb over the back of her hand.

‘I’m humiliated,’ she said.

‘What the hell happened back there?’ Meredith asked. She was still sitting on the couch, and I thought she might be laughing at us.

‘Brooke fainted,’ I said, making sure to keep a totally straight face.

‘Shit,’ Meredith said, and she did laugh. I guessed it was allowed. They had known each other their whole lives.

‘Laugh it up,’ Brooke muttered.

Meredith held the door open for us as we filed back outside.

‘You should’ve told me you have a needle phobia,’ I said. ‘I would never have made you come with me.’

‘I didn’t know I have a needle phobia.’

Brooke lifted her hand to shield her face from the sun, and I rolled my eyes and reached into my backpack for her sunglasses.

‘Well, you learned something about yourself today,’ I said, hoping she wouldn’t mind me joking with her.

‘Thanks,’ she said, taking her sunglasses and sliding them on. Then she threw her arm around my shoulders, and I leaned into her side.

‘Does it hurt?’ Meredith asked.

‘Not too bad,’ I said. ‘It’s kind of throbbing right now.’ Brooke shuddered, and I laughed.

‘Come on,’ I said. ‘I want to get a snack.’

‘No, let’s go eat,’ Meredith said decisively.

‘I’m not going to argue with that,’ Brooke said.

Meredith took us to a little Asian restaurant a few streets away from her apartment that only sold vegan food. The walls were covered with a thick green carpet of plants, so many plants it felt like the room was alive. Breathing. Instead of tables, the restaurant had long communal benches with disposable chopsticks stored in terracotta pots.

‘Are you allergic to anything?’ Meredith asked me.

‘Nope.’

‘Great. I’ll order.’

‘Fine by me,’ I said.

I watched Meredith tap our order into an iPad on the table and pay with her credit card before I could offer to split the bill.

‘You eat the weirdest shit,’ Brooke said, tearing open a packet of chopsticks. ‘We couldn’t just go to McDonald’s?’

‘Eat a vegetable for once, Brooke,’ Meredith fired back. ‘It won’t kill you, I promise.’

I didn’t say anything. Watching the two of them interact reminded me that I’d never really had that relationship with someone – not with a sister or a cousin or a really close friend – before I’d had Brooke. I wanted to be sad, to wallow in regrets, but I forced those feelings into the feelings box so I didn’t have to examine them. This wasn’t the time for indulging in melancholy.

The food, when it arrived, was better than I’d expected. I couldn’t name anything except the big bowl of sticky white rice, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t good.

‘Is this tofu?’ I asked, holding up a piece with my chopsticks.

‘Gross,’ Brooke muttered under her breath.

‘Yes, Jessie,’ Meredith said pointedly. ‘That’s tofu.’