Read Online Whatever Doesn't Kill You by Elizabeth Wennick - Free Book Online Page B

bands tacked to another. I realize I don’t even know whether Emily is home. Griffin and Katie are used to finding her passed out on the floor, the couch, wherever she happens to land, but how do I explain her to someone like Ashley?
    â€œYeah. You have a TV in your room?”
    â€œNo, but I’ve got a little portable DVD player with a screen. Maybe we can watch a movie or something.”
    I lead the way to the bedroom, holding my breath a little as I open the door and hoping Emily is somewhere else. I relax a little as I see her bed is empty, although she’s clearly been through here today, because it looks like a tornado hit.
    â€œI share the room with my sister. It’s a little messy.”
    â€œThat’s fine. You should see my room. My mom keeps threatening to go through with a garbage bag and throw everything out.”
    â€œMy mom never really cared much. And my brother doesn’t care at all, really.”
    â€œReally? You live with your brother? That’s so weird. What happened to your dad, anyway?”
    So suddenly I’m pouring out my entire life story to Ashley Walsh, who perches on the edge of Emily’s bed and leans forward with her eyes bugging out like this is the most fascinating thing she’s ever heard. Before I stop to think about what I’m saying, I’ve told her everything— even the part I didn’t tell Katie and Griffin and Marie-Claire: my meeting with Travis Bingham.
    Ashley’s mouth is agape. “That. Is. So. Cool.”
    â€œCool?”
    â€œSeriously. I mean, who knew you were so, you know, deep. I just thought you were this weird kid who hangs out with losers and knits in the library. Look at you, tracking down killers and junk.”
    I shrug. “Well, it wasn’t the way I wanted it to go. I was hoping for something a little more…satisfying. And now none of my friends are talking to me because they think I’m totally obsessed with ancient history.”
    â€œWell, I think it’s really interesting. And your friends suck if the stuff that’s important to you isn’t important to them.”
    I look Ashley over carefully. She might be trying to put one over on me, but she seems so earnest, it really seems like she might be sincere.
    â€œSo why are your friends shutting you out all of a sudden?” I ask her. “I thought you were all pals for life.”
    â€œOh, it’s stupid.” Her voice breaks a little. “You know I used to go out with Ned Street, right?”
    â€œThat was kind of hard to miss. You were always making out in the halls.”
    â€œYeah, well.” She shifts a little, looks away like she’s embarrassed. “Well, he started sneaking around with Carrie Lerner behind my back, and when I found out about it she started this rumor that I was pregnant and got an abortion, even though Ned and I never even, you know, did it, and so I got mad and told Maddie Grant that Carrie was the one who—”
    The story goes on for a while, and, I have to admit, I lose track of who said what to whom and sort of drift off a little in my head. It all boils down to someone making up stories about someone else, lies piling up on top of lies and poor Ashley landing squarely on the bottom of the heap. I really do wind up feeling a little sorry for her in the end, even though I haven’t completely followed the chain of events. I just nod sympathetically and throw in a “Really? That’s terrible” every once in a while, kind of like I do when I’m listening to Henry or Wex ramble on and on about something. I wonder if this is how Katie and the rest of them feel when I talk about Travis Bingham.
    â€œSo then Ned said he didn’t even want to be friends with me anymore, and now none of them are even talking to me.”
    â€œWow. That sucks.”
    â€œYeah.”
    There’s a long silence, and I can see Ashley looking around the room, taking it