isolated place I go to, and sometimes have a hard time finding my way back. Especially now.â
âWhy now?â
âBecause I donât have you to pull me back up.â
âBut I donât remember ever really doing anything to help.â
âBut you were there.â
I started to say something almost cruel. I was going to say that she was the one who had turned against me. She was the one who got mad because I had new friends. Instead, I sat there feeling stunned.
âMost people who have never felt this way donât understand.â
âI think Iâve been there before. I used to want to hide from a lot of things.â
âNot like this. All I want to do is sleep. I donât want to get up in the morning. Nothing seems worth doing. I stay in bed and sleep. Nothing else seems to help. If I do get out of the house or go to school, I feel anxious and I still feel like Iâm all alone in the world.â
âBut you were never like this when we hung out together.â I was finally starting to see how bad things must be for her. And how little I understood who she really was.
âSometimes Iâd hide it. But usually if I was feeling crappy, you made me feel better. Remember all those times, though, that I said I was sick? Sometimes that was me just hiding from the world.â
âAnd now?â
âNow itâs bad. And I donât know how to snap me out of it.â
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see someone was walking toward us. It was Alexis, the girl Taylor thought was too smart for me.
âHi, Brandon,â she said to me.
âHi.â
âI like that shirt,â Alexis said.
âThanks.â I forgot I had on the clothes Taylor had picked out for me. My new look. Brandon, the cool one, the fashion guy. Brandon, the millionaire playboy.
âYou two want to join us?â Alexis nodded to the table where sheâd been sitting with a couple of other girls.
I looked at Kayla. She looked downright scared and like she was about to cry.
âNot right now,â I said. âBut thanks for asking.â
âCool,â Alexis said. âSee you in school.â
âCome on,â I said to Kayla. âLetâs get out of here.â
As we left, I hate to admit it, but I knew what those girls at the table were thinking. What is he doing with her?
Kayla seemed to be a little less uptight as we walked around town, the streetlights shining down through the leaves of the trees.
âWhat can I do to help?â I asked.
âIâm not sure you can. The old Brandon needed me as a friend. The new one doesnât. I guess I needed to be needed.â
âIâm still the old Brandon,â I said.
âNo, youâre not. Youâve been taken over by your girlfriend, Taylor.â
âSheâs not my girlfriend,â I said. âBut she is my friend.â
âYou think sheâd be your friend if you didnât have money?â
I didnât have to answer that. âLetâs not talk about me. Letâs talk about you. Maybe you need to see a counselor or something. I could pay for it.â
âIâve seen a shrink a few times. It hasnât helped. He wanted to put me on medication and I read about the side effects. I donât want to do that.â
âWhat can I do then? Just let me know.â
âI have an idea. Follow me.â
So I followed her and we walked in silence down the sidewalks until we came to the park. We walked out onto the dewy wet grass until we came to a place that was very familiar, even on this dark night.
âI donât know about this,â I said.
âWe wonât go very high, I promise.â
She knew I was nervous about climbing up into a tree after my fall. But I followed her lead as she climbed up from branch to branch of a big old oak tree. She sat down on a really sturdy limb and I sat down beside her. âI feel better
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