Safe and Sound by Lindy Zart

wanted to talk about . She didn’t even really know why . She wanted to tell her, she really did. But Lola couldn’t.
      Dr. Jones swiveled around in the chair and looked at her. Those eyes knew. Dr. Jones’ lips pressed into a line and she clasped her hands together. “You have bruises on your arms, neck, cheek , and a fading one above your eye. How did you get them?”
      She looked at her shir t and fingered the thin material. Why couldn’t she tell her?
      Sebastian’s mother let out a sigh. “I can’t help you if you won’t tell me what’s going on. So? Lola? What’s going on?”
      “Nothing.” Why did she say that? Take it back, Lola, and tell the truth. Her lips wouldn’t move, no words would form. It was like her brain shut off.
      “Nothing?” Disbelief and disappointment rang clearly in that one word.
      She jumped down from the table. “I have to go. I have to work.”
      Dr. Jones Jones stared at her, incomprehension clouding her features. “Why?”
      She purposely misinterpreted her question. “Because I’m on the schedule.” Lola walked to the door, opened it, and turned back to look at Sebastian’s mother. “Thank you. For everything. ”
    * **
      Sebastian walked her across the street to her house . Lola’s eyes kept going to the door; she wondered what Bob was doing at that very moment. If he was waiting for her. If he would come out and yell at her. Sebastian needed to leave.
      “Thanks for everything,” Lola told him and inched toward the door.
      “It’s the least I could do. After all, it was my girlfriend that attacked you. ” He tried to smile, but failed . “What time you need to leave by?”
      “I don’t need a ride, Sebastian. I’m fine. Really.” Fear of what Bob would do or say if he found out she’d gotten a ride from Sebastian caused her to sound harsher than she meant to.
      Sebastian blinked and fell back a step. “Right.” He looked away. When his eyes met hers, they were gray pools of pain. “Can we start over? I don’t know what happened. I don’t even care. I’ve been miserable this past year. At first I was mad, but now…it just sucks. I miss my best friend.”
      Her chest constricted. She wanted nothing more than to go back to the year before. Everything had been so much simpler then, better, happier.
      Lola thought of all the obstacl es between them. Roxanne, Bob , her life, and shook her head. They couldn’t go back. It was impossible. It was sad, but impossible.
      “I’m sorry, Sebastian…I…can’t.” Her voice trailed off, the last word a barely audible whisper.
      His spine stiffened and he turned his back to her. “What’s going on with you and Jack Forrester?”
      Lola blinked. Where had that come from? “Nothing. He’s a friend. Why?”
      He swung around, holding her in place with his troubled gaze. “He’s bad news, Lola, and since when do you hang around messed up people?”
      Since I became one.
      “There’s nothing wrong with Jack. I like him.”
      He made a sound of derision. “Yeah. I guess I don’t know you anymore. You’ve changed.” In a bad way, his words implied.
      Anger erupted inside her. “Really? Well, so have you. Since when do you date girls who are psycho ?”
      Sebastian opened his mouth, closed it, and gave a low chuckle. “She is pretty nuts, isn’t she?” He laughed . “God, what was I thinking when I got involved with her?” Lola stared at him, stupefied. He looked at her face and laughed some more.
      He shook his head. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I just missed you so muc h and was lonely and Roxanne had been after me—“
      “Forever.”
      “Yeah. Forever. Guess she wore me down.”
      “That’s great, Sebastian, real impressive.”
      He smiled and gave a helpless shrug. “I’m weak. What can I say?”
      You’re not weak. You’re strong. I wish I was as strong as you.
      “Anyway. No ride then?”
      “No”
      He