Scar by Kelly Favor Page B

them. That makes up for all the bad stuff you’ve done.”
    “No, it doesn’t,” he replied, simply.
    She could tell from his tone of voice that there was no changing his mind about it.
    “So what’s next?” she said. “Are you healing?”
    “I’m doing a lot better,” Elijah said, “but I’m going to have some scars from the burns.”
    “I wish I could see you,” she told him.
    “You can see me,” he said. “Close your eyes right now.”
    She closed her eyes and listened to his voice. “Okay. I closed them.”
    “Now picture me, chilling in this hospital bed looking cute and sexy—as always—with the phone to my ear, trying to make you smile. Can you see it clearly?”
    “Yes.”
    “Then you can see me, Caelyn. You just have to try.”
    “It’s so hard, though. I don’t want to have to close my eyes to be with you.”
    “Nothing good ever came easy, kid.”
    She was going to respond, but then she heard a voice in the background saying something to Elijah. Elijah responded. They went back and forth a few times before Elijah came back on the line. “Hey,” he said, “I’m going to have to get off the phone now.”
    “So soon?” she said, wanting to pout. It didn’t seem fair.
    “Listen, it might be a little while before we talk again. Don’t get down about it.”
    “Why can’t you call me tomorrow?”
    “I’m not going to be at the hospital anymore. They’re taking me back to Massachusetts, to jail. I’ll be in the prison infirmary until I recover enough to be put back in general population.”
    “Oh.” Her heart sank but she didn’t want to overreact. After all, it was Elijah who had to go through the experience of being back in prison, so how could she freak out when he seemed so okay with it?
    “Remember what I said,” Elijah told her. “Remember to close your eyes and be with me, and I’ll do the same. No matter how long I’m away, I’ll never stop being with you. Never.”
    “Promise?”
    “It’s a guarantee,” he said.
    And then he was gone.

    ***

    The days went by in a kind of haze after that last conversation with Elijah.
    When Caelyn’s parents came back from dropping Deena off at the hospital, Caelyn sat them down and told them she wanted to go back to college.
    She’d been expecting some resistance to the idea, or at least for them to voice concerns about whether or not she’d be able to behave responsibly after everything she’d done recently. But in actuality, they were both incredibly relieved and happy to say yes to it.
    Caelyn hadn’t quite known how to react—the whole thing was so unlike her parents, to be so unconditionally supportive.
    After that, Caelyn had simply done her best to avoid the journalists and snooping vultures that were constantly skulking around outside the house.
    For the better part of a week, she traveled back and forth to campus to talk with the school about coming back for the next semester.
    That process was less easy than anticipated. There was an interview with her guidance counselor, and then a school therapist, and then the dean, and finally a follow-up interview with the entire board.
    Everyone seemed concerned about Caelyn’s story and the way her presence would reflect upon the university.
    They all wanted assurances that Caelyn wouldn’t engage in any sort of behavior or activities that would hurt the school’s reputation.
    She found the whole process highly insulting, especially as she began to realize that much of what was happening was simply nosiness on the part of the college administration. They were simultaneously condescending, but also rather in awe of her at times—treating her like some kind of celebrity.
    Eventually, at the last meeting with the board, Caelyn had simply called their bluff. She’d stood up after answering forty-five minutes of ridiculous questions, and told them that she was intending to transfer instead to another nearby school, rather than continue with this charade.
    Immediately,