All That Consumes Us by Erica Waters

Author:Erica Waters
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2023-10-17T00:00:00+00:00

Seventeen

When I get to my bedroom, the others are already there. They all go quiet when I come in, an uncomfortable silence that reminds me vividly of the discussion I overheard at the hospital. Were they talking about me? Maybe Jordan told them what he saw in the library, the way I was holding the painting of Meredith. Or maybe they were talking about the thing they’ve all clearly been hiding from me.

Penny and Azar sit on my bed, which one of them must have made for me because the blanket is spread neatly over the mattress and pillow, unlike the mess I left this morning when I fled this room. Jordan sits at my desk, and Neil leans against the wall. Wren is cocooned in a fluffy throw blanket amid the clutter on their bed, clutching a mug of tea. All my suspicions soften at the sight of them, here and alive and hopefully well.

“Hey,” I say, going to Wren’s side, steadfastly ignoring Jordan’s eyes. I push some books out of the way and climb onto the bed, putting my arm around them in a quick embrace. “How are you?”

“Fine,” Wren says. “Still a little tired.” They smile. There are dark circles under their eyes, and they are paler than they should be. I can just make out some stitches at their hairline.

“I’m really glad you’re back,” I say. “I missed you. It was lonely here without you.”

“Me too, and I’m glad to get out of that hospital. So many horrible noises everywhere, and the whole place smelled like bleach.”

“Sorry,” I say. “That sounds rough. Were the doctors any good?”

Wren shrugs. “They were all right. A little clueless. But some of the nurses were really nice.” Wren fidgets, uncomfortable. I can’t tell if it’s from being the center of our collective attention or from something else—like a hankering to find a piano.

“You’re going to take it easy for a little while, aren’t you?” I ask.

“Of course they are,” Penny says, coming from across the room to sit on Wren’s other side. “We’re going to make sure of it.”

Wren looks at me, a hint of concern in the little space between their dark eyebrows. “You look like you’ve been burning the candle at both ends yourself.”

“Oh, come on, enough small talk,” Neil says, pushing off from the wall. “Wren, don’t go back to the practice rooms. You can play downstairs as much as you want. Just don’t be an idiot and get yourself killed, all right?”

Azar laughs. “That was the closest thing to an apology I’ve ever heard Neil utter. You’d better enjoy it, Wren.”

Wren grins.

Everyone stays a while longer, laughing and talking, glad to have Wren back with us. I stay mostly quiet, content to see Wren enjoying themself, even though I can’t do the same, not with Meredith’s ghost and the others’ secrets dogging me, not with my torn-up notebook still in the trash can across the room. But after they all go and it’s just Wren and me, Wren slumps down onto their pillows, clearly exhausted by the effort of socializing.

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