Breaking Her Bad by Michelle Mankin
Claire
At the end of the day, Missy approached my locker after visiting hers. “Are you okay?”
Hugging her backpack to her chest, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, looking sad. We hadn’t had a chance to talk since lunch. Not about anything important, like what she’d revealed about her and Kyle.
“I’m getting there.” I closed my locker. “It certainly helps that I have a friend who’s honest with me.” I spun my lock and turned to face her. “Even if what she shared hurt to know.”
“You forgive me?” she asked, her eyes wide.
“Nothing to forgive. It’s in the past, like you said. It’s all in the past.” I threw my arms around her. When hers remained at her sides, I squeezed her tighter, backpack and all. “I overreacted. Can you forgive me?”
“Of course.” Missy brought up her arms and wrapped them around me, her squeeze tighter than mine.
Wheezing, I choked out, “I can’t breathe.”
“Sorry.” She loosened her hold and eased back to look at me. “But can I hold on to you just a little longer?”
“Sure. Why?”
She raised her brows. “You know those pockets of happiness you mentioned the other day?”
“Yeah. I remember.”
“Well, this is mine right now.”
I corrected her. “One of many, you mean.”
“No.” She shook her head. “Just this one.”
“I appreciate being included, but—”
“My mom’s a porn star.”
Missy released me after dropping that bomb, and my jaw dropped.
“A drug-addicted one. I was born premature and with an addiction like hers. l sleep with guys for blow. Sometimes I blow them for blow.” Her lips formed a bitter smile. “One of her boyfriends, and she has many, touched me inappropriately when I was twelve. He gave me cash to remain quiet about it. After that not-so-lovely incident, I decided that I was never going to let another man touch me unless it was on my terms, and I benefited from it. I pretend to like what guys do, but the truth is I’m a better actress than my mom.”
“Missy, no.” I was horrified by what she shared. She’d been abused as a child. Reaching for her hands, I brought them to my chest.
“That’s what my mom said the first and only time I tried to get her to believe me about what her boyfriend did.” Tugging her hands free, Missy wrapped her arms around herself and backed away from me. “That’s all of it.”
Tears filled my eyes. “That’s terrible. I’m so sorry.”
Missy grimaced as she bobbed her head. “Now you see why you believing me and remaining my friend is such a big deal to me.”
“You being my friend is a big deal.” I closed the distance between us and threw my arms around her again. “Together, we’ll make lots of good memories. So many, we won’t have enough pockets to hold them all.”