It was Monday, my first day at school in two weeks. The compression dressings under my clothes felt like I was wearing a girdle. I couldn't breathe deeply or sit comfortably. On the plus side, my hands were okay now and no longer bandaged though the burns there and on my jaw and my neck still itched.

I pulled into a spot and parked, every eye present trained on me like I was strutting down a catwalk instead of a school parking lot. I practiced the Three P's and climbed out of my car, grabbing my bag. I couldn't manage the weight of it on my back yet, so just clutched it in my hand. There were stares and whispers and a few people even nodded.

But not one person welcomed me back.

At my locker, I found Ashley waiting for me with a girl I knew from a few classes but was not friendly with.

"Ashley!" I squealed and moved in for a hug. She tensed and stepped back.

"Eden, this is Taylor Moore."

I let my arms fall down to my sides while Ashley scanned the hall. With a sudden spurt of anger, I realized she was looking for Belinda.

"What, Belinda won't let you be my friend anymore?"

"Eden, it's complicated-"

"Explain it to me."

"I have to go. Good luck."

And she was gone, leaving me battling down the tears ready to drown us all.

"Eden?" Taylor smiled. "This is for you." She held out a notebook.

"What's this?"

"Notes on everything you missed. I copied my notes over and went to the teachers to get the notes from your other classes."

I gaped at her, forcing my arms to remain at my sides and not crush her in an overpowering hug. "This is awesome. Thank you." I meant it. "You don't even know me and did all this?"

"Um, well, I have a confession to make."

Oh, God. Please tell me she's not a fan and wants me to recommend her to my agency.

"My cousin asked me to help you out."

I blinked. "Your cousin?" 

"He's actually pretty mad at you."  

I shook my head with a frown. "Who-"

"Adam Olinek is my cousin."

Adam!

I rolled my eyes with a laugh. "Isn't he mad at pretty much everyone?"

Taylor laughed. "True." She took the backpack from my hands, slipped it on one shoulder. "But he's upset that you didn't say good-bye."

My forehead puckered. "That's not entirely true. He walked away from me."

"Eden, one thing you have to remember about Adam is that he puts on a good show."

"Meaning?"

"He likes you. A lot."

My face burned and my stomach did that slow roll it always does around Adam, when I talk about Adam, or even if I just hear his name. I shook my head, as certain about this as I was about my own name. "No, he doesn't. He thinks I'm a moron. Worse, a moron with a death wish."

Taylor angled her head and pressed her lips together. "You don't get it. He likes you but he doesn't want to. So, he looks for things to upset you, make you hate him, so that way he can blame you for not liking him."

I clutched the notebook she'd given me against my chest and gaped. "That...that's stupid."

She laughed once, a loud delighted sound. "No. It's stubborn. And that's Adam's middle name."

Awesome.

The bell rang and we hurried into English class. I felt the eyes boring into me from every angle, could almost hear what they were thinking. For the boys, it would be relief that I hadn't lost my looks. But the girls? They were looking for the scars, the marks that labeled me imperfect. I wore sweats with a hoodie over my compression dressings. I was hot and wanted to unzip the hoodie. Under it, I wore a loose t-shirt. But I didn't want to reveal my injuries.

I slid behind my desk and Taylor hung my backpack off my chair. She flashed me a bracing smile and took her own seat, in the last row. I busied myself removing a notebook and pen from my bag, trying hard not to hear the whispered conversation taking place one row over.

"Look at her. She's still so perfect. Jack can't take his eyes off her."

"She was probably at the spa for the past two weeks."

Under my hoodie, t-shirt, and layers of gauze, I was sweating. The smell of compression bandages that need laundering was pretty damn revolting so I decided, what the hell. I unzipped the sweat shirt, tugged it off and stuffed it into my bag. The t-shirt did little to disguise the thick dressing around my middle and its short sleeves couldn't hide the bandages that extended down both arms to my elbows.

A throat cleared. "Uh. Hey, Eden. Welcome back."

Jack Adrian, sweet in a dorky way, stood in front of my desk.

"Does it... you know, hurt a lot?" He jerked his chin toward the ugly beige cotton on my arms.

"Not so bad now."

"Good. That's..."

The bell rang, and he took his seat with a tight-lipped smile.

Twenty-two people in the class and only two could spare the time to talk to me.

It was going to be a long day.

***

Fifth period. Lunch time. I headed for my usual table, saw Belinda and Ashley already there. Ashley shook her head once, jerked her head to Belinda.

Right.

I took my tray to an empty table, spread out the notes Taylor gave me and started a round of Three P's, making a convincing show of my intention to be alone. It worked. Every one gave me a wide berth, though a few acquaintances stopped by with a smile and a wave.

I sneaked glances at Belinda, but she refused to meet my gaze. I noted she was wearing kicks instead of hot boots – her trademark. Were her feet still hurt?

"She's fine."

I whipped my head around just as Taylor slid onto the seat opposite mine. I shot her a brief smile. "How did you-"

"Adam told me about your worry face."

"My worry-"

"Oh, yeah. Worry face. Like this." She frowned, chewed on her bottom lip. "First time he saw it was the day you met, in Ranger's tub."

My eyebrows shot up. He told her about the day we met?

"He didn't know that's what it was... not until you helped Sam."

Sam. Right. I hadn't seen Sam in a week. He was discharged right after I was.

"Need any help deciphering these?" She grabbed the notebook and rotated it toward her.

"No, you were really thorough. Thanks."

"No problem."

"So, listen. I have a favor to ask you."

I'd hand over my first born child for all she'd done so far. "Anything."

"Um. Well. My cousin's been beastly since he got home from the hospital."

My heart jumped. "Adam's home?"

"Yeah, but he's unbearable. We were kind of hoping to talk you into maybe visiting him?"

Heart attack. Visit Adam? The thought fired up every synapse. And then, doubt set in. "Taylor. I don't think he's...um...you know... that into me."

She snorted loudly. "Oh, please. He turns mean whenever Amanda mentions your name."

My eyebrows shot up. "And you think that means he likes me?"

She nodded. "Absolutely." She popped the top of a Snapple, then leaned over to share Adam dirt. "Adam's had a tough time lately. His way of dealing with tough topics is to piss people off and hope they just go away. They usually do."

"I'm a tough topic?"

Taylor rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on! You have to know he likes you. Just say yes."

Likes me? Adam Olinek likes me? "Yes." The word just kind of fell out of my mouth all by itself.

And then I giggled.

A sudden icy shower made me gasp and squeal. I jumped to my feet, scrubbed my face, astonished to discover I was covered in sticky, icy coke.

"Uncool, Belinda." A guy at the next table said.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. It was an accident." Belinda feigned wide apologetic eyes while Taylor stuffed napkins in my hand. The soda soaked through my shirt and bandages and the carbonation felt anything but good on my healing skin.

Ashley's eyes darted between Belinda and me. I stared back. Why didn't she stand up for me? With a shake of her head, she followed Belinda out the door.

I started shoving notes and papers into my bag, desperately trying not to cry from either pain or embarrassment. "Taylor."

"Eden, what's wrong?"

"It hurts, Taylor. I have to get these off. Now."

"Go! I got this. Go to the locker room! I'm right behind you."

Locker room. Perfect. It was right beside the cafeteria. I darted inside, peeling the soaked t-shirt off as I ran. I wouldn't be able to wrestle the compression dressings off without help, so I just flipped on a shower, bent over at the waist and doused my entire upper body.

The warm water felt incredible on my sticky skin. The bandages, on the other hand, would be a total loss.

"Eden!"

"In here." I sputtered.

Taylor killed the water and handed me a fluffy towel from the rack near the door. "Oh, my God, Eden. I don't know what's wrong with her but I'm reporting her to the principal."

"No!" I clutched Taylor's hand. "Please. Just let it go."

"But, Eden-"

"Please. Just help me take these off, okay?"

"Um. Yeah, just tell me what to do."

I unfastened the front closure above my chest that attached the two sleeves. "Help me peel off the sleeves first."

Taylor reached for the top edge. "Eww. I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She waved her hands at my hiss of pain.

"It's okay."

We got the first sleeve off, then the second.

I started opening the hook-and-eye closures that lined my front from neck to navel. "Taylor. Please. I can't get my arms behind my back."

"I got it. I got it." Gently, she took the top edge and tugged it off me.

I covered my chest with the towel. I wasn't wearing a bra because I... couldn't yet. I turned around and Taylor had both hands pressed to her gaping mouth.

"Oh, Eden. Oh, I'm so sorry."

I looked around and discovered half a dozen faces staring at me, horrified.

"Everybody happy the pretty girl's not so pretty anymore?" I snapped at them. A few of the girls got embarrassed and hurried off.

"Do you need help? I've got a shirt that may fit you." A girl with short brown hair asked me. I think her name was Maureen.

I smiled and nodded. "Thanks. That would really help a lot.

She nodded and pulled a folded shirt from her locker, left it on the bench and waved.

Taylor took the towel from me. "Turn around."

Gently, she patted me dry. The tingling and burning sensation was gone now. I grabbed the shirt Maureen left, managed to get it over my head. I rummaged through my backpack for the sweatshirt I'd removed earlier. I tugged it on one arm and Taylor helped me get the second arm up. I zipped it up and let out a loud breath.

It was soft and so comfortable.

"Better?"

I nodded. "Much. It's actually not as bad as it looks."

"That's...um...good because it looks... well, pretty damn bad."

I stared at Taylor for a moment and burst into laughter.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, but it does." She hid her chuckles behind her hand.

"I know." I smiled. "Thank you again."

"So what should we do with these?" Taylor waved a hand over the soggy bandages in the shower.

I wished I could burn them. I reached for another towel from the rack, wrapped the bandages inside and stuffed them into my backpack. I had only four more periods before the day was done.

I could survive that long. I practiced the Three P's and not only survived the afternoon, but felt pretty good without the compression garments. At dismissal, I headed to the student parking lot. The crisp cold March air felt good and for the first time, I breathed easy.

          Until I saw my car.

Someone had keyed up the driver's side and flattened all four of my tires. 

Author's Note: Having trouble with formatting again, so sorry for all the weird spacing. I think I figured out how to fix it.