Logan doesn’t reply. Instead, he turns and slams his bedroom door so hard the pictures on the wall rattle. I stand there utterly in shock. I’ve just helped with one of the most traumatic experiences any of us has been through, and he’s kicking me out? What the hell? Not forty-five minutes ago we had a breakthrough out in his car. We are becoming friends again, I think, and this is how I’m thanked? Fine!
Screw you Logan!
I may be struggling with if I want to be just friends or something more, but he jumps between enemies and potential lovers faster than Disney princesses fall in love.
I stomp down the hallway, too pissed to notice the trail of blood leading to the front door and slip. I fall to the ground, more frustrated than I was before because this is all his fault. If Logan hadn’t told me to leave, my favorite jeans wouldn’t be ruined and my ass wouldn’t be sore
I scramble to my feet and march back to Logan’s bedroom door, fully prepared to barge inside and ream him a new asshole, but it’s locked. I miss you by Blink182 seeps through the walls on full blast and my world stops.
All the frustration inside me melts away with the second verse. I lean against the door separating us, tears on the brink of escape from the realization that Logan thinks Piper is already gone.
Please, please, let Piper make it.
I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand and suck in a shaking breath. I can’t break down, not yet. I told Cooper I’d take care of Logan and that’s what I’m going to do.
I open the bathroom door and look around at the mess. There’s blood everywhere: the shower walls, the floor, the towel bar from where Cooper probably pulled himself up, and trailing through the house to the front door. Logan’s phone lies in the middle of it all, abandoned. I bend down and pick it up. Using the part of the hanging towel not stained red, I wipe the screen off and unlock it again.
The same picture greets me, only this time it seems sadder. They were such cute kids. So innocent with their whole lives ahead of them. I swallow the knot in my throat and open the recent call log. Someone’s got to tell his mom.
“Logan, sweetie, you never call. Is everything alright?” Mrs. Harris answers. Music blasts through the speaker, making her voice hard to hear. My stomach knots again, knowing I’m about to ruin her night.
“Uhh…” No. Everything is not okay. “Hi, Mrs. Harris. It’s Danika, your neighbor.”
“Oh,” she says, not bothering to hide the surprise in her voice. “Hello, dear.”
12
Danika
Logan doesn’t come to school on Monday and neither does Cooper. I’m not surprised, but I kind of want my phone. Being without it sucks. I don’t have social media, but twenty-four hours without my Kindle app or Tik-Tok has been hell. Also, I really want to know how Logan is doing. And Piper. There was some chatter about how all three of them were out today, but mostly everyone was going on about Friday’s football game. So, the Harris drama fell into the background.
After school, I sit near the kitchen window, earning a curious glance or ten from Dad, and impatiently wait for someone from the Harris household to come home. I wait at the table, a book open, u
nable to focus for what feels like an eternity when finally around dark Cooper pulls into his driveway.
I jump out of my chair so fast it topples to the floor. I whip the door open, not bothering to close it behind me and run across the grass. Cooper notices me as his Jeep beeps locked and practically collapses on the bottom step of his porch, resting his elbows on his knees.
I sit beside him. “How is she?”
“Alive.” Bloodshot eyes meet mine. Cooper looks rough. Dark circles linger and he’s aged five years in the span of a weekend. I’d bet he hasn’t slept much since Saturday, or showered. “Thanks to you.”
I don’t want to think about what could've happened had I not been there that night. I pull Cooper into a hug, like I so desperately want to do for Logan, but Logan has retreated into himself. I’m not surprised, he’s avoided emotions like the plague for as long as I can remember. I guess I was hoping that with all the changes Logan had made while I was gone, he’d have changed that too. No such luck.
“No, Coop, that was all you. You saved Piper.”
Cooper sniffles and pulls back from our embrace. We smile awkwardly at each other for a moment until he says, “I’m going to shower. I stink.”
I shrug and nod, hoping he’s not offended by my admission, but Cooper just chuckles. “See you around, Danika.”
On Tuesday, Logan’s car is in its usual space in the school parking lot, but I can’t find him anywhere. I’m dying for an update on Piper, and really need my phone. I’ve never gone this long without it. It’s not that I’m worried I’ll miss some important call from California, I washed my hands of everyone there the day we left, but having it is like having a security blanket. It makes me feel better.
“Here,” Sarah hands me my phone at lunch. “I was wondering why you were ignoring me. I texted you like a million times, but I guess Logan had this the whole time. In case you were wondering, I took a personal day yesterday.”
I anxiously take my phone from her hand and double tap the screen. Unsurprisingly, it’s dead. Doesn’t matter, I’m just glad to have it back. “Thanks. How was he?”
Sarah tilts her head to the side and looks at me skeptically. I haven’t told anyone about what’s going on in the Harris home. It’s not my place and the way people treat Piper, I think the truth would do more damage than the rumors.
“Uh… Logan is fine. Why?”