Veil of Scars Read Online Free PDF Page A

balloons and streamers and large, red glittery letters that read, “Will you be my Valentine?” My stomach dropped to my feet. I was sure it was a prank. I’d never shown interest in girls, and no one had shown any interest in me. Sex was not something that had ever crossed my mind. I saw people as just that, no attraction, no gender, just what they said or how they dressed.
    I blew my hair out of my face and shuffled over to pull it open. Inside there was a large card and a heart-shaped container of chocolate. Well, that wasn't what I was expecting. I picked up the card and tore off the envelope. When I opened it “Nothing Else Matters” blared from tiny speakers in the crease. Instantly I snapped it closed, glancing around to see if anyone had noticed. I got to school at least twenty minutes before most kids did, getting myself out of the house before my parents woke. When I saw no one was watching, I opened the card again and saw Charlie's bubbly handwriting inside. It read: Will you be my Valentine? A smile formed over my lips, and there was a tap on my shoulder.
    Charlie was standing there in a tiny red dress and black Converse shoes. "You're not allowed to say no." She stuck out her hand and grabbed mine. "At least for the day, let's show those assholes.”
    She laced her fingers with mine and squeezed my hand. We walked side by side to our first period where Todd sat. He scowled as we walked by his desk leaning into one another. She sat right next to me and kept her hand in mine the whole class. I knew right there, that Charlie would do anything for me.
    ****
    Junior year of high school I found her in the locker room, crying, long after everyone had gone home from the girls' swim practice. I was there to pick up an extra lifeguard shift for lap swim. I heard a sound, but I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. The pool was deserted, and I had thought I was the only one there. I searched around, and when I opened the door to the locker room, I saw her sitting there. Still in her suit from practice, hunched over with her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands.
    "Char, what’s wrong?” I asked, taking the seat next to her. I wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and she melted into me.
    She sobbed, not saying anything.
    “Charlie, you're scaring me." My mind whirled at all the things that could have gone wrong. I was starting to worry that someone had died.
    "Do you need me to drive you home?" I bit my lip and leaned into her.
    "Nooo," she whispered through a hiccup and finally looked up at me. Black mascara dripped down her face mixed with old and new tears. "I ... I ... I ... my father has cancer." She buried her face in my chest.
    I stroked my fingers through her hair. "Fuck, I'm so sorry." That was how cruel the world was. My own father who drank so much his liver should have exploded by now was alive and well without a health concern in the world, whereas Charlie’s father who was a model citizen and vegan was stricken with something life-threatening.
    She picked up her face and shook her head. Her porcelain skin was red and splotchy, but she tried to force a smile as she wiped her eyes. "It's okay, you don't have to take me home. I'll be okay. I just lost it for a second."
    I grabbed her chin with my thumb and forefinger, forcing her to look at me. "Have you been here since practice?"
    She nodded.
    "It's been two hours."
    She sucked one of her full, pink lips into her mouth. "Don't tell anyone."
    I shook my head. "Never. I'm going to close up and drive you home. I'll come get you in the morning so you don't have to worry about your car."
    "Okay." Her breath caught, and she slowly got to her feet.
    I wrapped my arm around her to steady her. "Have you told Sam?"
    "Yes, but please don't tell him about … this. I can't be like this with him."
    I pulled her into a long hug, and she pressed her face into my chest again, wiping it on my shirt. "Why not?" My brow creased in the center.
    "Because, I