The next page held another of his CDs, along with one I decided would work for background music, while I continued to look through my collection. It was surprising how many of his CDs I’d ended up with. I guess I’d borrowed them to rip onto my MP3 player, then forgot to give them back. I could be vindictive, pretend I didn’t know what he was talking about when he inevitably asked for them back, maybe put a couple through the microwave and toss out the rest, but I was better than that.

I had almost made it to the beginning when I spotted a CD I didn’t recognize, mostly plain silver, but with a ring of red. Curious, I replaced my (nearly over) current selection with it, only to find that the music, while nice, was equally unfamiliar.

I guess Olive was still being “needy”, because it took Lela a few rings to answer her cell. “Are you okay?” she asked, all urgent and scared, like she thought I was calling her from the edge of a bridge or something. Just how delicate did she think I was?

“I’m fine, Leels,” I rolled my eyes. “Look, did you ever lend me a CD with this, like, red ring on it?”

“What?”

“It’s silver, and it has a red circle.”

She paused for a second, though my assumption that she might actually be thinking about my question was shattered when I heard her whispering, “Oh, that’s pretty, sweetie.”

“You know, a CD,” I reminded her. “It’s round, got a hole in the center, makes…”

“I don’t think it’s mine,” she interrupted. “Is it what you have playing now?”

“Yeah,” I said, holding the phone closer to the stereo for a second. “Sound familiar?”

“Nope, not mine. It’s probably…” She cut herself off. “Hey, did you find the cookies I made you?”

“What? You made me cookies?”

“I snuck them into your purse. Thought they might cheer you up a little.”

“If they’re shortbread, I’ll love you forever.” I dug through my purse, eventually finding a little container.

“Hmm… Well, I was going to give you more tomorrow if you came to see me, but if you already love me forever, what’s the point?” I smiled a little at her giggle. “Look, I have to go. You sure you’re all right?”

“Would you please stop asking me that?” I sighed, starting to get annoyed.

After we hung up, I stared at the CDs for a little longer, before deciding I’d gotten far enough for one day. It wasn’t like Keith was breaking down my door to get them back or anything.

I ended up back outside, not entirely sure how or why I’d made that decision. My car wasn’t there, of course – mom’s car was still in the garage, probably would be for a little while longer. Had to replace something that seemed pretty important, since its name had two complicated sounding words.

I picked a direction – any of them other than the one that went by Keith’s house was fine – and started to walk, not really paying any attention to anything I was passing. So it came as quite a surprise when I nearly ran into somebody only, when looking up to apologize, to realize it was the reading girl.

She stared at me with a blank, almost awed, expression, mouth hanging ever so slightly open. I honestly don’t know what came over me.

“Why the hell are you following me, you freak?!” I screamed, right in her face. “What do you want from me?!”