“Going for a stroll through the woods?” Jordan suggested with a lift of a skeptical eyebrow. She looked Wendy up and down. “You’re soaking wet!” She pulled a leaf from Wendy’s hair, then huffed. “What is going on with you, Wendy?” she asked. Jordan had her own brand of “angry” that lacked any real heat and was mostly a cover for concern.
“What do you mean?” Wendy didn’t like feeling chastised.
“You’re not acting like yourself at all! You’re avoiding me—”
“I’m not avoiding you!” Now it was Wendy’s turn to cross her arms.
Jordan ignored her and lifted her palms. “Listen, I’m all about you branching out and getting a secret boyfriend—”
“He’s not my boyfriend!” Wendy spluttered. “He’s—he’s just—”
“Some stranger you’re gallivanting off into the woods with?” Jordan pressed. “I don’t get it, this isn’t like you! You’re not calling me back, or telling me when you get called down to the police station?”
“They just wanted to ask me questions about Alex.”
“Yeah, Alex, from the hospital where we both volunteer,” Jordan pointed out. Her arms fell to her sides. “How could you not come and talk to me as soon as you found out he went missing?” she asked. Her brown eyes searched Wendy’s for an explanation.
Wendy didn’t have one.
“I’m your best friend,” Jordan continued, voice quivering. “You used to say that I was the only person you felt like you could rely on, remember? And now you’re, what, going into the woods with some guy you just met? Wendy, you’re terrified of the woods!”
The maddening part was that she knew Jordan was right.
Wendy groaned and pressed the heels of her palms against her eyes. What could she tell Jordan? She couldn’t explain herself, there was no way. She didn’t want to hurt Jordan, but she also couldn’t tell the truth. Jordan would either think she was having another mental breakdown or that she was flat-out lying. “You wouldn’t understand,” was all she could say.
“Look, I know you’re going through hell right now—the missing kids, your brothers—” Wendy’s eyes burned. “Just the other day you came to my house practically in tears over those missing kids and the detectives showing up at your door. You’ve always been able to talk to me about what’s going on!”
“I know, but this is different!” She didn’t like being yelled at by Jordan, and she wanted to push back. They never got into shouting matches. It made her feel like she was talking to her father, not her best friend. “You say you know what I’m going through, but you have no clue, Jordan!” Wendy didn’t want to yell, but she couldn’t help it. She felt backed into a corner.
“We’ve always been able to talk to each other about anything,” Jordan pressed on. “When we’re stressing out together about college, when me and Tyler are having a fight.” Jordan’s brow furrowed and the anger in her voice broke when she said, “Or when I’m missing my mom—”
The tension in Wendy shattered. “This is bigger than that, Jordan!” she shouted. Jordan took a step back, as if Wendy had just slapped her across the face.
Wendy regretted it as soon as the words left her mouth, but she couldn’t stop herself. Everything that had built up swiftly unraveled. “And I don’t expect you to get it! Just because you listen to me doesn’t mean you can understand because you can’t, you just can’t!”
Jordan reeled back another step. Her cheeks were flushed. Her brown eyes shone in the waning sunlight. “Don’t shut me out, Wendy,” she said. Her tone was quiet and resigned. “If you don’t want to tell me what’s really going on, I can’t make you. But I’m worried about you.” She glanced up at Wendy. “You need to be careful. Those missing kids haven’t been found yet, and, for all we know, you might be in danger.” Jordan turned around and started to walk away.
This was all wrong. Wendy needed to stop her and apologize. “Jordan—” She reached out to catch her elbow, but Jordan was too quick.
“Call me when you actually feel like being real with me,” she said over her shoulder, rubbing at her eyes. She rounded the gate and then was gone.
Wendy was left alone in her backyard, feeling like someone had ripped a hole in her gut. She couldn’t tell Jordan what was going on. She wouldn’t believe Wendy, and even if she did, Wendy would just be dragging Jordan into danger. Who was to say the shadow wouldn’t try to use Jordan against her? She hated herself for hurting her best friend like that, but she was also mad at Jordan for making her feel so guilty. Right now, the most important thing was to protect Jordan, and that included protecting her from herself.