Moonglass

energy to return any type of gesture.
    When the bell rang, I looked around, surprised to see everyone packing up. Tyler walked over. “Hey. What’s up? You look all bummed.” I didn’t feel like explaining anything. “I’m just tired. I didn’t sleep well . Weird dreams, I guess.” Tyler raised his eyebrows. “Oh, really ? … Hope I wasn’t the cause of them. You know, it’s been a problem for some girls.” He nodded over at Needy Pencil Girl, who had her hand in her backpack, texting as she grabbed her notebook with the other one. She walked past us without so much as a look. I didn’t have a witty response, so I busied myself grabbing my books. He noticed.
    We stepped out the door and stood awkwardly in the breezeway, still, in the middle of everyone streaming to their classes. He put a tentative hand on my shoulder and dipped his head low, so he was eye level with me. “You sure you’re okay? You seem … off.” I watched as the last of the students disappeared into classrooms, leaving us almost alone. “I’m fine. I gotta go, though…. I can’t be late to second.” I gave a brief smile, then took a step backward.
    He grabbed my hand. “Lunch, then?”
    I winced. “Actually, I promised Ashley I’d have lunch with her. It’s been a little while, and she’s got some big thing she wants to tell me.” For a brief second his shoulders slumped, but he squeezed my hand and smiled. “All right. Then I’ll see you after practice, if you’re not too busy.”
    “Okay.” I nodded, and did my best to smile back. He let go and took a few steps backward before turning and heading down the hall way.
    I spent the rest of my classes until lunch feeling like a jerk and hoping Tyler didn’t think I was blowing him off. I’d woken up in a mood that wasn’t going away. By the time the bell rang for lunch, I’d decided to find a place to sit by myself instead of meeting Ashley. Like clockwork, though, my phone buzzed in my pocket with a text.
    “BIG NEWZ! TABLE ASAP!”
    I stood looking at it, about to walk in the other direction, but curiosity got the best of me. Besides, it was hard to be in a bad mood around Ashley.
    She had two plastic boxes containing some sort of wraps and cut-up fruit out on the table when I got there, and she waved her bubbly Ashley wave. I sat across from her and smiled, surprised a little at the fact that I’d missed talking to her for a few days. “You didn’t need to bring me lunch, you know.” She put one hand to her full mouth, then used the other to wave me off. I popped open the box and did my best to sound enthusiastic. “Thank you. So, what’s the big news?”
    She waved both her hands now, as if that would help her chew faster so she could talk quicker. After a painful looking swallow, words spilled out, in typical Ashley fashion. “OhmyGodI’msoexcited!” Deep breath in. “This weekend is the opening of the spa at Pelican Crest and my dad is sending me and my mom on Sunday for the full day, and he said I should invite you and your mom too!” Pause for another breath. “It’s the most luxe spa around, and we can go and have anything—massage, facial, mani-pedi, whatever. And they only use fair-trade organic products, so we’ll be doing something good by treating ourselves.” She smiled and waited for my enthusiastic answer.
    I chewed slowly, trying to buy time, wishing I had just ignored her text and spent lunch alone. We were past the point where I probably should have told her, but there wasn’t exactly a simple way to bring up a dead mother. I hadn’t totally lied, but looking at Ashley’s ridiculously excited smile, I felt guilty knowing that I would now have to. finally I swallowed and took a sip of water.
    “Well ?” she asked, waiting.
    “Well …,” I started, “I don’t think we’ll be able to make it, Ash.” I tried to sound as disappointed as possible.
    She dropped her wrap, confounded. “Why?”
    I hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. I tried to avoid lying to her and went for vague instead. “Um, we already have something planned, some catching-up time, and—”
    “Perfect!” She clapped her hands together. “You guys can have a massage together! That’s when me and my mom always catch up—”
    “No. I don’t think it’ll work out. We’re not like that, my mom and me. We—”
    Her face suddenly went serious, and she put a manicured hand on my arm. “Anna, do not worry about the money. It’s my—well, my