“What?”
“For you to stop looking at me like I’m about to fall off a cliff.”
Julian blinked.
“I don’t.”
“You absolutely do.”
“I bought you a chair.”
“Exactly.”
Everyone went quiet.
Maya’s voice remained gentle.
“You did something amazing for me. But I don’t want you deciding that means you have to keep saving me.”
Julian’s face flushed.
“I wasn’t—”
“You kind of were.”
He looked toward me.
I deliberately said nothing.
Maya continued.
“I need friends. Not bodyguards.”
Julian stared at his shoes.
Then nodded.
“Okay.”
“And next time you want to sell everything you own on my behalf, ask.”
A smile tugged at his mouth.
“Fine.”
“Because I would’ve told you not to sell the PlayStation.”
“Really?”
“Obviously. Your guitar, sure.”
He looked horrified.
Maya laughed.
It was the first sound that made the entire morning feel almost normal.
School resumed the next day.
