Free The Good Girls by Teresa Mummert

moments, I got up from my bed and flipped open the laptop on my dresser as I hummed my favorite song. I typed “paper crane” into the search engine and pulled up an instructional video on origami.
    Taking a piece of paper from my notebook, I ripped it from the binding and began to drunkenly fold the paper over and over until I was left with something that resembled a throwing star, far from a magical bird that could grant wishes. Fuck.
    I crumbled the paper and tossed it on the floor before typing Ellie’s name into the search engine. I clicked on recent stories and covered my mouth with my palm when I saw the link that explained the tragic death of her mother, a shooting victim of a convenience store robbery.
    My eyes danced over the screen as I struggled with the morality of learning of her past from the Internet instead of just having the guts to ask her. David didn’t want to talk about what had happened to his ex, like if he didn’t explain the past, then it never happened. That’s why we never discussed how I had come to live with them.
    Sighing, I closed my laptop and padded back to my bed, stripping off my clothes along the way so by the time I fell onto my bed, I was wearing nothing but yellow panties.
    I crawled under my quilt and stared up at the dark ceiling as I struggled to get my mind to shut off. Nighttime was always hard for me when I was alone.
    When I couldn’t hold my eyes open any longer, I drifted off in a restless sleep, plagued by images of the party. I pictured Ellie, looking horrified as I kissed her, her hand coming down hard across my face. The sound of her slap caused everyone to stop and look at us, and we were now in the center of the room as they pointed and laughed at me.
    I could actually feel the painful burn on my cheek all the way down into my chest, where my heart ached with humiliation and regret.
    I shoved my way through the crowd of people and pulled open the front door, but I was not met with the freedom of being able to run away again. Instead I was face-to-face with my mother, her tearstained face only inches from mine. Please don’t cry.
    “I regret you,” she whispered, venom in her tone.
    I shoved her to the side and slipped out into the cold night air, running barefoot down the road as the stones bit into the flesh of my heels. My sob echoed in the trees around me, and I was now lost in a forest, afraid and cold in the middle of the night. I could no longer hear the yells of those who disapproved, but my own sobs mocked me as they played back in my ears. It was myself that I was most afraid of.
    I dropped to my knees, sinking into the moist soil, slowly letting it encapsulate me. I didn’t begin to struggle until it reached my chest, and the suppression of breathing sparked a panic inside of me. But I had no one left to hear my screams. I was fighting alone, against myself.
    My pleas for help slowly turned into a melodic song, but the sound was muffled, and I struggled to hear my own voice amid the rustling of the leaves.
    My eyes shot open, and I wiped them, still able to hear the song in my head. I sat up, wiping the sleep from my eyes as I realized the sound was actually coming from the other side of my bedroom wall.
    Tiptoeing over next to my headboard, I pressed my ear against the cold wall and listened to the music that Ellie was using to lull her to sleep.
    “Hey,” I whispered loudly and tapped against the wall. After a moment, I tapped again.
    “Sorry,” Ellie whispered back, and I smiled.
    “No, don’t be. It’s nice. Good night,” I whispered before crawling back under my covers and drifting off to sleep.

CHAPTER ELEVEN
    Ellie
    M orning came too soon, and for once I didn’t want to get out of bed. My head felt like it had been stomped on, and when there was a knock at my door, it felt like someone was driving a nail through my skull.
    “I don’t feel well,” I called out. The door popped open. Cara stepped inside the room with a bottle of water