Free Back To Us by Teresa Roman

perspective. If he asks you out, and you say no he’ll be crushed and think it’s ’cause of his legs; but if he asks you out and you say yes, he’ll think it’s ’cause you feel sorry for him.”
    “Oh, great. Well, what am I supposed to do then?”
    “That I can’t help you with.”
    Melanie punched my brother in his shoulder. “Way to go, Mr. Sensitive.”
    “Hey, I’m just keeping it real.”
    I lowered my head onto the table and threw my arms over my head. “How is it that stuff like this always happens to me?”
    “Good question, J.” I felt my brother’s hand on my shoulder, trying to comfort me. “I don’t know when, and I don’t how, but I have a feeling this thing is going to work itself out. I really do.”

Chapter 7
    Justin was finally back at work on Monday. As I passed by the gymnasium I heard his voice. I wasn’t sure it was him at first, but then he spoke again and I knew. The first thing I felt was joy, but as the day wore on I became more and more upset as I realized he hadn’t bothered to look for me and say hello like he always did. By the time lunch rolled around my blood was boiling. I felt like an idiot and knew the minute I saw Justin I was going to give him a piece of my mind, and the minute I started to do that I wouldn’t be able to hold back my tears because that’s what happened to me when I got real mad. I cried. And crying made me look weak and stupid, and I was angry at Justin all over again for making me feel that way.
    I ate my lunch, or at least I tried to, in the break room. Justin was clearly trying to avoid me because he didn’t step foot in the break room the entire time I was in there, and I almost always bumped into him during lunch. I decided to look for him and found him in his office. He didn’t say anything as I stood in the doorway, he didn’t even ask me to come in.
    “Are you ever going to talk to me again?” My heart pounded in my chest. Legs or no legs Justin made me feel things I didn’t want to feel and the fact that he wanted nothing to do with me stung. My ego felt like it was tumbling down a flight of stairs collecting bruises and broken bones as it went.
    “It was those field trips, all that walking,” Justin finally said. His hand was tucked under his chin and he had a blank look on his face. “I went on them because I like talking to you, I like being around you, but all that walking. . .” He shook his head.
    “What? What about it?”
    “Everyone thinks it’s not a big deal,” he muttered. “You lose your legs then you just get a new pair and the next day you’re running a marathon faster than you ever did before. But it’s not like that. It takes a long time to learn how to walk on prosthetics, and it’s not always comfortable.” Justin sighed. “I got a skin infection on one of my legs, or at least what’s left of it. I couldn’t wear the prosthetic again until it healed and then they needed to make some adjustments to it.”
    “I’m so sorry. If I knew. . .”
    “If you knew what? That my legs were blown off? You would have insisted I stay here like Mrs. Connor wanted me to instead of walking around the city like a normal person gets to do. And I hate not being normal. I hate that everyone feels sorry for me. I wanted you to see me as whole for as long as I could pull it off.”
    “Justin.” He still hadn’t invited me in to his office, but I took the seat in front of his desk anyway. “I still see you as whole.”
    He looked at me like I was the biggest liar in the world. “I shouldn’t have been so mean that day. I’m sorry. I’d really like it if you could forgive me, and I’d like to still be friends.”
    There was that word. Friends. I figured after that day at his apartment that any possible chance I’d had with him was gone, but it hurt to hear him confirm it.
    “Yeah.” I choked back the lump in my throat. “Friends.” I stood up and turned around stumbling on the chair that I’d just gotten