The Mare

Velvet

The last week of school I got the sea horse from Strawberry. Alicia told me she had something for me, and I almost said fuck you but she said, “It’s from Strawberry.” I saw she had a real letter with pink script on it. She handed me the envelope and watched me open it; a picture cut from a magazine fell out. It was a glass sea horse cut with scissors, and there was a folded note in her handwriting that said, “I told you I would think of you when I saw one and I did. Friends 4 Life.” And then “Strawberry” in pink script with a heart.

I didn’t want to smile, but I did; I looked at Alicia and she was looking back like she used to. She said Strawberry e-mailed her but hardly ever, and that when she got an e-mail asking for her house address, Alicia didn’t even know why until she got the card for me. We walked down the hall like in elementary school. She asked me if I wanted to go to a party. I asked, whose party and she named a girl I knew was friends with Brianna. I said, “She helped spread lies about me.” Alicia said, “What, you mean the picture?” And her voice was like a animal about to eat something. I stopped walking and said, “You know that wasn’t me.” She put her eyes down. I thought it meant she was sorry. She said, “I do know. Brianna knows too.” She looked up and said, “So will you come to the party?” And then, “Dominic gonna be there.”