Going in Reverse~Niki Belle

Going in Reverse

I drove slowly on my way to Ali’s house, trying to stay calm. I was seriously worried about her. I mean, she’d been really depressed ever since Milly had left the church, but now…she was really gone.

We walked over to the pavilion and sat down on the rough wooden bench. For a couple of seconds, Ali just sat beside me. She didn’t say anything. She let out a shaky breath and wiped her cheek.
“What’s up?” I said. “Everything okay?” I put my arm around her and hugged her. I felt her shake under my arm. She shook her head no.
“What is it?” I asked. I waited for her to answer.
“I was thinking about Milly today in class.” She started shakily. “I had like this vision of her in her room, and she was slitting her wrist, and Lisa came in and saw her.” She finished. She reached up to wipe her cheek again.
“Well do you think she would do something like that? I mean, I know she’s had problems like that before, but nothing recent, that I know of.” Ali shook her head again.
“I don’t know. I’m just worried, that’s all” She finished. I looked up and saw Tod walking toward the pavilion. He jumped over the bench and continued in our direction.
“Do you know the meaning of privacy?” I asked.
“Nope!” He joked. “What’s it mean?” I saw James and Alex walking over.
“I don’t think we’re gonna get any more private conversation right now.” I whispered. She nodded, wiped her eyes one last time and stood up. She looked over her shoulder and saw her parents van. She walked over and grabbed her purse. She turned and looked back at me.
“If you need to talk about anything, just give me a call, okay?” I whispered in her ear as I huggeed her tight. As she pulled away, I thought I saw a single tear on her cheek.

I turned the car into Ali’s gravel driveway. She was standing at the bottom of her driveway with her purse slung over hr shoulder. When I stopped next to her, she smiled weakly, and walked to the other side of the car. She opened the door and sat down. I put the car in reverse and started to back out of the driveway.