First Aid Kit

Compressions

Maisie and Calypso, my two best friends, thought it was hilarious. I had written down the whole story in a messy scrawl that they had to squint to read, and then they laughed so hard and for so long I debated finishing the essay I had for English homework. Usually, they were pretty understanding. We were all the perfect amount of similar. In their defense, it's not like a situation like that had happened before. They didn't know how they were meant to react.

"Honestly, Asher is so nice. I can't believe you thought for a second he would grope you. Especially out in the open like that."

It seemed to take all of Maisie's focus to get those words out through her laughter, and I just scowled. Calypso, still catching her breath, slapped Maisie's arm.

"Nice guys can still grope people, idiot."

Maisie rolled her eyes affectionately, but sighed. "I know, sorry. It's just, he's the nicest person I've ever met."

"You've spoken to him, like, three times." I signed to her.

Being my best friends and respecting my decision not to speak, they had both taken up learning sign language to make communication easier between us. They were pretty shitty at it, so I mainly just wrote stuff down, unless it was a short enough statement that I was sure they'd get the gist of it.

"Yeah, but I see him at school all the time. And last year I watched him help a lady across the street. I thought that was just something they said on TV, but he actually did it. He's a saint, I swear."

Calypso and I both watched as she absentmindedly picked off her nail polish, leaving red flakes all over my bed.

Calypso turned to me, shrugging. "He does seem really cool. I don't know. Either way, I'm just glad he helped. Who knows what could have happened if someone else found you."

A shudder racked through my body. I pulled my blanket up to my chin and frowned, shaking my head, making it clear I was glad that didn't happen.

"Are you gonna talk to him at school tomorrow?"

I shook my head rapidly, wide eyed. Though their faith in him had eased my apprehension slightly, I was still embarrassed by what happened. I couldn't get the memory out of my head. The thought that he knew how my mouth felt pressed against his made me want to throw up. Sure, it wasn't a real kiss, but it still made me uncomfortable. I knew I should be looking at the bigger picture, the fact that he performed a potentially life-saving procedure on me and I should be eternally thankful, but I was still shook up about it.

The panic I had felt when I first came to and just felt that awful pressure on my chest made me want to curl up in a ball and never face the world again. I still felt the icy hand clench around my heart when he pushed his own air into me.

It was easy to believe he was telling the truth about giving me CPR, and that scared me, too. Initially, I thought he had knocked me out and dragged me into an alley, but the moment he explained the situation, I believed him. I wasn't use to that. Maybe the fact that it was broad daylight and I was on the sidewalk, not in an alley, played into my trust, but it still made me uneasy that I just trusted him like that.

He was the predator, and I knew that, and I was supposed to treat him like a suspect, yet he just had to utter one sentence and I didn't even question him.

I didn't trust him as a person in general, it was just that one situation, but I didn't like how quickly I went with him. I even got into his truck.

"We could invite him to sit with us at lunch tomorrow. To, you know, say thanks or whatever." Maisie smirked, keeping her eyes on her phone as she spoke.