Imperial Coffee

Stitches: Part Twenty

A/N: I KNOW I SKIPPED LAST WEEK BUT I HAD PROM AND I WANTED TO WRITE YOU GUYS SOMETHING REAL FOR THE 20TH CHAPTER. So here you go, the longest chapter I've written yet! 

Winter stood outside Cinder's door, arms wrapped tightly around herself. She knew Cinder didn't know her anymore; one memory wasn't enough to make a whole. She wouldn't have come at all, to give her privacy, but when Cress called her, she didn't consider saying no.

"Thank every star above," Cress had breathed, "that the phone number was yours." And in that moment, Winter hadn't regretted it. Cinder needed her friend, even if, at that moment, that friend wasn't Winter.

Cress stepped out from the hospital room. She looked frazzled, but only moderately so considering it was 3:30 am.

"How is she doing?" Winter asked.

"She woke up again, but she's out now," Cress said. "The doctors said her injuries aren't too serious and that they'll transfer her to a new room in fifteen minutes if things stay the same."

Winter breathed out and smiled. "That's great news."

"I guess I should call Iko again," Cress said, joining Winter in leaning against the wall.

Winter's eyes widened.

"You have Iko's phone number?"

"Yeah. You know Iko?"

"I met her when she was six. She's three years younger, but she was close to Cinder so we were instant friends." Winter smiled at the memory, vowing to ask Cress for Iko's number later. Iko had no reason to forget Winter, so it would be nice to talk to her again.

"I hope this isn't weird to ask," Cress said, "but how do you know Cinder anyway?"

Winter shook her head. "It's a long story. Why don't you call Iko, and then we can get something to eat? You can nap on a couch if you want, and I can wake you up if anything changes."

"Don't you need to sleep too?"

Winter shrugged. "I'm fine, but you look like you haven't slept well for a week."

Cress smiled. "Thank you so much for everything."

"It's no problem. Cinder means a lot to me too." A lump formed in her throat, but she slid away from the wall and pointed down the hall. "Food? It's on me."

The apartment was still sleeping when Iko snuck back in. If she was lucky, no one would notice she'd been driving their car. She'd used a lot of gas, but Adri was probably too tired to tell anything was off.

Iko didn't have a lot of possessions. She fit most of what she needed into her backpack, and she left her school work in a heap on her bed. It was a shame that she was dropping high school senior year, but if she was lucky she could take classes over the summer in NorCal to get the credits she needed to graduate.

That was the only reason she'd been staying in LA—to get her high school diploma. But she'd been feeling distant from her friends more and more, and if she stayed another day in that apartment, she would scream.

She ran back out of the apartment and sat on the front steps. She pulled her jacket tighter and leaned her head against the handrail. She pulled her phone out and looked up the buses that went between LA and SF. There was a big, blue "book now" button.

For thirty dollars and a long ride, she'd be free. Adri wouldn't look for her. Unlike Cinder, she didn't have a job. And she'd never been Adri's from the beginning.