"Not here, though. Meet me at the K-Mart after school."
"Is it okay if I bring the founders?"
Sarah looked at me.
"No."
That was all she said.
So after school, I met her at the K-Mart.
Or at least, that was the plan.
The second I got there, she made me walk with her to a café nearby instead. I questioned it in my head, but didn't think it was worth asking about.
We went into a little café right by the K-Mart. Sarah ordered a shake. I got nothing.
Mostly because I had no money.
So Sarah ordered one for me too.
How kind.
I hadn't expected that. I would've thought she'd be colder about this, especially since she was about to talk about her past with Elaine.
But somehow, she was still herself.
After we got our drinks and sat down, she finally started talking.
———————————————————————
Back in first grade, Elaine and I had our fight over the factory.
That fight eventually caused the factory to become exposed to the public and grow into what it is today.
After the argument, Elaine ran off. Sarah and Liam ran after her.
The thing that initially triggered it was me saying:
"You're not part of our group."
That was what made Elaine run off so angry.
She ran all the way home, and Sarah, still being her friend at the time, chased after her. At some point during the run, Sarah told Liam she would handle it herself.
Not like that damn snitch would've been able to help anyway.
"I'm not sure if you remember," Sarah said, "but when we struggled on that project before we went to the factory, we stopped at Leo's house first. When we were deciding whose house to go to, Elaine said her family didn't allow boys over."
"I remember like it was yesterday."
Sarah gave me a weird look at that, but continued.
"She was lying."
"Hm?"
"Her parents were abusive."
I stared at her.
"What?"
"Elaine had a dark background," Sarah said. "Her family was abusive. That's why she usually dressed in undershirts and wore lots of layers."
I remembered her wearing long skirts and long sleeves back then.
Then I remembered Memory B.
She was wearing a T-shirt and pants in the parking lot. On the skin I could see, there weren't any obvious bruises or anything.
"That still doesn't explain where she is now," I said, "or what happened between you two."
"I'm getting to it."
"When we got to her house, her parents were already waiting for her. I didn't know they were abusive at the time. It was the first time I'd ever seen them, and they were furious. I tried to say hi, but they immediately told me to get out," Sarah said. "I did what they said, but I was confused. They were way too angry for something that looked so small, so after I left, I went back and looked through one of the windows."
"You looked through the window?"
"Yes," Sarah said flatly. "I was worried about her."
Then she explained what she saw.
Elaine's dad was standing there, already yelling the second Elaine got inside.
"Elaine! We told you to be home instantly today! And you're fifteen minutes late!?"
"S-sorry, Dad, I w—"
Slap.
Sarah said the sound was loud enough that she almost flinched even from outside.
"Shut up. I don't want to hear your sorry excuses! You made us wait fifteen whole minutes! Did you at least get what I asked you to!?"
Sarah couldn't see Elaine very clearly from where she was standing, only the parents.
But she said she could tell from their faces that Elaine didn't have whatever they wanted.
Elaine didn't even get a full sentence out before she was hit again.
And again.
Sarah didn't think they were hitting her in the face. More likely the back or shoulders. Places easier to hide.
Then Elaine's dad said,
"Honey. Get me my belt."
Her mom hesitated.
"Sammy, honey... I don't think—"
"I don't give a shit what you think! Get me my fucking belt!"
"S-sorry... here..."
Then the mom started looking around nervously, like she knew exactly how bad this was.
She did.
But before she could fully calm herself down, she caught sight of Sarah at the window.
"Hey, Sam... that girl's still here."
"What!?"
"She's watching us from outside the window..."
"Fuck! Is this your doing, ELAINE!?"
"N-no, Da—"
This time the hit was with the belt.
Sarah said it was far louder than the others.
Then she ran.
"Hey! Get back here!"
It was Elaine's mom chasing after her.
So Sarah screamed.
"SOMEONE HELP!"
Damn.
Way to go, Sarah.
It worked, though. Elaine's mom backed off immediately, probably scared someone would actually hear.
Sarah ran all the way home.
Then she told her parents everything she'd seen.
They took it seriously.
Very seriously.
They called the cops themselves and even drove over there too.
By the time they got there, the police had already stormed the house.
I stared at her.
"How had I never heard any of this?"
Sarah gave me a tired look.
"Wow. You really don't know anything outside of that factory of yours."
Then she shrugged.
"Well, actually, a lot of people probably don't know. This town is a little corrupt, you could say."
"They love covering things up. Making it seem like the perfect place to stay."
That tracked.
Same thing happened with Josh's violation.
"Elaine's dad was charged with second-degree assault," Sarah said. "He got eight years."
I did the math in my head.
So he still had two or three years left.
"What about her mom?"
"She got charged with a misdemeanor. She never actually hit Elaine, and even her dad backed that up," Sarah said. "Only eighteen months."
"And what happened with Elaine?"
Sarah didn't answer right away.
Then:
"Foster care."
That caught me completely off guard.
"She got moved around a couple times. Different houses. Different people. Nothing stable."
"What the hell? She never told anyone?"
"She didn't want anyone to know," Sarah replied. "And you were so busy dealing with the factory that I doubt you ever stopped to really look at her. She changed, and you didn't even notice."
That one stung a little.
"In third grade, she finally came back," Sarah continued. "She was with her mom again. Some distant relative took care of her for a while too, I think, but by third grade, she was back around."
"But she wasn't the same."
"How?"
"She was different. Less arrogant. Quieter. More careful."
Sarah paused.
"But way more stubborn."
"And that's what made you stop talking?"
"No."
She shook her head.
"Not yet."
I stayed quiet.
"She went back to the factory."
"What?"
"It was some random day when all the founders were gone," Sarah said. "We went in, and some kids we didn't know let us hang around. Because the conflict only really mattered to the founders at the time, nobody else knew or cared who we were."
I frowned.
"She thought she could fix it."
"Fix it? Back then we didn't have any of the problems we do now."
Sarah looked at me.
"It didn't look like a problem yet."
That shut me up.
"It seemed like a nice place to play," she continued. "But she already thought it would get worse. She thought if she stayed involved somehow, she could stop people from getting hurt. Like she could control it."
"But the factory already had leaders. Us."
"No one would listen to her," Sarah said. "She was wrong."
That sounded way too much like Elaine in Memory B.
Running toward danger.
Not away from it.
Trying to stop something.
Trying to stop someone.
"So what happened between you two?" I asked.
Sarah was quiet for a few seconds before answering.
"I told her she should stay away from the factory."
I didn't interrupt.
"That was the first time I started thinking the factory itself might be the problem," Sarah said. "That as long as it existed, people would keep fighting over it."
"She didn't listen."
"Like I said," Sarah muttered, "stubborn. Nothing would sway her."
Then Sarah went quiet again.
For longer this time.
Finally, she said:
"She chose it."
"What?"
"She chose the factory over me."
The words came out flat, but they carried way more than anger.
There was hurt in them.
Old hurt.
"I gave her a choice," Sarah said. "Walk away from it and stay with me. Or keep getting dragged into it and potentially get hurt again."
"And Elaine stayed."
Sarah nodded once.
That was it.
That was where they split.
That was where they stopped being friends.