I giveit a few hours before I try to call Avery again. She doesn't pick up, which is no surprise. I decide to leave a message, which means I get to hear her voice, soft and sweet, and insidious. I should be hearing that voice in person today.
After the beep, I speak, working to keep my voice level. “Hey, I know you're pissed. You have a right to be. I shouldn’t have allowed that recording to exist. It’s gone now for good. Source file erased. And just so you know, there’s only one camera in the house, it’s in the living room, and it’s been off since the morning after you arrived. Today, I erased everything that was in storage, so there are no recordings of you.Zero.”
I pause, rubbing my thumb over the side of the phone.
“I would never have used that video to hurt you. It was insurance because I thought you might try to hurt me. I know you wouldn’t, not intentionally, but I realized that later.” I shake my head in frustration. “Come on, Ave. Call me back. We’re not leaving things like this, and you know we should talk in private, not in the middle of my dad’s house with both our parents around to overhear us. Let me come get you. We’ll go somewhere to talk. Afterward, if you want to stay in Boston, rather than coming back to my place, I’ll leave you there.”
I start to say something else, but the voice mailbox cuts me off. It’s fine. I’ve said enough.
I end the call and glance at the clock.
She’s probably getting ready to take one of her finals. It’ll be at least a couple of hours before I hear from her. Time to get on with my day. I’ve got my own schoolwork to wrap up.
So I do. All day.
Avery doesn’t call me back until ten at night, which I know means we’re not going out somewhere to talk face-to-face. Still, a live conversation is better than texts. I turn off the television and sit back on the couch.
“Hey,” I say when I answer. “You listened to my message?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
There are a couple beats of silence before she says, “And…that’s all. I listened to what you had to say.” Her tone signals that none of her anger has worn off.
“I’ll come in the morning. Tell me what time.”
She exhales a scoff. “No. No way.”
“Why not?”
“Look…it’s more than just the video, which—I don’t really believe you planned to keep to yourself. You made it portable for a reason, Shane. It could’ve stayed in storage with other files from that camera. That would’ve been plenty of insurance if you really thought I would lie and accuse you of something. Which I also doubt you believed. I think you had it on your phone so you could pull it out to show my mom if she pissed you off. Maybe you intended to show it to someone else, too. Declan or whoever. A lot of guys swap pictures and videos of girls they’ve hooked up with. There was a Beta House scandal last year, right? With a scoreboard or whatever? It’s a common thing.”
I’m not some douchebag frat boy, but I don’t snap back because I don’t want to add fuel to the fight. Instead, I keep my voice low. “I didn’t show it to anyone, and I wasn’t planning to.”
“You made it portable for a reason. Why?”
“I don’t know,” I say honestly. “I didn’t realize we’d been recorded until late on the first night you were here. I tapped the clip to watch it, and a copy downloaded. That’s it. As soon as I realized what that camera caught on video, I went downstairs and unplugged it.”
“I hope that’s true.”
I grind my teeth together. “Are you skeptical? Really? You know me. Do you honestly think I would let someone else watch you like that? Is that at all consistent with how I am when it comes to you? Like I’d be happy to share you? Give me a fucking break,” I say with as mild a tone as I can muster. “I want you to myself. Always have. Which you know.”
“I was shocked and felt sick when I saw that video on your phone. I still am,” she says softly, which is like having a knife thrust into my heart.
“It was a mistake, and I’m sorry.”
“Even if I could forgive you for the video, that’s not the only issue.” Her voice is so soft I almost can’t hear it.
I press my phone’s volume button to raise the sound all the way.
“What else, Avery? Tell me.”
“You’ve got a lot of secrets—the locked room and whatever else. Things I don’t even have a clue about. I can’t be with someone who has so much to hide.”
“Look, there are things—”
“I know! Shane,I know.” She draws in a breath and exhales. When she speaks again, her voice is measured. “I’m sure you keep secrets for a really good reason. But I can’t handle it. I was wrong to break into your phone, but I couldn’t stop myself. It’s better for you, and for me, if this thing between us ends now.”
