He chuckled. “I have always recognized that she doesn’t live in the real world. She’s a pathological liar, and although I know it’s a defense mechanism, I figured out I couldn’t trust her back when all that shit went down with her dad.”
We’d had a pretty nasty fight about it in sixth grade. We’d worked things out, but the drama with Madison wasn’t totally over... ever.
“So, her dad wasn’t hitting her?” I asked.
“Oh, yeah, he was. He was also a porn dealer.”
“What?” I whispered.
Flash sighed. “He made dirty movies and I think he might have been grooming her to eventually be his star, but that’s all shit I figured out later. When we were twelve, I had no idea she was manipulating me into doing more than I should have been. I was lucky my dad got wise and stepped in. I didn’t know shit at that age and Madison exploited that.”
“She was also twelve,” I pointed out.
“Yeah,” he said with a sigh. “And she was too young to know what she knew.”
“You think?”
“Yeah, I do. That doesn’t excuse the fact she was a total cunt to you, Tate, but she didn’t know any better.”
I wrinkled my nose. “You’re so gracious.”
“Not gracious enough to put up with her shit, Tate. Don’t saint me just yet.”
“Can we back up to the part about her being a cunt to me? How did you know about that?”
We’d all been at a middle school party and Madison had asked if I could help her with something, luring me into the pantry and locking me in. I was stuck in a dark, dank closet for what felt like hours while I heard laughing on the other side.
“She told me. Well, sort of.”
I gasped. “What? Really?”
“A little pissedyoudidn’t tell me, but we’re moving forward, so I’ll let that go for the moment.”
“You’re getting sidetracked,” I admonished. “What did Madison tell you?”
“She told me the door was stuck and you’d gone in there to wait for Mark Rivera for your seven minutes in heaven.”
“I absolutely did not.” My blood ran cold. “Oh my god, Flash, did you actually believe her?”
“Of course not. She told me she had to get a screwdriver to unscrew the door.”
“You can’t unscrew a door,” I scoffed.
He chuckled. “No shit. That was the moment I cut all ties with her. At least, as far as jumping when she told me to.”
“Seriously?” I squeaked.
“Yeah, baby. It’s always been you. No one was ever going to treat you like shit on my watch. Probably why she pulled that stunt the night of the graduation party.”
He looked sincere.
No. Nope, he had to be lying.
I dropped my head, but Flash squeezed my hand. “Tater Tot.”
“Don’t.”
He stepped closer to me. “Talk to me, Tate. I want to make this right.”
