“I’m not trying towin.” My voice is cold, dry. It doesn’t even sound like mine. “I’m fighting because someone has to. Or else she’ll never stop. We arenotin this together with her.”
Dani presses her lips together. There’s something real in her face now—something sad that wasn’t there before. “I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re not. Ralston should’ve protected me, but instead she became the villain. There were girls before me who should’ve stopped her, andtheydidn’t. And then I didn’t protect the girls who came after me. I didn’t protectyou. Sometimes the women who should protect you are the first to turn away, but that won’t be me. You think she’s fighting for you, but that’s me, Dani. I’m fighting for you. And I won’t stop.”
“I don’t need you to fight for me,” she says, brows drawn together. “Don’t you get that?” Glancing down at her hands, she laces her fingers together. “I need this. I need her. I need what she gives me. The doors she opens.”
“And what about when they slam shut?”
“Then my time will be up, and I’ll accept that.”
A bitter weight settles in my chest, against my ribcage. “I remember how powerful it feels to stand next to her. Sometimes, it’s still intoxicating. Sometimes, I still miss it. But, Dani, look at me. It’s not real. Don’t you get that? She’ll use you until you start to shine too brightly. To believe in yourself too much. She can’t have that. She needs us broken. Quiet. The second you step out of line, she’ll cut your light off at the source.”
Still, she says nothing. I’m not getting through. My voice will never be enough.
I exhale, then turn and leave her behind. She can stay there in her imaginary safe zone, fearing this cautionary tale. I’m not going to keep waiting for her.
I walk out of the shadows of our alcove, fully stepping into the villain storyline they’ve given me. As I go, I take the attention with me like a lit match, drawing every eye, burning up the oxygen until there’s no air left in the room.
I have to be bigger, louder. And that’s exactly what I’ll do. No more waiting.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
When I make it back to the dorm, the room is too still. I step inside and shut the door, looking around, my skin crawling with the wrongness of the air.
It’s quiet. Painfully so. It takes me a moment to realize the fan is off. I’m nearly positive I left it on.
Goose bumps line my skin. My heart picks up speed as I scan the small space, the key still in my hand.
Something catches my eye.
My head goes fuzzy, vision pixelating.
What the…
Under my bed, I spot a silver triangle. I take a slow, deliberate breath, processing the impossible.
I’m staring at the corner of my laptop.
I rush forward, head spinning, and pull it out. Open it.
The screen flashes, then comes to life. My wallpaper is there.
My documents.
The AR—TRUTH folder.
I scan it all a million times, searching for what must be different. Searching for what she must’ve changed or deleted.
But, no…everything is the same. Nothing has been altered in any way.
More than an hour goes by, and I’m still searching in disbelief, my reality shaken. Is it possible I imagined the missing laptop? That in my exhaustion, I just forgot to check under the bed? I’m almost positive I did, but maybe…
Maybe, I…
The screen glitches, goes black, but returns almost at once. I shake my head, rubbing my eyes.
I’m seeing things.
