Slowly, she takes a step back, gesturing for me to follow her, as if I need permission to enter my own dorm. Still, I follow, though I don’t budge to get out of her way when she reaches to shut the door.
She moves around me without a word, unfazed by my simple act of defiance. Once we’re closed in, I start to feel dizzy. Nauseous.
“You can sit if you’d like,” she says.
“I don’t need your permission.” I don’t move, though I know she hopes I will. It would be all too reminiscent of those days in the classroom, wouldn’t it?
She gives an acquiescing nod. “Well, I suppose you know why I’m here.”
“To steal something else?”
She lets out a small breath, and I glower at her. “Not today. You’ve done something remarkable, it seems.”
I never expected to have long with the power of the website before Ralston discovered it, but I’d hoped to at least make it until noon.
She takes a small step toward me, and I jerk away. “Stay back.”
“No need for volatility.” She lets out a low laugh, as if it’s all a joke. As ifI’ma joke. “You created something powerful today, Lila. I mean it. You inspired people. You inspiredme. And while,I have to admit, I’d have preferred my name be kept out of it, I admire what you’re doing.”
I stare at her in disbelief. Her tone isn’t mocking or angry. It’s measured. Warm, even.
Toxic too, probably, like freshly baked chocolate-chip-and-chlorine cookies.
I will never pretend to understand her game. “You’re right. I did do something powerful. And because of it, I woke up to voices. Stories. Hundreds of them now. Each one beautiful and devastating. All along, I felt alone because that’s what you wanted. You wanted us all to feel like we were screaming into the void. But now we’re screaming together. And we’ll keep screaming until you’re gone from this place for good.”
She nods and gives me a flick of her wrist, like she’s ready for me to wrap it up because she’s heard all of this before. “You’ve made me the villain in your mind, and that’s fair, but you seem to have forgotten that I know how brilliant you are. You always conveniently leave out that it wasIwho first told you your work has merit. Or have you actually forgotten? I helped you. I gave you every opportunity, and you squandered it. And now you blame me, as if you’re a petulant toddler.”
Her words slam into me, but she doesn’t seem to feel the anger in them. She stands tall and calm, as unbothered as if we were discussing coffee orders.
“We never had to be enemies. I rooted for you. I gave you the microphone. The space. All of it was yours, and you still turned your back on me. And now you’re using everything I gave you to try to tear down what I’ve built. And what I builtalone. I never had the help I so freely gave to you.”
The muscles in my chest go tight, making it hard to catch my breath. “Everythingyou gave me? Are you serious? What did you give me? You stole from me. My work. My voice. You gave me nothing.”
Her mouth quirks, amused. “Oh, sweetheart. You know that’s not true.”
“You know what you did,” I snarl. “And now, so does everyone else.”
Something dark flashes behind her eyes, and the corners of her mouth tug down, smile disappearing. “You’re angry. I see that. But I’m not wrong, Lila. We both know what happened back then. We both know that I taught you, tried to help you, and then you accused me of stealing your words. Just like you accused Dani, a young woman who had never met you. Confidence is key, my darling, butself-importance? Now that is a nasty trait. How many other works would you like to take credit for?”
I scoff, staring at her in disbelief. “How can you just stand there and lie to my face? You know what you did. I have proof. I have—” I cut myself off, trying to calm down. She wants me to get angry, to yell. That’s how she’ll convince them all I’m crazy. “I’d like you to leave. Please.”
She’s still and stony, then lifts a single hand, twitches a finger as if to say,Just one more thing. The movement is graceful, practiced, and powerful.
“Whatever ill will you hold against me, please know I have none against you. I always meant for you to lead. I thought you’d be the heir to all the work I’ve done. The platform I’ve built. When you turned that down, I continued. Because that’s what I do. I nurture. I mentor. If some people misconstrue my kindness for malice, it is none of my business.”
“The heir,” I echo, my upper lip curled in disgust. The sad part is, I think she actually believes what she’s saying. “I was never your heir. I was your project. We were all just patches in a quilt you’re sewing to show off someday—who cares which story actually belongs to which patch. Once you’ve stuck us with your needle, it all belongs to you.”
Her lips pinch together. “Oh, Lila, this has always been your problem. You paint everything in black and white. You accuse me of stealing, of lying, but you choose to exclude the nuance. When two people are working so closely together, as you and I were, you have to know the synergy, the brain matter will start to collide. That we would—and did—reach a point where neither of us knows which idea came from where or who spoke aloud the synchronized thought we shared. You speak of mycorruptionas if I’m this mythical dragon, leaving a trail of ash in my wake. But you must acknowledge the complexity of our situation. Our relationship. When you spend your days in an intellectual capacity, having conversation after conversation with brilliant minds, it often becomes difficult to discern original thoughts. Yet you won’t give me the benefit of the doubt no matter what I’ve done to selflessly prop you up.” She blinks slowly, weighing her thoughts. I can see the wheels turning as her eyes dance between mine. “I understand power because I’ve forged it on my own. Youbelieveyou understand power because you’ve felt it burn your fingers. We are not the same.”
“I don’t need to understand power to know you stole my ideas. Word for word. And more than once. You can twist the truth however you need to in your head, but the stories online are all too similar. You have a pattern, Althea. And it seems as if it’s finally caught up with you.”
A muscle in her jaw twitches, chin trembling, eyes burning holes into my skin. I’ve shaken her, if only for a second. Moments later, she’s pure stone again. “For all we know, you’re the only one posting those little fan fictions online. It’s all anonymous, fictional drivel meant to inspire the internet’s favorite pastime—bringing down brilliant, powerful women.” She stares at me, her lips a hard line. “I trained you. I shaped you. I brought you with me behind the curtain to see the framework we were never meant to see.”
“And then you shattered me the moment I let myself trust you.” My chest burns with the vulnerable truth of it all.
She doesn’t respond right away, just heaves a deep breath. A long silence stretches between us, and I’m once again reminded of the phone still vibrating steadily in my pocket. Her eyes flick down, hearing the sound, and my chest swells with pride. It’s a reminder of what I’m doing and why.
“You won’t win this time,” I vow. “It’s too big.”
