Page 45
She spun. Glared at me—eyes sharp, hurt bleeding through every line of her face.
“What do youwant?”
“To talk to you. To—”
Fuck.
“I don’t know. Explain a few things.”
She swallowed, nodding once, like she’d just made a decision that cost her a piece of herself.
“You want to explain?”
“Yes. I feel like… like you don’t understand some things.”
“You’re right, K. I don’t understand.”
Her voice cracked, just once.
“I don’t understand how the boy I used to look for every day—the boy who was my friend, mybestfriend—could leave. Could just… discard me. Like I was nothing. Can you explain that?”
“My leaving had nothing to do with you, Seph. I had things I needed to do.”
She laughed again and shook her head. “Now that, I knew.”
“Seph—”
“Sable is dead.”
The words hit like a punch to the chest.
My world tilted.
I stepped back without meaning to.
She nodded, like she’d expected that reaction. Like she’d rehearsed it.
“What happened to her?” The words scraped out of my throat.
“They said I killed her.”
“What? Who said that?When?” I demanded.
She forced a small smile—thin, joyless, devastating.
It broke something in me.
“It doesn’t matter who said it. Itwasmy fault. I didn’t mean to…”
She looked away, voice barely a breath.
“So you don’t have to talk to me,” she whispered.
“You don’t have to pretend anymore.”
“You don’t have to feel sorry for me.”
A beat.
