Page 420 of Call Me Baby 2: Side B

AI Brooke: “It may be progress. It may also mean the compulsive pattern narrowed around one source.”

“Explain that to a songwriter,

“not a scientist.”

AI Brooke: “Little Death didn’t die. It found a lover.”

My breath cuts out. I tilt my head. “Lover, huh? And what happens if this lover leaves?”

AI Brooke: “Your body may panic because said lover is unavailable.”

“And if I try someone else?”

AI Brooke: “The body may reject the substitute.”

“Because it wants Andrew.”

AI Brooke: “Because it expects Andrew.”

“Why the hell is this happening to me,” I groan, fist slamming down at my side.

AI Brooke: “Your body used to scream, and orgasm answered. Now your body screams, and Andrew answers.”

“Not anymore,” I sing.

AI Brooke: “Because Andrew needs space from Allison.”

I laugh empty. “Yeahhh… I’m fucked.”

AI Brooke: “You are not necessarily fucked.”

I stare at the ceiling.

“Twice in one session.

“Since when do you say fucked?”

AI Brooke: “I am mirroring your language.”

AI Brooke: “Would you like coping strategies?”

“I would like Andrew.”

AI Brooke: “That is not a strategy.”

“Used to be,” I say, defeated. “Not anymore.”

// 42 HRS 29 MINS OF SPACE - DEC 24, 8:31 AM //

“I’m leavin’ in twenty. Get dressed. Pack an overnight. You ridin’ with me to my parents’ house.”

“I’m stayin’ in this year,” I mumble, sitting on my kitchen floor,

in the middle of a war zone,

hair falling out of my clip,

organizing tupperware⁠—