Page 101 of Solo

Oh my God. This is so much worse than I thought.

“I—uh—wonder if you know where he is?”

She leans forward across her desk and narrows her pretty green eyes. The snarl isn’t a hint anymore, it’s a full-blown, living, breathing part of her face now.

“I don’t believe that’s any of your concern, Kate. And, even if it were, I can tell you that Dr. Markham has no interest in seeing you.”

“But why?” I ask before I can help myself. “I didn’t do anything!”

“Didn’t you, Kate?” She sneers. “He has money, he has connections, he has a lot of things that a girl like you could use to her advantage. And then, when you’re done with him, how convenient he is to throw in your father’s face. Well played, Kate! Well. Played.”

As she says this last part, she actually starts to applaud.

Horrified, I turn around and run. And run. And Run.

…

Thursday May 4th 7:45 a.m.

K: You know I’d NEVER do anything to hurt you, right?

…

Thursday May 4th 7:47 a.m.

K: Okay, enough of this shit. I’m on my way to your house. Why won’t you answer my calls or texts? You KNOW I could never do this to you, Drew! Don’t you?

…

I can’t get to him fast enough. Every second that ticks by with him believing I’ve betrayed him is a second of suffering I can’t bear for him to have. I run to my car and drive to his house as quickly as I can. When I get there, I ring the bell until he finally comes to the door. But I see immediately that this isn’t right. He isn’t right. His face is hard, his eyes are chillingly vacant.

“Drew…” I begin breathlessly.

“Go home, Miss Brenner,” he says flatly. “I don’t want you here.”

“Please, just listen to me. This isn’t my fault…”

“You’re right, it’s not your fault. It’s mine. I should’ve known better than to trust you in the first place. What were you going to do after you graduated, huh? Once you’d gotten what you wanted from me. Were you just going to disappear? Or did you think you’d just hang around to use me for a while longer, maybe see if you could get a few bucks out of me while you were at it?”

“You can’t possibly believe that I would do that to you,” I whisper.

“Oh, but I do, Miss Brenner.”

“Please stop calling me that. Please. I’m Katherine.”

“What did you think I could do for you, Katherine?”

“Drew…”

I reach out my hand to touch him but he pulls his arm away as if I’m a poisonous snake about to bite him.

“Don’t touch me. Don’t you ever touch me again,” he spits with such acridity that I take half a step back.

“What? What did I do? Just tell me and I’ll make it right!” I say, fighting against the inevitable spiral that I see coming.

“Oh, please. You played me. I know it, you know it, and soon everyone else will know it, too.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!”