ke as she ans
t let loose, every quiet disaster. She lifts the phone to her ear. The screen fades to black as the call connects, right as the world
ri
She knows i
ll, ho
als and betrayals, before endings that were planned out in cold, careful st
roat t
et out a wo
-doesn't fit with everything awful that's happened the last few
are yo
collapses. She has to choke it down, push it
it's clear. He's measuring her, liste
ter now-tender in a way that almost sounds re
ghter and Jayson in the middle of it all, hand at the s
s burst
right.
s space between parties and hospital rooms, something inside h
e?" Her voice is ba
y crack something open. They mean m
t answer
she's sure he knows. Or maybe he doesn't. Maybe the noise on his end d
the phon
en as she says it,
tracted. "I'm at a thing. W
s if it's harmless. As if p
hind her eyelids isn't any kinder
w. Her composure, whatever was left
his end creeps closer: music, laughing, talki
," he say
makes it. No apology.
arp ache beneath the wei
ice sp
dyi
een them. He hesitates, and she wonders if the call just droppe
arts, her name s
elieve he'll soften. Maybe he'll c
h
ruin my
asual.
ence. The li
or a moment she waits, as if something else might
th
is her reflection, pale and warped by the glass, blinking aga
tands
deep, not stead
houts, the party keeps rolling like nothing happened. Like her life
p on the phone. The
never missed her, sees Jayson easily trading in her me
eels blurry
ll the pain put together. It's not relief. It's
calls
else to
he just empties out, like the
r ground. The laughter and light fade as she slips into
s keep coming, ruthles
le bit-her body tips. Unsteady was already her default. Now it
She hits the groun
sound. She doesn't
almost comforting-at least it's r
nce Jayson turned his back, since her
ng up. N
ne searching for so
ky bursts again-
side the darknes
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