My voice cracked again. My words started slurring together between sobs.
“I just..I don’t get it. Why didn’t she tell me? Why didn’t she come clean? If it was really just once, why didn’t she fall at my feet the moment it happened? I would’ve been mad, yeah. I probably would’ve screamed and broken things and ghosted her for a week. But I would’ve come back. I always come back.”
I stared straight ahead at nothing, chest aching like I’d been punched from the inside out.
“I would’ve forgiven her. Because she’s Tasha. And I loved her more than I loved any boy. More than I loved any grade or dress or plan for the future. She was my home.”
Another sob clawed its way up my throat.
As I heard the front door creak open.
And soft footsteps behind me.
I didn’t need to turn around to know who i
