There’s a pause
“I don’t like that she thought she had a chance with you.”
The words sound smaller out loud. More vulnerable.
Ben’s expression softens immediately.
“She didn’t.”
“But she thought she did!” I snap, finally looking back at him. “She looked at me and decided I didn’t matter. Like eventually you’d get bored enough to want that instead.”
His face actually hardens slightly at that.
“Nell—”
“No, because you don’t understand,” I say shakily, emotion catching in my throat now that the anger is starting to crack. “Girls like her don’t even see girls like me. They never have. And tonight she looked right through me like I wasn’t even there.”
The car falls quiet.
I can feel Etti pacing restlessly beneath my skin.
“I know I’m being ridiculous,” I whisper, staring down at my h
