Carter
I stare at Lincoln, the weight of his words sinking in.
He’s avoiding my eyes, staring at the coffee table.
“So you’re saying you did this to me.”
“I really don’t know.” Lincoln looks up. His voice is shaking. “But I’m sorry, CT. You’ll never understand how much I wish
I’d never said anything to you that night.”
“You think I’ve been living this nightmare because you got mad about a stupid joke I made? Did I also punch you or something?”
“No,” Lincoln says. “I know it seems like a small thing, but . . .” He wipes at his eyes, inhales some snot. “You humiliated
me in front of my best friend. And then you . . . You said you wanted to be like this forever.”
I stand up from the couch as anger rises in me like a slowly filling bathtub. “Why didn’t you tell me this earlier? What is
with everybody? You and Maggie and everyone, just fucking burying the lede.”
“I have told you this before, Carter!” Lincoln says, also rising from the couch. “The first time you looped, I couldn’t keep it to
myself anymore, so I told you what had happened. And it . . . It didn’t do anything! It just made you hate me. So I decided
I was going to support you and be there for you and do everything I could to—”
“No,” I say. “I don’t buy that. Do Mom and Dad know about this too? About our fight?”
“I mean . . . Kind of. Not all the details, really.”
“Doesn’t even matter.” I shake my head and stumble off the couch, trying to get away. “I’m surrounded by liars. Thanks for
ruining my life.”
Even as I say it, I realize my own hypocrisy.
I’m the one who said I wanted to be this way forever.
Which means I did this to me.
“CT,” Lincoln says as I barrel up the stairs.
“Enjoy the rest of your fucking internship,” I shout.