Page 86 of Apparently, I’m Torture

I pawed at Mia as we passed a trash can.

“Wait.”

Gripping the edge of it, I let everything out.

Friday Afternoon

Lilly’s Apartment

Lilly

Technically, Shawn didn’t fire me. He didn’t have to.

I was home, in my pajamas, lying in the same bed I was in only a handful of hours ago, while having the most explosive night of my life. I hugged my pillow tight; the scent of Shawn’s woodsy-coffee musk was still there, and it made my eyes water.

I was still young. I knew that. My life wasn’t actually over. I could pick up and start something new. Maybe even go somewhere new. I knew that, too. But it was the thought of losing my last link to my mother; that’s what made this unbearable. I’d already lost so much.

I lost my father to another family, my mother to cancer, and… I had a good life with Uncle Henry. I did. Without him, I’d never have started working at the coffee shop with Tristan and Nikki. And without their support, I probably wouldn’t have made it through school to become a teacher.

Thanks to their help, I could finally step into my mom’s shoes and feel what she felt. And all that happened despite what Stacey and Trevor put me through. But now, because of them, I was going to lose everything that mattered most to me.

Stacey tried to deny it, but as soon as the word ‘forgery’ slipped from her lips, it was obvious that she helped Trevor.

But why did she do it? What was in this for her? Did she still hate me that much?

Wiping my tears on my arm, I spared a thought for Shawn as I let go of the pillow and gripped the notebook I left by my bedside.

He was still at the fundraiser, still trying to put out the raging inferno my dismissal caused. My heart ached over how he stood there in his office, faced with Stacey and her demands, and refused to fire me.

But I couldn’t bring him down with me. For once, Stacey and I agreed on something. The fundraiser had to come first. Too many students depended on the money he’d pour into their schools.

I flipped my book open and started writing. I needed to sort my thoughts. Stacey and Trevor were trying to ruin my career. Why?

1. Years ago, my grades were slipping, and Stacey manipulated me into dating her cousin. In return, I could keep my spot in Kappa Delta.

2. Trevor and I broke up after we started working at South Bronx, and I heard nothing from Stacey since.

3. The moment Trevor had a position of power over me, he threatened my job and put me in a situation where I’d have to work with Shawn… and Stacey.

A wave of realization slapped me, cold, wet and hard. I almost reeled off of my bed as I jerked back and stared at my white walls.

It wasn’t Shawn who Trevor sent me to with the hope that I’d fail. When he sent me to this fundraiser, he sent me to Stacey.

The entire past six weeks of my life shifted and reframed; they planned this from the beginning.

Trevor pushed me into the waiting arms of his cousin, where she could tamper with my computer and give him the access he needed so he could ruin everything for me.

But why? Why would she do that? What did she gain by helping Trevor?

My body was aching, and I rubbed my chest, as if that could ease some of the pressure, when my phone rang.

I picked it up, expecting Shawn or Mia. Maybe even Nikki.

What I did not expect was for Trevor’s fucking-asshole-bastard-scumbag name to flash across my screen.

“You fucking asshole.”

“Woah, easy there, Lilly. What’s going on? How are things at the fundraiser?”