Page 165 of Suite 7

And she did it anyway.

But here’s the thing I keep coming back to, the thing I can’t argue myself out of: I don’t want to lose Vera the way I lost Sidney.

And I don’t want to lose Kane.

So what do I want?

I want them to acknowledge how badly they hurt me. I want to know if this is real or if I’m going to watch them implode in three months and have to pick up the pieces of both of them.

I want my brother and my best friend back.

But I want them to earn it.

Wednesday, seven fourteen PM

* * *

I’m going through old photos on my phone. Torturing myself, probably. But I can’t stop.

There’s one from last month. Kane and I at coffee. He’s making a face at something I said. I’m mid-laugh. I zoom in on his face, looking for signs I missed — distraction, guilt, thinking about her. Just my brother, drinking coffee, making stupid faces like always. I remember he seemed tired that morning. Said he had a lot on his mind with work. I took it at face value. I always took everything at face value.

I set the phone down. Close my eyes. Two more days until Friday.

Wednesday, nine eleven PM

* * *

My mother calls.

I consider letting it go to voicemail, but she’ll keep calling. And if I ignore her too many times, she’ll drive up.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Sloane! Finally. I’ve been trying to reach you since Monday.” Then, immediately: “What’s wrong? You sound terrible.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine. I’m your mother. What happened?”

I close my eyes. “Kane and Vera are together.”

Silence.

A longer silence than I expected.

Then: “Kane and Vera?”

“Yes.”

“Your Vera?”

“Yes, Mom. That Vera.”

I can hear her processing. “How long?”

“Six weeks.”

“Six weeks.” The temperature drops about ten degrees. “And neither of them told you.”