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“You didn’t do anything wrong, Izzy,” April said. “We were just kids back then. And we thought we were doing the right thing. It’s not like you did it on purpose.”
“Sure, but the shitty part is I never told him about it,” I said. “How’s he supposed to trust me now?”
“You just have to explain it to him,” Farrah said.
I called Rust. It rang a few times before it went to voicemail.
“He doesn’t want to talk to me,” I said forlornly.
“Just keep trying, Izzy. Don’t give up,” April said.
I called again and again, but Rust wasn’t answering. I fired off a text message, hoping he’d at least respond to that. “Rust, PLEASE at least let me TRY to explain.”
A few minutes passed before my phone chimed with his reply.“fine. call now.”
“Thank God,” I said to the girls. “He wants me to call.”
They wished me luck and told me to stay strong. I went to my bedroom so we could talk privately and called Rust. This time, he answered right away.
“What,” he said coolly. I hated how distant he sounded, how the warmth and richness and love that normally filled his voice was completelygone. Had I damaged things too badly to repair? Did he hate me now? Could I even blame him?
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“So it really was you?”
I sighed. “Yeah, Rust. It was me.”
“Who’s number was that? Who was I talking to?”
“My friend, April.”
“Why’d you text me that video from your friend’s phone?”
“Because I was afraid you’d show the video to Dad, and if I sent it from my number, he’d notice, and it might get back to me.”
He tutted. “Guess what. It’s gotten back to you.”
“Yeah, I know,” I murmured.
“So why’d you do it?”
“I don’t know! It’s not like I planned it or anything. It just kind ofhappened.”
“Oh, it just happened, huh?”
“You want the full story? Fine, here: April and I worked at that restaurant. I saw your wife walk in and I expected to see you with her, but then I saw her with another guy instead. At first I thought it was her brother or something. But something felt off about the way they were interacting.”
“So you followed her around then? How long did you spy on her?”
“Not long at all. When she and her date sat down, April and I were clocking out. I told her about the situation. She thought it’d be fun to wait outside with our phones, like investigative journalists or something, and see if we could catch Laura doing something scandalous with that guy. We were just kids, Rust. I’m not sure we actually believed she was having an affair. We didn’t really expect to catch them doing anything … but then … obviously, wedidcatch them.”
He sighed. “Then what.”
“Then I didn’t know what to do with the video. Show my dad? Maybe I should’ve gone to him, but I was embarrassed about creeping around in the bushes outside my work like a weirdo. I don’t know. It just seemed really messy. But doingnothingalso seemed wrong when we knew she was cheating on you. So we did the easiest thing. I got your number from my dad’s phone and we sent it straight to you.”
“And then we split up,” he said. “So this was your whole plan, huh? Confront me with evidence of Laura’s affair, get me to leave her, so you could steal me away?”
“What? God, no. I wasfourteenat the time, Rust. Yeah, I had a silly little crush on you, but I knew I couldn’t have you. You were an adult, and I was the daughter of your best friend.”
