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“No.”
The one word escaped me on a rush of air. I was too upset to even consider the possibility that the three men on the gazebo might have heard me. They couldn’t be telling the truth. Macon was probably just upset because they’d accused him of doing something so low. Even Sissy wouldn’t be selfish enough to cheat with her best friend’s boyfriend.
“You just need to find Sissy. She’ll tell you that it’s all a lie. Itisa lie,” I whispered emphatically to the trees. “Itis.”
I ignored the voice in my head that didn’t quite believe my hushed assurances and peered cautiously around the tree. All three men were walking away from the gazebo, presumably on a mission to ruin the life of the next person on their list. I waited until the coast was clear, and then made my way back to the festival like the hounds of hell were close on my heels.
It took a while, but I finally managed to find someone who knew where Sissy had gone. I prayed that no one else would be in the bathroom, because I was pressure-cooker ready to burst from all the fear and anger building up inside me.
Stopping in front of the bathroom door, I listened for any voices before I pushed the door open with enough force that the sound of the doorknob connecting with the wall echoed throughout the space. Sissy didn’t even flinch, the tube of her signature red lipstick gliding across her lips.
“You slept with Macon?” The accusation burst from the deep, hurt place inside me. The Sutton who had wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt was long gone.
The question made her hesitate, and her eyes connected with mine in the mirror. Then she swiped her upper lip once more before mashing her lips together.
“We didn’t get much sleep.” She puckered her lips while pulling her ponytail tighter. Satisfied, she turned to face me, an unrepentant grin on her face.
“Are you serious?” I shook my head. “You’re making a joke right now. You slept with Cam’s boyfriend? Less than a week after she told you she was in love with him? She is — or was — yourfriend.”
Sissy rolled her eyes, crossing her arms across her chest. “I did her a favor. She’ll thank me later.”
“You did her afavor?” I shouted, dimly aware of the sounds of the festival floating through the open window. “By cheating with her boyfriend. You can’t really believe that!”
“Ididn’t cheat on anyone. I’m single as they come.He’sthe cheater here, and it’s better that Cam found out now instead of down the road when she’s got two kids and a mortgage.”
“Yes, you are! You’re just as much a cheater as he is, because you knew,you knew, that he had a girlfriend, and you did it anyway!”
“Oh, grow up, Sutton!” She dropped her arms, taking a step my way. “You’re not upset about what I did or didn’t do toCam. You’re upset that Macon turned out to be just as big a sack of shit as the rest of the men in this town — hell, probably the whole goddamn world. You think I don’t know you cried into your pillow all night when you heard that he was dating Cam and it was getting serious?Youshould thank me too. I just saved you from spending another ten years crying over a man who’s never going to want you.”
“This isn’t about me!” I interrupted, ignoring the heat infusing my face and the bone-deep hurt of her words. I let the truth of them fuel my anger. “This is about you, your actions! You don’t get to make this about anyone else, and you sure as shit don’t get to make yourself out to be some kind of hero.”
She took a menacing step toward me, lifting her hand to point one perfectly manicured finger at me.
“You are so fucking naïve. I saw something I wanted, and I took it. Do you think the world is just going to magically grant your wishes? No, you have to make it happen. Things are never going to just fall in your lap, no matter how many fucking stars you wish on. If you want something in life, you have totake it.”
I shoved her finger out my face.
“We’re not talking about things. These are people. People whose feelings you’re going to hurt, badly.”
“You can cast me as the villain in whatever made-up world you live in if it makes you feel better, but the truth is that you hate me because I got what you want. You don’t give a shit about Cam and her feelings.”
“If you knew about...” I hesitated before continuing, “my feelings for Macon, then that makes what you did even worse. How could you be so selfish and cruel?”
“Oh, please, quit with the Saint Sutton act. If you had the chance to have sex with Macon St. James, you would have grabbed it with both hands, Cam be damned.” She smirked, her eyes glinting with a hardness someone her age shouldn’t have. “But we both know that you’ll never have the chance. Macon hardly even knows you exist, and — ” her gaze drifted from my Converse-clad feet to the braid wrapped around my crown, and she sneered “ — who can blame him?”
My heart cracked a little more at the ease with which she used my insecurities to wound me.
“Why?” I asked, my voice a hoarse, sad thing. I felt the first fat tear escape and roll down my cheek, and I hated myself for showing weakness in front of her. “Why did you do it?”
She leaned in like she was about to share a secret that she didn’t want overheard, so close I had to tip my head up to meet her eyes.
“Because I could.”
With that parting shot, she straightened and brushed past me. I heard the door open and close, allowing the sounds of the festival to drift in. People were laughing and carrying on like my whole world hadn’t just been ripped to shreds
1
Present Day Ten Years Later
