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She should be.
“That’s right,” I say. “I was always the best at hide and seek. Remember? Your mom didn’t even change her maiden name. It’s like you weren’t even trying. Did you want me to catch you, like you did in when we played in your house back home? You wanted me to find you, didn’t you?”
I wheel on her, demanding an answer, but she just shakes her head in silence.
I open my fingers and drop the crumpled picture at my feet. “I found you, found out who you were staying with. But that wasn’t enough. So then I found the neighbors. I started researching them, and I found out one of them was single. So I sent some pictures of my mom, set up a dating profile for her when I got back from one of our stints in foster care. She hasn’t been the same since Dad died, but she went along. She’s pretty out of it, if you want the truth. When Mr. Montgomery learned she lived in Savannah, he was only too happy to come visit. Your uncle had talked to them about Savannah a lot, it turns out. The old frog really liked the place. Your neighbors had never been, but they were interested. They just needed a little something to tip the scales, convince them it was worth it.”
“You catfished my neighbor?” Gloria asks.
“You could call it that,” I say. “Or you could call it matchmaking. Guess I’m a modern-day Cupid. I slipped through your window, after all.”
She glances at the window in question, where a tree made it almost too easy to sneak in. While she’s distracted, I look down at the frame in my hand, and rage billows inside me. Hidden behind the picture of her shiny happy family is one of Gloria on the arm of some oversized ‘roid-head in a tux. She’s wearing a blue gown, a crown resting in her blonde updo.
I stare at it, my blood turning to acid in my veins.
“Who the fuck is this?” I grit out.
“It’s no one,” she says, finally stepping forward. “It’s just a guy I went to prom with. We’re not together. That’s why I covered the picture.”
“Why didn’t you get rid of it?” I ask, narrowing my eyes at her and holding the frame away when she reaches for it.
“I don’t know,” she says. “It’s a prom picture. People keep those forever. It’s not a big deal.”
“A picture of you with another guy, a picture you’re going to keep forever, is not a big deal?”
“It’s not,” she says, drawing herself up. “It’s been three years since we were together, Rylan. Did you really think I’d never date anyone else? It’s not like… He replaced you.” She finishes the sentence haltingly, her voice weak and the guilt in her eyes telling a truth that her lying lips don’t.
“Didn’t he?” I snarl, ripping the picture from the frame, expecting to see a picture of us behind it. But there’s nothing, just the cardboard backing. I tear the picture into tiny pieces and hurl them to the floor.
“Rylan, don’t,” she cries.
“Did you fuck him?” I demand.
“What?”
“Yourboyfriend?”
“He wasn’t my boyfriend,” she says. “We never dated. We just hung out because we were in the same group at school. And—and I told him all about you. I cried about how much I missed you. He never liked me that way, I swear. He just took me to prom because… I don’t know, it’s expected, and I campaigned for queen because it looks good on college applications to win stuff like that, especially when you need a cheer scholarship…”
“Did you fuck him?” I ask flatly.
“What?” she repeats, her sapphire eyes rounding.
“You said he didn’t like you. Did you like him? Did you love him the way you loved me?”
“No,” she cries, tears shining in her wide eyes. “You were my first love, Rylan. I just… I never thought I’d see you again.”
“You promised you’d meet me the next day,” I say. “You promised you’d come to our spot.”
“I tried,” she cries, a tear spilling down her cheek. “I did, Rylan, but Mom said no. They took everything, and then we had to find a place to stay. We were reeling. I was in shock. It all happened so fast, with no warning…”
“I would have been there for you.”
“I’m sorry,” she says, swiping away a tear. “I wanted to meet you, but Mom wouldn’t let us, and we had to go before…”
“Before people came after you for what you did,” I say, my voice hard. “People like my family. People whose lives you destroyed.”
She nods, sniffing and wiping away another tear. “I was ashamed.”
