Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 50770 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50770 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
Quinn suddenly grabs her by the wrist, I didn’t even see him walk in, I mean I heard the door but I was so immersed in what she was saying that hurt that came tumbling out of her mouth that I wasn’t sure what to even say or do.
She jerks away from him and laughs, wiping tears from her eyes. Just how drunk is she? I hate her right now, but she shouldn’t be driving. “Ah, the hero arrives.”
“Leave.” Quinn’s jaw flexes. “I’ll only say this once. Sophie, you need to leave. Now.”
“Ah, the great protector!” Sophie spins around. “If only you knew our little secret!”
“Sophie!” I yell. “Stop!”
“Should I?” She walks over and grabs her purse from the counter, puts on her sunglasses, then approaches Quinn. “Truth or Dare?”
“Neither?”
“Truth it is.” She gets so close it’s almost like she’s going to kiss him, instead she leans in. “I know the way you taste, I know the feel of you inside me, and you know it too… it wasn’t Chloe that first night and she knew it all along, enjoy your first fight, you know where to find me.” I burst into tears. “Bye sis.”
The door slams.
Quinn’s staring at me like I’m a stranger.
I want to yell, I can explain, but I have nothing.
I lied.
I betrayed.
Me.
Not him.
I open my mouth and close it.
Quinn’s so still I’m afraid something’s wrong with him.
He has two bags of groceries in his hand, and I think to myself, I will never forget the moment everything changed.
When the groceries drop from his hands onto the floor, eggs included. An orange rolls down past his feet and hits the couch, he stares straight ahead.
He doesn’t make eye contact.
I can hear my breaths getting more panicky, feel my heart slam against my chest. My body’s a live wire while I wait for him to say something—even if it’s goodbye.
Finally, he swallows, takes a deep breath. “Did she mean what I think she meant? Did I fuck your sister thinking it was you? And did you keep it from me on purpose?”
“I—“ My body can’t stop shaking. “I didn’t want to lose you and she knew that. I got super sick that night and she came out pretending to be me, then threatened to tell you I was sick. She’s always stolen any sort of friend or guy that was interested in me, it’s what she does, I didn’t think she’d do it to you but when she said she’d tell you I was sick, that I was extra baggage, I kept it to myself.”
“How. Fucking. Selfish.” Quinn snaps. His eyes are wild. “Are you kidding me right now? I slept with a stranger thinking it was you and you let me believe it! You know how messed up that is? I basically got raped by your twin!”
“That’s not rape.”
“It sure as fuck isn’t consent, Chloe!”
I jerk at his words.
He’s yelling.
He has every right to yell.
“Shit!” He’s shaking, he leans down on his haunches and covers his face with his hands. “Was it just once?”
I hate the words as I say them. “That I know of. I don’t know, sometimes I pass out, sometimes I’m tired. I know that she got ice cream with you instead of me, I saw it but didn’t want to—“
“—Ruin what we had but clearly didn’t if I was dating both of you at the same time! Fucking both of you. Kissing both of you!”
He shudders. “Go to bed. I’ll bring in your water, other than keeping you alive, I don’t want to see you. There is a lot I can tolerate, but you don’t know my past, you don’t know, you don’t.” It looks like he’s ready to cry. “The universe is a cruel, cruel place, you know that? And history, it always finds a damning way to repeat itself.”
“Quinn—“
“—Please.” A tear slides down his cheek. “Just go sleep. Please, just leave me alone. I need to be alone.” He shakes his head. “The worst part is, had you just told me, I would have thought it was messed up, but I would have worked through it with you. It’s the lie. It’s the betrayal. Breaking of trust. It’s so many things that make me feel used and dirty, but end of day, why should I ever win?”
He walks away.
And I walk to the room.
When I wake up the next morning, a random stranger, a nurse, is there, she’s like in her seventies at least, in her pink nursing uniform and smiling at me with a breakfast tray. “Are you hungry?”
“Who are you?”
“Sam.” She grins, her teeth are white just like her hair, she’s tiny, and she seems sweet. “Mr. Quinn said to feed you some fruit.”
“And um,” I run my hands through my tousled hair. “Where is Quinn?”
Her face freezes a bit. “He didn’t tell you?”