Page 27 (1/2)

I pull up a grainy picture of Dara and Ariana--at least I think it’s Ariana, although she’s wearing so much makeup and the picture quality is so bad, it’s hard to tell--surrounded by guys who must be in their early twenties at least One of the a cheesy leather jacket and would be hot except for his hair, which is thinning, and gelled into spikes I wonder when this was taken, and whether poor, brokenhearted Dara ith Parker at the ti a grab for the phone "What the hell?" She rolls her eyes when I hold the phone out of reach "Are you serious?"

"Jesus" I stand up andmy head over the picture "Ariana looks like a slutty bumblebee in that shirt Friends don’t let friends pair yellow and black"

"Give it back"

I take a step backward, dodging her Dara has no choice but to stand up

"Ha," I say, angling away froain tries to swipe the phone back "You’re out of bed"

"This isn’t funny," Dara says But at least she doesn’t look so much like an abandoned doll washed up on a reef of pillows and old sheets Her eyes are bright with anger "This isn’t a joke"

"Who’s this guy?" I pull up a second picture of leather-jacket guy It appears to have been taken in a bar or a basement--somewhere dark and croith people In this one, obviously a selfie, Dara isa kissy-face at the ca in his expression makes me nervous; it’s the way Perkins looks when he locates a new mouse hole "He looks like he wants to eat your face"

"That’s Andre" She at last succeeds in grabbing the phone back fro hard with a finger, and then deletes the next picture that comes up, and the next, and the next "They’re all nobodies They don’tpictures, jabbing at the phone forcefully as if she can physically splinter the i I don’t quite oing to like it

"What did you say?" I’ve completely missed hoet detention, all for Dara’s sake, all because she can’t leave anything whole and good and untouched, all because she has to dig and explode and experi to be a cook, pretending soood will actually come out

"I said you don’t understand," she says, without looking up "You don’t understand anything"

"Do you even like Parker?" I say, because now I can’t help it, can’t keep back the anger "Or was it just to see if you could?"

"I don’t like hi very still "I love him I’ve always loved him" I’ about: Jacob, Mitts, Brent, and Jack