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“I know she ran out,” she tries, ently this time, “and that she was probably as crazy to you as she was to me and my parents But I wanted to know Winston for myself, I wanted to…”

I’ve shrunken back into the seat All my limbs are leaden Even the frosty look she levels at me seems robotic somehow

“She put you up to this, didn’t she?”

My voice is a low accusation, hers is a high shrill: “No, Clayton, just listen to me…”

I don’t catch the rest, I’ out hers

“Get out”

I spit the words at her and she recoils, as if she’d been physically slapped

I focus ht now, I can’t even bear to look at Stevie

Only once I hear the slaht return to me

Of fucking course Am I really surprised that Helena is involved? This has her crazy ass written all over it The first really great thing infat powerful pile of bullshit Stevie probably isn’t even a real virgin, or wasn’t Whatever

And here I’d thought I’d finally gotten free of Helena That the crazy ht phone calls had finally petered down That she even stopped showing up at the house, drunk and belligerent, deotten at the zoo the last tie she touches, so it should be no surprise that Stevie, whoever she is, has been destroyed by Helena too

The rest of the day, I go through the motions in a kind of autopilot I let e questions about Stevie I say a quick goodnight to ht she was

And then I collapse into bed It takesbetter will It won’t happen today, and it certainly won’t happen to I woke up and didn’t curse that I’d ever known Helena, this will ebb away too I will forget Stevie, with the crooked way she smiled, and how she looked just after she caht now, this hurts like hell, but it won’t always Right?

Despite this, a s the truth back in the li that she was But a big part of me knows better by now

—

I awake to ringing Groaning, I sla onto the other side ofht A few seconds later the phone rings again Shit, itreally important

I pick up to hear high-pitched laughter

“How fucking classic I should’ve guessed,” Helena says

My fingers instinctively clench around the phone No fucking way If it isn’t irlfriend herself

“What do you want?” I snap