“Is that what you have with your fiancé now? The Ugly Beautiful?”

She nods. “I think so. He knows me. I know him. I am flawed and I made mistakes, and I did things that were horrible. But I learned to forgive myself. Because I learned how to change. I don’t have to be the person I was. I know she was sick. And she was hurt. And she was terribly flawed. But I own up to it. And now I try to live a different life. I try to make some good out of it by helping others.”

“By helping the ugly become beautiful?”

“Yeah. I believe that’s possible.”

“Thank you,” I say to Joanne and I mean it.

Because I don’t want to be stuck in the past anymore. I don’t know what my future holds, but I know I need to start moving forward.

I leave, feeling a surge of adrenaline as I run up the steps in my Converse. I dial Trey’s number again. I want to tell him my plan. I want to tell him what I’m going to do. I want to share this moment with him. Even if he’s vague, even if he’s hot or cold, even if he’s messing with my head.

He doesn’t answer, but that’s okay. I’ll find him soon, but for now I don’t need him. I don’t need Cam right now. All I need is myself, and the one thing I’ve been doing my whole life over.

Writing.

Because I am going to take care of one thing at a time. I will figure out how to say goodbye to Cam, how to let Kristen in, and how to be honest with Trey.

But first, I will pay off my debt to Miranda. I will stay up all night tonight and keep going all day tomorrow and I will be done. I will finish and I will be free of her. I will finish ahead of schedule.

I need to get the bitch off my back.

Chapter Fifteen

Trey

Beads of sweat form on my upper lip and I lick them away.

Another drop falls and lands on my tongue. Salty.

The needle is hitting every nerve ending in my body, frying them. My ribs rattle and shake, and I am queasy. I swear I’m about to revisit this afternoon’s turkey sandwich if this isn’t over soon because I can taste the bile rising in my throat. I draw a sharp breath, like that can center me. But nothing changes. A thousand bees still sting my ribs, my sides, my hip. I grip the edge of the chair, digging my fingers hard into the vinyl, as if I can relocate the pain, send it elsewhere, deliver it to this inanimate object I’m sitting in.

Then, like a rainstorm ending in a snap and the sun appearing, the pain ends. It doesn’t drift off, it doesn’t fade away. Nope. It’s like electricity. On. Then off when Hector removes the needle from my skin.

He steps back, a master artist appraising his work. “It’s beautiful,” he says.

“Thanks, man. It’s all you.”

He shakes his head. “You gave me a beautiful drawing. All I did was bring that drawing to your skin.”

“We were a team then. I couldn’t have gotten this sucker on my flesh without you.”

He hands me the vaseline and I apply it to the new ink, smoothing it over. Then he gives me a bandage and I wrap it over the tattoo and tape it down. I’ll leave it there for a few hours.

“You know the drill. It’ll scab over tomorrow,” he says.

“Like a sunburn.”

“It looks good, man. I want a picture of it. Those trees are works of art.”

A tree is the symbol of strength. Of healing. Of remembrance. Of understanding. But most of all a tree is the the symbol of regeneration, of new life. And it’s the record on my body of the trees I planted myself in a park one night when my parents were out on a call.

They are my trees. They belong to me.

Harley

I spend the next twenty-four hours running on Diet Coke and determination. I churn out page after page for Miranda, more than she asked for, more than she expects. I am a machine. I am a turbo-charged robot on meth. I am an elite athlete jacked up on performance drugs. I ride faster, climb harder, run further than anyone. Kristen knocks on my door a few times, asks if I’m okay, if I need anything. I tell her I’m working on an epic history paper for my final assignment of the year.

I only hate myself slightly for the lie. Because I am so accustomed to lies they feel true now.

“Want something to eat?” She offers. “I’m making myself a peanut butter and honey sandwich. It’s kind of awesome. Especially with a cup of milk.”

“Sure.”

I eat the peanut butter and honey sandwich, but not the milk. There will be time for calcium later. Besides, Diet Coke makes my bones stronger. I briefly consider ordering in a triple espresso too, but the coffee shop around the corner doesn’t deliver. Bastards.

I crumple up can after can as I down them. Sounds of crushing, followed by sounds of typing are the soundtrack of finishing. I give Miranda everything she wants. I satisfy her every salacious demand with more, more, more. Shame, shame, shame. Whore, whore, whore.

It’s what she wants. Even though she’ll never know the whole truth of how I got into the tangled mess.

I write more, stopping a few times to text Trey to check in, but I don’t hear back from him. My mother writes though. She tells me things with Neil are growing stronger, and that she’s even starting to forget about Phil. Isn’t that great?

I want to say: We should all forget about Phil.

Instead, as I do for Miranda, I give my mom what she wants. I am so happy for you, Barb.

Another lie. But soon the lying will be over.

At ten-thirty-five p.m. on Sunday evening I am done.

I should be exhausted. I should collapse. I don’t. I feel victorious instead. I want to kiss the moon, I want to tango with the fattest, brightest star in the sky.

I snatch the thumb drive from my purse and save the file on the tiny silver drive for safekeeping. Then I email it to Miranda. “Dear Miranda: I believe I have satisfied the terms of our agreement. Good bye.”

I jump up, snag my field hockey stick and pretend I am slamming ball after ball into the goal, raising my arms in victory.

Kristen opens my door. “If you are playing field hockey in the apartment, I want in.”

“Dude, I will crush you!”

“You’re on. Downstairs. Laundry room.”

“Let’s do it.” We grab a tennis ball and run down five flights of stairs and then one more into the basement with its storage room, washers and dryers, and a long hallway. We start whacking the tennis ball up and down the dingy linoleum floors.

Laughing, racing, chasing, trash-talking. Like the good old days in high school. Back when I was still a normal girl. Well, as normal as I could ever be. But before I wrapped myself in lies, concealed my life in secrets.

It feels good to play free.

“So Jordan is kind of cool,” she says.

“Yeah? Are you guys a thing?”

“I don’t know. But I sorta like him. Even though it’s complicated since he has bad taste in movies.”

“That’s an awesome kind of complicated.”

I deliver a punishing blow to the green ball, sending it careening down the hall and bouncing off the white concrete cinder block walls with several loud twangs. “Oh man! Someone is going to hear us,” I say. “But I don’t give a shit. Because I am a free bird.”

Kristen darts in front of me, her agile field skills in play, and she slams her stick against the ball on its return path. Then she smacks the top of the ball, skipping it up in the air and catching it in her hand.

“What are you free from?” Her eyes are brimming with curiosity. Nothing gets past this girl.

I suppose I should feel stupid for letting free bird slip out, but I don’t. It felt strangely good to unspool some of my wound-up secrets with Joanne the other night, and I’ve been wanting to do the same with Kristen. To take ownership of my actions, to be honest, to let go to the past, no matter how risky that may be. Because this is the real risk – will she stop wanting to be my friend when she knows? I can feel my heart beating faster, my nerves skating back and forth under the surface of my skin. This must be what it feels like to open yourself up, to let someone see who you really are.