Page 54 of Dirty Liars
Do I love the boys?
I don’t know. I might. But I can’t think about that right now.
“That isn’t fair,” I say. “You know I want you to be happy.”
“But do you?” Dana’s frustration is reaching near-hysteric levels. Her chest starts heaving and her breaths grow uneven. I freeze, unsure of whether or not she’s about to have a full-blown panic attack over this.
But no, looks like she’s just going to have a Sadie-attack. All her pent up anger and frustration and unrequired love comes pouring out of her like a furious river.
“You wereneveron my side. All this time you spent with Victoria, and you never once tried to include me. You knew I was in love with her, andstillyou kept her from me.”
My mouth is agape. None of this is true, or if it is, I only did it to protect her. I try to tell her this, but she won’t let me speak. Her voice grows louder, loud enough to make me cringe at the thought of her sweet, docile parents overhearing. They’ve been nothing but kind to me, and this is what I do.
“You know what? Victoriagets me. She knows what it’s like to lose all her friends. She knows what it’s like to be overlooked and forgotten while someone close to you steals what’s rightfully yours.”
Now I’m really stunned. “If you’re talking about Astor, I never—”
Dana huffs and throws herself back on the bed, crossing her arms. “Say what you want, but I know what you really are …Theodora.”
I swear, my heart stops in my chest.
“Sorry, what did you call me?”
Dana’s eyes narrow, and she glares at me. “Oh, come on! I knew Sadie. I met Sadie earlier last year when she came to tour the school with her parents. She was a Class A bitch, just like you.”
“Please,” I say, my voice growing strained and desperate. “Your parents will hear you.”
But her rampage isn’t over. “You think it took me long to find out who you are? You talk in your sleep … but you probably didn’t know that.”
I grit my teeth. “No, none of my lovely foster parents ever had the decency to tell me.”
Her passion hesitates a bit at my words.
“You were … you are …”
“An orphan. Yeah. That was my first crime.” I puff out my chest and try not to look so pathetic. I can salvage this. “I’m sorry I lied to you, Dana. I really do think of you as a friend … I hope this doesn’t ruin everything.”
But when I look back up at her, I know it’s too late.
Her rage has turned to remorse faster than I thought humanly possible. “Oh my god, what have I done?”
Her eyes flicker down to the phone under the pillow.
I don’t dare breathe. “Please tell me you hung up the phone.”
She doesn’t move, but I do. I jump to my feet and back away.
“Dana?”
Her hands fumble to pull the phone out, their motions large and clumsy. “No, no, no …” She slaps it several times, and then unsuccessful, throws her phone across the room so it smacks against the wall.
It lands next to my feet, the screen shattered, but her earlier phone call still live. I pick it up and hold the broken phone to my ear.
“Victoria?”
I hear a breathy laugh on the other end. “Well hello, Theodora.”
CHAPTER22
