love with you anymore. I told you I was too young to know
what love even was. I said that I’d ruined our friendship by
telling you that I had feelings in the first place. I- I broke up
with you and all those things that I said… They weren’t true.
Any of them. I did have feelings for you. I did care about you.
You were my best friend and you were my girlfriend. You
were so, so wonderful. I knew there was never going to be
anyone else like you.”
Quinn’s eyes filled up with tears. Her face went totally
white. She shook her head from side to side and put her hands
up halfway into the air, but stopped, just like that. Suspended
in motion. The tears didn’t fall. She didn’t blink. Her lips
didn’t move.
“Why? Why did I do it?” Dallas tried a shaky inhale.
Everything that was responsible for making breath was failing
pretty badly at the moment. “My parents. You remember how
conservative they were? I had just come out to them. My mom
and dad were so involved in the church. They were religious.
You know that! They told me they loved me when I came out
to them, but then they kept working on me. Trying to tell me
that I didn’t know what I was saying. That I was too young to
know that I didn’t want a boyfriend. They tried to tell me it
was possible to change my mind. That I would. That I was
hurting them and hurting myself. Finally they were done
talking and they did what they thought would be best for me.
They took me away from you. From Topeka. They thought if I
went somewhere new that I could start over. That I’d change
my mind. That if I was away from temptation and saw what
the rest of the world had to offer, then I’d- I’d- I’d be what
they wanted me to be.”