“But you had a car accident and so I waited. But then I couldn’t wait with him, so I … so we … please don’t make me say it.”

“You owe me that much,” he said, his voice now steely and ice cold. “Go on.”

“I slept with him!” she cried out, angry at him for making her say it, even though she knew she had no right to be. “I cheated on you behind your back while you were laid up in a hospital bed, okay? It was wrong and I did it anyway. I knew better, but I couldn’t help myself. I had no choice.”

“No choice?” Alexander shouted. “Did he hold you down? Did he threaten you? Of course you had a choice! Everyone has a choice. What you had was a grotesque lapse in judgment, a … a … moral black hole that sucked up everything that was good and decent about you.”

It took everything in her power not to jump up and run away, never to look back. Anna felt like she might cry but refused to shed a single tear. Instead she bit the inside of her bottom lip until it hurt. “I was wrong. You deserve better than what I did. But it’s too late now. It happened. I did it and all I can give you is my confession.”

“Do you have feelings for him?” Alexander asked, knowing he needed to learn as much as he could about the situation before deciding how to proceed.

“Of course I do,” she said. “Or were you hoping I was just doing it for the sex? Do you think I’d do this if I didn’t care for him? Do you think so little of me?”

“That’s not fair, Anna. I didn’t know you were so unhappy. Is this because we didn’t go to my prom?”

“What?” Anna tried to hide her exasperation but failed. “You think this is about a prom? That’s absurd.”

“Is it?” he asked, his voice now sad. “Because maybe if we went and you danced with me like…” His voice faltered, and he couldn’t go on. He had seen the way they looked at each other on the dance floor at Bea’s party, and he’d chosen to try to forget it. To tell himself it didn’t mean anything when he knew it did. “I’m tired. I need to sleep,” he said. “My leg is killing me. Can we talk tomorrow?”

“Alexander, I don’t think there’s anything left for us to talk about. I’m sorry it had to end like this, but it did. It’s over.” Anna stood up, relieved that she’d said her piece and could now leave. She wanted to go home, curl up into a ball, and sleep.