“You don’t have to play innocent anymore, I know the truth,” she says bitterly, crumpling it into a ball and shoving it at my chest. I flinch, failing to catch the paper.

It falls to the floor, but she doesn’t seem to care, glaring at me with her arms folded. The malice on her face is chilling. I’ve never seen her look this angry before, and I’ve definitely never seen this sort of anger directed at me.

“That was under your bed,” she spits. “I wasn’t going to read it, but I recognized his handwriting.”

Crouching, I open it back up, my fingers feeling cold as I pluck it from the floorboards. It’s a letter, addressed to me.

From Parker.

The chill from my hands works its way up until my veins feel like ice, and I can’t move.

Allie, the letter begins. I know you said it’s over. But I’m moving out tomorrow, and I want you to know that I’ll always love you. Always. Everything is already so complicated, and I don’t want to keep making it worse. I want the best for you. I’m here if you need me or if you ever want to talk. Who knows, maybe someday things will be different—

I stop abruptly, not wanting to read any more, heartbeat thundering in my ears. He must’ve stuck it in my room somewhere before he left. How did I not notice? Dragging my attention away from the letter, I look at the girl in front of me and shake my head.

“Audrey, please let me explain,” I begin.

“How long were you going to keep lying to my face?” she asks bluntly. “How long has this been going on?”

I take in a shuddering breath, my nose stinging with oncoming tears. “I—”

“God, I feel like such an idiot.” She cuts me off, throwing her hands up in defeat and laughing without humor. “You’ve been pretending to be the supportive sister, pretending to care about me, when you were keeping this secret the whole time.”

“I wasn’t pretending,” I interject honestly.

“So, you were just being nice to me to make yourself feel better?” she accuses, angling her body away from me, her posture rigid. “I can’t even fucking believe you.”

“Audrey,” I say, voice low, vision blurry. “I’m so sorry. But you have to understand that I don’t remember any of this happening. I’m not the same person I was back then.”