“Calm down? Calm. Down! Oh, why didn’t I think of that? My world is crumbling around me, but Austin says to calm down, so I’ll just say loosey-goosey a few times and everything will be okay.”

“Glad to see your sarcasm is intact. I get it—”

“No. You don’t. Clearly.” She walks away from me, throwing her hands up in the air. “How could you? How could I possibly expect you to understand?”

Ouch. Her words are a punch in the stomach.

Her tone is detached and her gaze is dismissive.

“You have no idea what it’s like. This is all I have. And now it’s gone.” Her whole body freezes in place, hands still in the air mid-gesture, eyes glazed over. Someone hit her Pause button.

“Elizabeth?”

Her eyes snap to me and understanding washes over her face. “And it’s all your fault.”

What. The. Actual. Fuck?

“Excuse me?” I ask. I may be in love with her, but she can’t shit on me just because she’s having a bad fucking day.

She starts back with her pacing but has exchanged her wild gesturing with tugging at her messy hair.

“God, I’m such an idiot! Jackie warned me. I’ve been so distracted with this”—she gestures between us—“with you that I let myself forget what’s really important. I’ve got to get home. I need to log in and try to salvage what I can.” She’s talking mostly to herself as she scrambles around the room searching for her shoes. She can’t get out of here fast enough.

For a moment the world goes silent. Everything is blurry and warped. I’m underwater. Drowning. All I can hear is the rushing beat of my heart pounding in my ears. My chest is tight, an unseen weight crushing my heart. I can’t draw a full breath. I gasp, sucking in as much air as I can. I hold it for the count of three before I’m able to say a word.

“You can’t be serious right now,” I snap.

It’s not until I taste blood that I realize I’ve bitten a gash on the inside of my cheek. I realize I love this girl and she tells me I’m not important. Even worse, I’m nothing but a distraction. Something deep inside me breaks.

Fuck this.

Fuck her.

“Grow the fuck up, Elizabeth. You think some game is what’s important? A bunch of fucking strangers on a screen? It’s not fucking real. Maybe if you spent more time in the real world, instead of wasting your life playing make-believe like a fucking six-year-old, you wouldn’t need to pay a guy to fuck you!” I want to hurt her and I do.