I head toward her and am immediately surrounded by a sea of people. They’re drunk and loud and stupid. I push my way past them, through them. I hear a bitch, feel heads turning to look at me, but I don’t slow down. The rage I feel in this moment is so powerful it scares and excites me at the same time. My heart starts to race. Palms dampen. Taylor smiles, smiles, smiles into the phone held out in front of her. Her teeth gleam like a new moon.

I’m closer now. She’s right there. She’s within reach.

I take a few more steps, trying to reconcile the person I’d imagined before that ball with the one in front of me, the person she’s shown herself to be, but too much has happened; so many lies and so much confusion, I can barely focus my brain, and before I know what I’m going to say, I see her head turning my way. There is this brief moment when I strongly consider punching her in the face and dragging her into the bathroom by her hair so I can properly beat her ass without all the eyes and cameras, but now that she’s looking directly at me, which means other people have also turned to look at me, I realize there is no scenario in which putting my hands on her goes over well.

I hate that this is what it’s come down to. I’m bigger than this. I am. But I don’t know any other way to deal with her. Sometimes when they go low, you just have to meet them down at their fucking level.

I shift so that I’m standing directly in front of her and make myself speak before she can. “Solid plan. Make your friends turn each other in. Too bad you’re still not gonna get away with it.”

Her eyes stay on me, but she doesn’t lose her smile, not yet. Taylor hands the look-alike her phone and turns to me. The girl is staring, maybe trying to figure out how I fit in here, but I don’t acknowledge her. Suddenly, before I realize what’s happening, Taylor’s arms wrap around me, long and thin. She’s hugging me. The same fake hug she gave when we first met.

“Brandi. I’m so glad they released you. That stint in jail must’ve been awful. I’ve been meaning to reach out and—”

I shove her off me, and she tries to play it off, but everyone’s staring at her now. At me. Waiting.