“That’s a lot, kid,” was all she said, and then she took a long sip of her drink. “You’re lucky I have coffee. Because you just unloaded a lot of bullshit on me.”

Bullshit? I was a bit confused. I was being honest. I’d just poured my heart out to Scarlett, and she threw it back in my face.

“I’m sorry, you’ve been through a lot. It seems as though you’re carrying a lot of anger because of it. Reasonably so,” she told me. “Though, when you carry so much anger, it can often be misplaced. Mel only wanted to help you.”

“Then why did she leave me when she found me purging?”

“Can you maybe think for a second?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Maybe this isn’t all about you. Mel was going through her own stuff, too. Sometimes, you have to look out for yourself. That’s what she did in that moment. You told me that she suffered from an eating disorder, and she saw you suffering from one, too. Maybe it brought back too many difficult memories? All the help she gave you was out of the kindness of her heart. She didn’t owe you anything.”

I didn’t know why, but that put me on the defensive really quick. I didn’t have a comeback, so I sat with those thoughts.

“She’s given you so much of herself, and helped you so much, and that’s how you act? That’s very childish.”

I didn’t like being called childish.

“I’m not a child. I was hurt.”

“Yes, but your hurt doesn’t give you a right to treat the people in your life badly. That’s just you being selfish.”

That angered me, too. I wasn’t selfish.

“What she did, that night, when she found me in the bathroom, Scarlett, that hurt me,” I said, struggling to form the words as I began breathing heavily. It was difficult to stay calm. Scarlett made it seem like my hurt wasn’t a big deal.

“I’m not saying she didn’t hurt you, Adrian.” Scarlett put a hand on my shoulder. “But sometimes you have to understand that hurt people, hurt people. It can be unintentional.”

Hurt people, hurt people? That wasn’t a concept that I’d heard before. I knew Mel was hurt, and I knew what I said wasn’t right, knowing that made me feel a sudden surge of regret. I shouldn’t have unloaded on Mel. She hadn’t deserved that. She hadn’t deserved any of that. But I’d done it anyway. It was immature, stupid, and shortsighted. Scarlett was right, about all of it.

My realization must have shown on my face because Scarlett smirked. “I think what you’re feeling is called empathy. You should use it more. It can help you avoid situations like this one.”

Scarlett was smug, but wise. I appreciated it sometimes. Other times it felt like kicking sand in a wound.

“I missed you,” I said.

“I missed you, too, kid.” She smiled. “Don’t do your disappearing act on me again. There are people who care about you, y’know?”