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love with you anymore. I told you I was too young to know

what love even was. I said that I’d ruined our friendship by

telling you that I had feelings in the first place. I- I broke up

with you and all those things that I said… They weren’t true.

Any of them. I did have feelings for you. I did care about you.

You were my best friend and you were my girlfriend. You

were so, so wonderful. I knew there was never going to be

anyone else like you.”

Quinn’s eyes filled up with tears. Her face went totally

white. She shook her head from side to side and put her hands

up halfway into the air, but stopped, just like that. Suspended

in motion. The tears didn’t fall. She didn’t blink. Her lips

didn’t move.

“Why? Why did I do it?” Dallas tried a shaky inhale.

Everything that was responsible for making breath was failing

pretty badly at the moment. “My parents. You remember how

conservative they were? I had just come out to them. My mom

and dad were so involved in the church. They were religious.

You know that! They told me they loved me when I came out

to them, but then they kept working on me. Trying to tell me

that I didn’t know what I was saying. That I was too young to

know that I didn’t want a boyfriend. They tried to tell me it

was possible to change my mind. That I would. That I was

hurting them and hurting myself. Finally they were done

talking and they did what they thought would be best for me.

They took me away from you. From Topeka. They thought if I

went somewhere new that I could start over. That I’d change

my mind. That if I was away from temptation and saw what

the rest of the world had to offer, then I’d- I’d- I’d be what

they wanted me to be.”