I could apologize. I could try to explain.

But I couldn’t tell—

Shit! She raised her arm farther, loading it to toss the first key, and my hand shot out, motioning for her to stop.

A replacement key would be at least two hundred dollars. My heart beat faster, echoing in my ears.

“Tate, don’t do this.”

“Not the answer I was looking for,” she shot back and flung a key into the woods off the side of the road. I watched, completely helpless, as it disappeared into the thick darkness.

“Dammit, Tate!”

She released another key from the ring and loaded it behind her back, too. “Now, talk. Why do you hate me?”

Jesus. The key was gone. Maybe the one to my car. Maybe just the house key. And fuck me if it was the one to the school.

I shook my head and almost laughed. “Hate you? I never hated you.”

Her eyes narrowed in confusion, and her voice dropped. “Then why? Why did you do all the things you’ve done?”

Why was I so mean? Why did I isolate you? Why did I ruin our friendship? Which horrible fucking shit did she want explained first?

“Freshman year.” I took a deep breath and started. “I overheard Danny Stewart saying he was going to ask you to the Halloween dance. I made sure he never did, because he also told his buddies that he couldn’t wait to find out if your tits were more than a handful each.”

I also gave him a bloody nose that day. He still doesn’t know why.

“I didn’t even think twice about my actions,” I continued as she remained silent. “I spread that rumor about Stevie Stoddard, because you didn’t belong with Danny. He was a dick. They all were.”

“So you thought you were protecting me?” she blurted out, unconvinced. “But why would you do that?

You already hated me by that point. That was after you’d returned from your dad’s for the summer.” “I wasn’t protecting you,” I stated, raising my eyes to meet hers. “I was jealous.”

If I was protecting her, then I wouldn’t have turned around and hurt her myself with that rumor. It wasn’t about keeping her safe. It was about not wanting anyone else to touch her.

I continued, “We got to high school, and all of a sudden, you’ve got all of these guys liking you. I handled it the only way I knew how.”

“By bullying me?” she challenged. “That makes no sense. Why didn’t you talk to me?” “I couldn’t. I can’t.” I couldn’t trust you.