⚠️ Trigger Warning: Infidelity / cheating.

INDEX: CH 1 SC 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Nine Years Earlier

Elizabeth leaned back in her seat. In front of her, the hood of Mason’s car was black and shiny and rippled with color. First, the ripple was red. Then it was green.

Mason shifted through the intersection and cut in and out of traffic until there was nothing in front of them but empty pavement. “So,” he said. “What happened with you and the jock?”

“You shouldn’t call him that,” she said, looking out the window. “You played football, too.”

“But it wasn’t who I was.” He smiled a little. “Was it?”

“Not really.”

Because Mason was always Mason McKenna first and everything else second. Unlike the rest of them.

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Mason made a turn, and they were on Main Street, the big houses with their tall white columns bright and cheerful in the deepening darkness. “So tell me what happened.”

He’d heard about the fight, obviously. You couldn’t take a breath in Madison without somebody making it a thing.

“I guess the grapevine’s still working,” she said. “I was afraid it might have malfunctioned.”

“Oh, it’s working all right. I hear something about you almost every day.”

All unflattering, she was sure. “Like what?”

“Different things. Today, it was about Liam yelling at you in the parking lot outside the high school.”

He’d heard every detail, probably. Like everyone.

Half the school had seen Liam tell her to shut up and get in the car, even though she hadn’t said a word in her own defense. And then they’d seen them take off, tires squealing.

“There’s a couple of videos too,” Mason added. “On social media.”

Mason turned right onto the interstate. At this time of night, the highway was almost deserted, the pavement ghost gray between the dark ditches and wide fields of corn. She leaned back against the headrest and watched it stream by.

Elizabeth wondered if he was actually worried about her. The thought was so foreign, there was almost no emotion attached to it. “Why do you care what happened?”

“I want to know if he found out about us. For starters.”

Because it had to be about him and Theresa. Elizabeth was completely irrelevant, but Theresa was some precious thing that had to be protected, whatever the cost. It made Elizabeth almost happy that the truth was about to explode. She hoped they all got blown to bits by it.

“Well,” Mason said. “Did he?”

She had no idea what would happen if she told Mason the truth, but she wasn’t about to take the chance. “No.”

“You’re sure?”

“I was there.”

He was quiet. Trying to figure out if she was lying.

Elizabeth had never been much of a liar, but the last fifteen months of sneaking around with Mason had taught her the basics. The worst thing you could do was fill in the blanks.

So Elizabeth resisted the urge.

“Why was he mad?” Mason asked.

Elizabeth knew she had to say something. If she didn’t, he would keep asking her until she broke. So she decided to tell him about the last fight she and Liam had instead of this one.

“I got drunk at Tina Smith’s party. You remember Tina?” she asked, leaning on her West Virginia accent because she knew he liked it. “Little, stocky girl with short blond hair? She used to come over to study with me and Jordan?”

“I don’t know, maybe.”

“Well, she had a party a couple of weeks ago, and one of Liam’s friends gave me a ride home.”

“And?”

“I think I let him kiss me. That’s what the friend said, anyway. I was pretty drunk, but I kind of remember doing it, so it’s probably true.”

Mason was quiet for a good ten seconds. “I think Liam’s a punk, Lizzie, you know that. But I’ve gotta side with him on this one.”

Like everyone. Everyone always sided with Liam, but nobody knew what Liam was really like. “He said I was a slut and that he didn’t even know why he was with me.”

“He said that in front of everyone?”

“He said it after.” She looked at Mason out of the corner of her eye. “I guess that’s okay, then.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

She shrugged. “It’s what everyone thinks, anyway.” She put her window down and slouched in the seat so she could see the stars. There were too many to count. “It’s what you think, too. You don’t even want to be seen with me.”

“Because I have a girlfriend.”

“Oh, well, that’s different, then.”

“And I don’t think anyone’s better than you. I never have.”

She was still looking up. The farther you got from town, the darker the sky. The stars were the same, obviously, but they looked brighter out here because of the contrast. “But some people are better, Mason. You know that.”

“Come on, Lizzie. You make me feel like a jerk when you talk that way.”

“Do I?” She turned her head to look at him. “I’m sorry. That must be really hard for you.”

He smiled. “If you want to fight with someone, I can drop you off at Liam’s.”

But she didn’t want Liam. She wasn’t sure she ever had, really, but he’d asked to Homecoming junior year and she’d said yes.

Like anyone would have.

And it had made sense then.

Because everybody had a boyfriend, and Elizabeth was used to pretending.

And that was the thing about Mason. She didn’t have to pretend to like. She just did.

It was of the reasons she’d gone after him, even though she was with Liam.

They rode through the darkness without saying anything. They were almost at the lake. Big surprise. Mason was taking her back to the cabin.

“I thought we were talking,” she said.

“We are.” He turned right off the exit. “We’re talking on our way to the cabin.”

But they didn’t really talk anymore

Which was about the best they did.

It wasn’t that Mason wouldn’t listen. If she started info-dumping about Book Hunters or Shyla Perry’s latest song or whatever Gothic novel she was currently reading, he would let her talk. But the time he had to spend with her was limited and it seemed that there was less and less of it as he settled into adult life. Doing things with his and Theresa’s family. Working with his dad. Leaving high school behind.

So they had to pick. Sex or friendship. And it said a lot about both of them, probably, that they picked sex. Every single time.

“What if I don’t want to go?” she asked.

“I’ll turn around.”

They were on the old state road now. The headlights bounced off the trees. Beyond that, the forest was dark.

“Do you want me to turn around, Elizabeth?”

She had to smile, just a little. “Shut up.”

“So what happened after you got into his car?” Mason asked. “All I got was the parking lot version.”

“Nothing.” She kept her voice even. Another lie heaped onto a mountain so high that if anything shifted by as much as an inch, there would be an avalanche—and they would all suffocate under the weight.

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INDEX: CH 1 SC 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Nine Years Earlier

“Liam’s still mad,” Elizabeth said, even though it was obvious.

He had walked off the field without even looking at her, and everyone saw it. Not that it mattered. The fight in the parking lot at school had already gone small-town viral.

Everybody knew.

Knew about the fight anyway. Not what it was about. Yet. But when they did, everyone would hate her instead of just dislike her.

Elizabeth had come to the game to talk to Liam. But it was a stupid idea. She had said too much already, and there was no way to un-say it.

She watched him pull off the blue and white football helmet and wet down his curly brown hair. He checked every box. She knew that. He was popular, athletic, attractive—everything she was supposed to want but didn’t.

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“He was a total jerk to you at school,” Jordan said. “How can he still be mad?”

“I don’t know.”

Jordan was her best friend, but Elizabeth couldn’t tell her what had set Liam off because once Jordan knew, things would be different between them.

Elizabeth stopped looking at Liam and crossed her arms on top of her knees and watched the field empty. All around her, people were making their way down the bleachers and out the gate.

Being on the bleachers, practically shoulder to shoulder with other people, had been an ordeal like always, and Elizabeth was glad it was over.

“I know you don’t want to talk about it,” Jordan said. “But Liam should be begging you to forgive him. Whatever it was about.”

Jordan waited, giving Elizabeth one last chance to fill her in, then sighed. “Do you want to get going?”

The field was almost deserted. Beneath the floodlights, the air was pale and bright.

“I’m going to stay for a bit,” Elizabeth said, pulling out her Kindle. “It’s nice with everyone gone.” Then she realized what she’d said. “Present company excluded.”

“You could come over,” Jordan said. “And watch old episodes of Book Hunters.”

Elizabeth smiled. Jordan didn’t even like Book Hunters, which was exactly what it sounded like—a reality show about people hunting for rare books. “Maybe tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Jordan said, sounding uncertain. “Tomorrow’s good.”

Elizabeth turned on her Kindle and opened Dracula. It was her second time reading it, and she was pretty sure it wouldn’t be her last. “Thanks.”

Jordan stood. “Give me a call later if you want to talk.”

Elizabeth made herself look up. “Sure.”

Then she was back at Whitby Harbor with Mina and Lucy and old Mr. Swale. Lucy had finally got a bit of color back, and none of them knew what was coming.

She read until the floodlights shut down and the field went dark. Then she walked down the bleachers and out into the parking lot.

The light in the lot was spotty, but Elizabeth recognized him almost immediately.

He was wearing a T-shirt and jeans, and leaning against the side of his car with his arms crossed over his chest. Half in shadow, he looked powerful and just a little bit dangerous.

“Hey Mason.” She kept her voice casual, like it was no big deal to see him.

“Hey Lizzie,” he said. “Need a ride?”

“I’m walking,” she said, even though she had stopped.

“Where’s your boyfriend?”

Beyond the car, at the other end of the field, the trees were black against an inky blue night. “I don’t know.”

He wasn’t trying to talk her into anything. All she had to do was start walking again, but she didn’t. She wasn’t even sure that she could.

Elizabeth heard the car door open. Passenger side. He was opening the door for her, which was a first. “I was hoping we could talk,” he said.

She smiled at the long line of pine trees. Her and Mason talking.

How unlikely was that?

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© 2026 Barbara Graver. All rights reserved. This is an original creative work. Do not reproduce or redistribute without the written permission of the author.