“HOW DID YOU KNOW?”

Snow continued to fall. Steam rose from a grate in the street. I kept my eyes fixed on the interface where the steam and snow melted into one another to keep me from slipping off the edge of the moment.

“The thing you did.” He traced a finger through the air. “You used to do it then, too.”

“I could never help it,” I said softly. I pressed a fingertip to a snowflake on my coat and felt it melt away to nothing.

“There was a night a few months ago. I was walking home and I thought I heard—did you follow me? Did you call my name?” He bit his lip and squinted down at the sidewalk as if he could scarcely believe what he was asking me. Then he looked up at me, his eyes so full of foreclosed hope that for a moment all I wanted was to be able to tell him I hadn’t and have it be the truth.

I looked back down at the sidewalk. “Yes.”

He shook his head. “I thought I was losing my mind.” He was facing away from me, speaking to the sky, the snow, the brittle February night, and I understood that these words were not meant for me, but for someone else.

“I don’t know what to say.”

“I’m sure you’ll think of something. You’re so good at thinking up things to say. All these nights. I hope you did have a fun time.”

“No.”

“Bullshit,” he whispered.

“You think I wanted to do this? I’ve given up everything. All I ever wanted was the truth. For Alison.”

“For Alison,” he echoed back. It seemed to me that his mind was far away, only the most gossamer of threads tethering him to this bench on this sidewalk here with me. He looked around—at the shop fronts across the street, the snow on the sidewalk, the black sky overhead. “Fuck,” he shouted, punching his fist into his open palm. His shout echoed down the deserted street.

“I’ll go,” I said. I stood. “I’m going.”

He grabbed my arm. “Sit.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”

“Sit.”

“Please let me go. Please don’t—”

“Don’t what?”

“I’m sorry. I just wanted—”

“The truth, Clairey?”

I nodded.

“The truth is you’re a fucked-up girl.”

“I know,” I whispered.

“Just like your sister.”

“Please don’t do this.”

“The truth is Alison destroyed my life, and from what I see, she destroyed yours, too.”

“Please just let me go.”

“No. You want the truth, Claire, and I’m going to give it to you. You’re going to sit here and listen to every word of it. And then I never want to see you again.”