- 6 hours ago
Lost in the Twin Game EPISODE
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00I fold. Avery's yours for tonight.
00:03You're willing to give her up?
00:04Since you like her, I'll gladly step aside.
00:09Although, we've been together for almost a year.
00:11If you think she's secondhand, no need. I'll take her.
00:18Fine. Then enjoy yourself tonight, brother.
00:23As soon as Liam left, the room immediately came alive again.
00:28Logan, are you serious? You chased Avery for three months, went all soft for her, and you're already bored? It's
00:32not even been a year.
00:35A bet's a bet. And besides, she's just a girl.
00:38So Avery wasn't anything special to you after all.
00:44At first, she was. Hard to get. A bit high and mighty.
00:47But now, she's no different from the others.
00:52Still the same. Behaves like a damn dog in front of me.
00:55Hey, Logan. Next time, can I have a turn with her?
01:01But Logan, what if Liam actually gets to her? What then?
01:07He won't. They say he didn't even touch a girl back at military school. Ice cold type.
01:12That's not necessarily true, though.
01:14He did look at Avery a few times when she wore that dress showing her legs.
01:17He just hates girls who try too hard to show off.
01:20Bet on it then, Logan. You in?
01:22Don't forget, Avery is obsessed with me. She'd rather die than let another guy touch her.
01:26If you really want to bet, you better be ready to lose everything.
01:30Logan stood up and walked out.
01:31A pretty cheerleader was already waiting outside the door.
01:34He shoved her against the hallway wall and kissed her hard.
01:37No one noticed that I, the subject of the twins' bet, had already heard everything.
01:44If he could openly bet me away to another guy, then I meant absolutely nothing to him.
01:50And if I was stupid enough to make a scene, and embarrass him in front of everyone,
01:55I'd be the one paying the price.
01:57Everyone knows Logan's family had endowed the athletic center of our school.
02:01His name was on the donor wall in the main hallway, in letters bigger than most people's futures.
02:07That's why he could break rules, get into fights, and cause trouble at school without ever getting expelled.
02:14Someone told me there had been a ballet dancer before me.
02:17Logan had chased her for months before she finally said yes.
02:21He spoiled her.
02:22Let her get away with things no one else could.
02:25For a while, everyone thought that she'd gotten the notorious bad boy to settle down.
02:31But less than six months later, he got bored and messed up with other girls.
02:37The ballet girl slashed the tire of Logan's motorcycle, making a scene in front of half the school.
02:47A few days later, she fell during rehearsal.
02:51She lived, but she was paralyzed from the waist down.
02:55Her whole life, finished.
02:58She withdrew from Stonebridge High before the semester was over.
03:02Officially, she'd transferred to a performing arts academy in another state.
03:07Unofficially, nobody wanted to talk about it.
03:10Back when Logan was chasing me, someone told me that he had been quietly looking into my scholarship.
03:15If he wanted to, he could make my life at this school a living hell.
03:20I had said yes to him because I was afraid of saying no.
03:23I had stayed with him for a year, keeping my head down.
03:27And now he'd put me in a card game.
03:30I went back to the guest room and lay down on the couch, pulling the blanket over myself.
03:35The door opened, footsteps across the room.
03:38And then the smell, clean and unfamiliar.
03:41Not Logan.
03:42You should sleep in an actual bed.
03:48Finally, I've been waiting forever, Logan.
03:52Have you been waiting long?
03:54My head is killing me.
03:56You'll feel better once you get something in your stomach.
03:59I'm tired.
04:00Take me somewhere.
04:01You smell different tonight?
04:03Do I?
04:04Yeah, it's better though.
04:06Actually better.
04:07A lot.
04:08Glad you like it.
04:12Two days earlier, I hadn't known Liam Hayes existed.
04:15Logan never talked about him.
04:17In fact, he seemed almost wary of him.
04:20Mrs. Patterson introduced Liam in AP Lit.
04:22Transfer student.
04:24Previously enrolled in Vermont.
04:26Joining us for senior year.
04:27The rumors spread fast.
04:29He'd been kicked out of multiple schools.
04:31He'd hospitalized two guys in a fight.
04:34And had no marks on him afterward.
04:36He'd been at a military academy before Vermont.
04:38He had a 4.0.
04:40And no one at his previous schools would say much about him.
04:43Which people interpreted as either very good or very bad.
04:47At dinner, I sat next to Logan.
04:49Liam sat alone at another table.
04:51Near the end, his eyes moved to me.
04:53Just for a second.
04:55He didn't talk to anyone before leaving.
04:57I had no idea why he would agree to something as ridiculous as Logan's bet.
05:01But one thing became clear the moment I heard that bet.
05:04If I wanted to walk away from this game those rich guys were playing without getting hurt,
05:09Liam might be my only way out.
05:11I had just stepped out of the bathroom when Liam pulled me into his arms from behind.
05:28You're unusually impatient tonight, Logan.
05:33Change how you call me.
05:36Then what do you want me to call you?
05:40What do you usually call me?
05:43Your name, Mr. Hayes.
05:45And I've called you Baby.
05:49Then tonight call me Sir.
05:53Sir?
05:55Sir?
05:55Sir?
05:56Sir?
05:59Sir?
05:59Sir?
05:59Sir?
06:01Sir?
06:01Sir?
06:02Sir?
06:02Sir?
06:02Sir?
06:04Sir?
06:15No.
06:16Avery?
06:17Hmm?
06:19Say it again.
06:22No.
06:27Logan.
06:28No.
06:28Not that.
06:29Unshack.
06:47The next day I opened my eyes to full daylight.
06:50Every part of me ached, the kind of all-over soreness that goes bone deep.
06:55The room was empty.
06:57Liam was gone.
06:58I didn't know when he'd left.
06:59Through the glass, I could see the back lawn below, and Logan standing in it.
07:04I picked out a dress with an off-the-shoulder neckline, revealing the marks on purpose.
07:14Hey, what's wrong?
07:19Can you go get me some medicine from the infirmary?
07:22What for?
07:22What hurts?
07:23Last night you were really rough.
07:25I didn't realize until the shower, it bled a little, it really hurts.
07:32Say that again.
07:33What bled?
07:34Last night.
07:35It was a lot.
07:36I'm really sore.
07:37Like, everywhere.
07:38You were so different last night though.
07:40Like, really different.
07:41Better.
07:42I don't know what got into you, but I really liked it.
07:44I even cried, I begged you to stop and you didn't.
07:46You were so mean about it, but also, I kinda didn't want you to.
07:51I'll go get something.
07:52He was gone 40 minutes.
07:55I'd gotten takeout from the cafeteria and was eating in my dorm room.
07:59I was halfway through when I noticed someone outside.
08:01I saw Liam coming up the path.
08:03The two of them weren't actually that hard to tell apart.
08:06Liam was slightly taller than Logan, broader through the shoulders, more solidly built.
08:10And the jacket he had on today was the same cut as Logan's.
08:13From a distance, the similarity was close enough.
08:16Hey Logan.
08:17Did you bring it?
08:25What medication?
08:27Stop pretending.
08:28I told you.
08:29Last night you hurt me.
08:30And I need...
08:33I just remembered I should see how bad it is first.
08:36So I can tell the pharmacist what to get.
08:39You don't need to be embarrassed.
08:40It's not as if I haven't already...
08:42I'm not talking to you.
08:47Okay, I'll stop.
08:48I mean it.
08:50What exactly are you two doing?
08:55His face went through several things in a row.
08:58All of them controlled.
08:59None of them good.
09:00Liam, Avery, what exactly are you two doing?
09:03L-Liam?
09:04Logan, I...
09:05I got the wrong person.
09:06You weren't wearing your glasses today.
09:08I thought you were him.
09:10Avery, you're hopeless.
09:12You can't even tell your own boyfriend apart.
09:14I'm sorry.
09:15Liam, I'm so sorry.
09:16I really did mix you up.
09:17It's not your fault.
09:18Twins get confused all the time.
09:20Logan, you shouldn't have snapped at her.
09:22Whose fault is it she's so dense?
09:23You share a bed with someone for a year and can't recognize them?
09:26She's only met me once.
09:27Mixing us up is normal.
09:28Fine, I'll apologize to her.
09:31Go back to the room.
09:33Let me see where you're hurt.
09:34I'll put the ointment on for you.
09:36If I had it right, Logan had spent last night with another girl.
09:40And now, he wanted to put his hands on me.
09:43A wave of nausea rose up.
09:45Sudden and violent.
09:46I forced it down.
09:47Hard.
09:49Take it off.
09:50Lie down.
09:51Logan, why are you being so harsh with me today?
09:53In our year together, maybe to keep me fooled, maybe out of some sliver of something real,
09:58Logan had always been gentle.
10:00Are you still mad that I mistook your brother for you?
10:02No.
10:03You're overthinking it.
10:04I'm just worried about your injury.
10:06Is it still bleeding?
10:07Let me see.
10:08The truth is, when Logan first chased me, I kept saying no.
10:11I only said yes in the end because I was afraid.
10:14Someone had made a point of telling me about the girl before me, the dancer.
10:18Avery, be careful.
10:19Don't really set him off.
10:20I heard he's been digging into your family.
10:21People like Logan, we couldn't afford to cross him in 10 lifetimes.
10:25I was afraid of dying.
10:26I was more afraid of living through something worse than death.
10:29So I accepted him.
10:30And for a whole year, I'd kept my head down, careful with every step.
10:34And Logan had been good to me, devoted even, so much that sometimes I let myself dream impossible
10:40things.
10:40I lost my grip on reality.
10:42But I never imagined that lowering myself this far would buy me nothing but being handed
10:46off to another man like a chip on a table.
10:48My head was a tangled mess.
10:50Logan pressed me down to sit, then crouched in front of me.
10:53He looked down, took hold of my slim calf.
10:55You must have worked me up last night.
10:58Otherwise, why would I have been so rough?
11:00And parted my legs.
11:01He laughed softly and glanced up at me, then slowly began to lift the hem of my dress.
11:05I turned my face away and bit down on the inside of my lip, swallowing the sickness churning
11:10in my stomach.
11:10Just as he was about to pull away the last thin layer of fabric.
11:14Logan!
11:15Come to the study, now!
11:17Liam's voice, from the hallway, heavy with warning and a thread of barely leashed anger
11:21underneath.
11:21Logan muttered something that might have been a curse.
11:24But he stood up at once.
11:25Put it on yourself.
11:26I'll go deal with him.
11:28I took it and watched him leave the room.
11:30Only then, like a prisoner granted a stay, did I let out a long, ragged breath.
11:34My phone buzzed beside me.
11:35I picked it up.
11:36A text from an unknown number.
11:38This is Liam.
11:38Save my number.
11:41I stared at the small words on the screen for a long moment before I typed back.
11:45Okay.
11:46Liam didn't reply.
11:48And Logan didn't come back to the room.
11:50He called me from the campus instead.
11:53Something had gone wrong at his father's sportswear subsidiary.
11:56The one his family had set up.
11:58And he had to fly out for a few days.
12:00I could hear the strain in his voice.
12:02It sounded like more than a small problem.
12:05For me, at least, it bought a little room to breathe.
12:08The next morning, I got ready to head back to school.
12:11I'd barely come down the stairs when I ran into Liam again.
12:14This time, he was wearing his glasses.
12:16Nothing at all like the man who had kissed me so gently that night.
12:20I greeted him the way I had the very first time.
12:22Morning.
12:23Heading back to school?
12:26Yeah.
12:27It's on my way.
12:28I'll drive you.
12:29I started to refuse, but he went on.
12:31Logan's gone.
12:32As his brother looking after you is the least I can do.
12:35Eat something first.
12:36I forced down a few bites and set my fork aside.
12:39Liam said nothing.
12:40Just turned and walked out.
12:43I shouldered my bag and followed.
12:49When the car doors shut, he reached up and pressed the button raising the privacy partition.
12:55Liam?
12:56Nerves flickered through me.
12:57He took off his glasses and set them in the storage box.
13:01How's the injury?
13:03Better.
13:03A little better.
13:05My face went scarlet in an instant.
13:07If it's healed, use this.
13:11No!
13:12No!
13:13No!
13:13I don't need it!
13:14Logan already put medicine on it for me.
13:17There was nothing on Liam's face, which somehow made him more frightening.
13:20Take it.
13:22This one works better.
13:23Really?
13:23I don't need it!
13:25Logan was already upset that I mixed you two up.
13:29If he found out I took your ointment too, he'd yell at me for sure.
13:32Liam looked at me steadily, then slowly lowered his hand.
13:39You care about him that much?
13:40I pressed my lips together.
13:42He's my first boyfriend.
13:45He's always been so, so good to me.
13:48Letting a sweetness I didn't feel rise into my eyes.
13:51I really love him.
13:53Liam let out something that might have been a low laugh.
13:55Or maybe I imagined it.
13:57He didn't look at me again.
13:58Just leaned back.
13:58Gaze fixed calmly ahead.
14:00He didn't say another word the whole drive.
14:02When we reached the school parking lot, I thanked him quietly.
14:04Thank you for today.
14:05I'll go in now.
14:07Liam nodded faintly.
14:10Avery.
14:11I turned without thinking, straight into those clear, dark eyes.
14:14This ointment is the best there is for scars.
14:17Use it on the one on your calf.
14:19How do you know I have a scar on my calf?
14:21He didn't answer.
14:22He just placed the tube in my hand.
14:24I sat frozen for a second, then opened the door and got out.
14:27Liam got out after me, not looking at me once as he headed for the school building.
14:32I stood there a while before I took out my phone and answered Logan's text.
14:35I miss you too.
14:36Are you really not back for another ten days?
14:39About that long.
14:40But I'll wrap it up and come home as fast as I can.
14:42Okay.
14:43I'll wait for you.
14:44Time crawled forward.
14:46Those ten days without Logan were strangely peaceful.
14:49Liam never came near me once.
14:51That night started to feel like some absurd dream.
14:53Sometimes I even wondered, had it really been Liam?
14:56A person like that?
14:57So far above everyone.
14:58Untouchable.
14:59Why would he play such a vile game with his own brother?
15:01Friday afternoon, Logan texted to say he was going back to campus that night and told me to wait for
15:06him.
15:07Stonebridge had a handful of senior residence suites.
15:09Small private rooms in the old dorm wing.
15:12The kind the Legacy family's kids always ended up with.
15:14Logan's was one of them.
15:15I let myself in, showered, and lay on the couch scrolling my phone, waiting.
15:19And somewhere in the waiting, I fell asleep.
15:22I don't know how long.
15:23The sound of the door woke me.
15:25I sat up, bleary, and saw a tall figure walking toward me against the light.
15:29With him came that cold scent from that night.
15:31He came closer.
15:32No glasses.
15:33Exactly like that night.
15:34I reached out, asking to be held.
15:42Why are you back so late?
15:44I'm so tired from waiting.
15:46His breath seemed to catch.
15:48Then the arms around me tightened all at once, hard enough that I hissed.
15:56You're hurting me again.
15:57I only just healed.
16:00Don't you dare be rough with me tonight, Logan.
16:08Liam caught my chin.
16:10I couldn't fight his grip.
16:14What did you call me?
16:15So I had no choice but to turn and face him.
16:18His scalding breath brushed across my nose.
16:20My lashes trembled.
16:21And then he kissed me.
16:22Soft at first.
16:25Do you miss me?
16:26But the gentleness gave way fast to a sudden storm.
16:29I do.
16:30I answered, blurred.
16:32Miss who?
16:33Say it clearly.
16:34I miss Logan.
16:35He bit down hard on my lip.
16:37Logan.
16:37The pain made my tears spill over.
16:38I glared at him.
16:39Wounded.
16:40But before the name could leave my mouth, he stopped it with a kiss deeper and more reckless
16:44than before.
16:45And when I was fully pinned beneath him, claimed by him, only then did he take my face in his
16:50hands and brush the tears from the corners of my eyes with his thumb.
16:55I couldn't stop sobbing.
16:58Avery, I'll ask one more time.
17:00What do you call me?
17:03Sorry, sorry.
17:04Do you like it when I treat you this way?
17:07I cried so hard I choked, wanting to shake my head.
17:10But he kissed me until I couldn't move.
17:11All I could do was nod, whimpering.
17:13Only then did his kiss gentle again.
17:16Now from now on, I'll treat you like this every day, alright?
17:19You'll hurt me.
17:20It hurts like that.
17:21You were never this rough with me before.
17:24He pressed me to his chest.
17:27Did I hurt you tonight?
17:28Then did it feel good?
17:29I bit my lip.
17:30Cheeks burning.
17:31The body doesn't lie.
17:32I couldn't deny it.
17:33Liam had given me a pleasure Logan never had.
17:36Maybe it was the forbidden thrill.
17:37Or maybe I'd never liked Logan that much to begin with.
17:40It felt good.
17:41Something dark and hungry flared in his sated eyes.
17:44He flipped me beneath him again.
17:45From now on, only do this with me.
17:47Alright?
17:49I laughed under my breath.
17:50What are you talking about?
17:52Of course only with you, Logan.
17:55Don't say the name.
17:56His voice dropped hard.
17:57I blinked up.
17:58What's wrong with you?
17:59You're being so strange.
18:01But Liam only let go of my hands and gently covered my eyes.
18:06Avery.
18:06I love hearing you call me sir.
18:09Every time you do it does something to me.
18:12Call me that from now on.
18:14Always.
18:15And my fingers brushed an old scar at the web of his thumb.
18:18Something flickered across my mind.
18:20Fast as a spark.
18:21But I couldn't catch it.
18:22After a long moment, I answered low.
18:24Okay.
18:25Sir.
18:26Liam got the dorm wing to himself.
18:29A word to the right people.
18:30And the floor cleared out for the weekend.
18:32He stayed with me openly.
18:34Meals in the half-empty dining hall.
18:37Slow walks across the quad after dark.
18:39And at night, the endless, insatiable tangling.
18:43On the third night, he signed us both out.
18:46And drove off campus.
18:47Down to the marina at the edge of town.
18:50We ate fresh-caught fish at one of the dockside places.
18:53Built out over the water.
18:55I drank a lot of the wine.
18:57And by the time we left, I couldn't walk straight.
19:00Liam carried me back to the car on his back.
19:03His fingers grazed the old scar on my calf.
19:06And he asked, naturally.
19:09How did you hurt your leg so badly?
19:12When I was little, there was this awful kid.
19:14So mean.
19:17His family was loaded.
19:19All the other kids circled around him, sucking up to him.
19:22Not me.
19:23The more I ignored him, the more he wouldn't leave me alone.
19:28But I wasn't some idle little rich boy with nothing to do.
19:32I had to help my parents run their food stall.
19:36Look after my little brother.
19:38Change his diapers.
19:40Feed him.
19:40He kept pestering me until I'd had it, so I got in a fight with him.
19:45I was small.
19:47Couldn't beat a boy, obviously.
19:50He shoved me down and I cracked my leg open on the edge of a planter.
19:54Blood everywhere.
19:57He didn't get off easy either, though.
20:01I grabbed his hand and bit him as hard as I could.
20:04Sank my teeth right in.
20:05My whole mouth was full of blood.
20:07He had no spine at all.
20:08Just bawled, screaming.
20:12He wasn't really bad, though.
20:14Just kind of spoiled.
20:17Afterward, he even brought me medicine.
20:19Tried to cheer me up.
20:21Said the scar was shaped like a flower petal.
20:24That it was actually pretty.
20:27And after that?
20:29Don't remember.
20:30He left pretty soon, I think.
20:32Picked up by his parents, probably.
20:35Back then I had work that never ended.
20:38Who'd remember stuff like that?
20:44I heard Liam say my name.
20:48Avery.
20:49He seemed to say something after it, but I didn't catch it.
20:53The day Logan actually came back, Liam set up a dinner.
20:57Liam reserved a private dining room and put the three of us at the same table.
21:01I asked him, on purpose.
21:03Liam, Logan's been back a few days already.
21:07Why are you only doing this dinner today?
21:09Liam looked at me for a long time without answering.
21:11I shrank back and ran off to find Logan.
21:14I didn't look back, but I could feel it the whole time.
21:18Liam's gaze following me.
21:20At dinner that night, Logan's mood was foul.
21:23Maybe the trip hadn't gone well.
21:25When he reached for his third drink, I lightly pressed my hand over his glass.
21:29Sir, drink less. Your stomach's bad.
21:32The words weren't even finished before two pairs of eyes snapped to my face.
21:36Liam always had impeccable manners.
21:39Even here he wore a full blazer, sitting straight-backed.
21:42But now his knife clinked clumsily against the porcelain plate.
21:46Logan's brow furrowed too.
21:48What did you just call me?
21:53Sir, why?
21:55Avery!
21:57Logan!
21:58Who the hell are you calling sir?
22:00What the fuck have you been doing behind my back?
22:05You said it yourself.
22:07You said you liked it when I called you that.
22:09Bullshit!
22:10When did I ever say-
22:17You said it with your own mouth.
22:19You said you liked me calling you sir.
22:22You told me to call you that lately.
22:24Liam slowly set down his knife and fork.
22:27He rose.
22:28The pressure rolling off him chilled the room.
22:30My crying dropped away.
22:32An unspeakable terror crawled up my spine.
22:35Maybe Liam's polished surface had fooled me.
22:38He was, in fact, far more frightening than Logan.
22:41I started to shake and couldn't stop.
22:44Liam's gaze landed on me for only two short seconds.
22:47But my whole back went damp with sweat.
22:49Don't bully a girl.
22:52Come with me.
22:53We'll talk.
22:56When the door shut behind them, my phone lit with a text.
23:00From Liam.
23:01Four words.
23:02Don't be afraid.
23:03I'm here.
23:04I looked at those words.
23:06Wiped my eyes.
23:07And slowly lowered myself into a chair.
23:10Then I covered my face and laughed at myself.
23:12Did Liam think I didn't know?
23:14Or that I wouldn't remember?
23:16The day he transferred in.
23:18At the welcome reception the trustees threw.
23:20Someone had congratulated him on his coming engagement.
23:24Some arrangement with another old money family.
23:26He hadn't denied it.
23:28And a man about to be engaged.
23:30Playing a game like this with his own twin.
23:32It was just one last thrill before it was all settled.
23:35Or some indulgence of an ugly little appetite hidden beneath that flawless face.
23:41But what had I done to deserve it?
23:43Why should I be a plaything passed between the two of them?
23:49They'd ended up in an empty classroom in the academic wing.
23:52The corridor outside dark and deserted.
23:55Don't you think you've taken this too far?
23:58Born of the same mother.
24:00Twins.
24:01And yet from childhood, Logan had fallen short of him in everything.
24:06Liam, brilliant in ways ordinary people weren't,
24:10had won the affection of every elder in the Hayes family.
24:13And with it, in time, the inheritance.
24:17Logan was left to be a spendthrift wastrel.
24:20Countless people envied him.
24:22And none of them knew how often he envied Liam.
24:25Hated Liam.
24:26And yet, because of a shadow that went back as far as he could remember,
24:31feared him down to the bone.
24:33The contradiction gnawed at him.
24:36Robbed him of sleep.
24:37If I remember right.
24:40You were the one who lost her to me that night.
24:42But you don't touch girls.
24:44You've got no interest in them at all.
24:46I thought you'd never lay a hand on her.
24:48I thought you'd find her dirty.
24:51Logan wouldn't admit the rest.
24:53That night, handing Avery over, had been mostly about one thing.
24:59Humiliating Liam.
25:00A girl Logan had grown tired of.
25:02And Liam wanted her in secret.
25:05Did Liam think he couldn't see it?
25:07The first time Liam laid eyes on Avery, his expression had changed.
25:1218 years as brothers.
25:14And that was the first time Logan had ever seen Liam's gaze catch and hold on a girl.
25:20He'd even looked at Avery's legs.
25:22Twice.
25:23So Logan had hatched the absurd idea.
25:26Use a girlfriend he was sick of.
25:28To humiliate the brother who'd always stood over him.
25:31It would feel good.
25:33A thrill.
25:34What he never expected was that Liam.
25:36A man with an absurd, obsessive aversion to mess.
25:40Would actually touch her.
25:42And he never expected that the night Liam took her away.
25:46He himself would lie awake the whole night through.
25:50Restless.
25:51The cheerleader girl he'd taken away that night.
25:54He'd been certain he'd do something with her.
25:57But in the end he'd pushed her away.
25:59His whole mind had been somewhere else.
26:02Was Liam kissing Avery?
26:04Touching her.
26:05The way I would.
26:06How would she react?
26:08Could she tell it wasn't me?
26:10Would she yield to him as sweetly, as obediently, as she does beneath me?
26:16The thought tormented him to distraction.
26:18He'd gone back to the dorm at first light.
26:21When someone told him Liam had left at six, the same as always.
26:26He'd been flooded with relief.
26:28But then he saw Avery come down the stairs covered in marks.
26:32Shy and sweet.
26:34Complaining that he'd been too rough and hurt her.
26:36And in that instant, he could have killed.
26:39He'd had many girls.
26:41Leaving them.
26:42Passing them off.
26:44He'd never felt a flicker of reluctance.
26:46He'd assumed Avery was the same.
26:49And in that moment, he finally understood.
26:52She wasn't.
26:53From the very start, she had never been like the others.
26:57He'd forgotten.
26:59Avery was the only girl he'd fallen for at first sight.
27:02And then chased in earnest.
27:05And he'd badly underestimated how much she weighed in his own heart.
27:10Find her dirty?
27:12Liam suddenly rose and crossed to Logan.
27:15It was perhaps the first real crack in his composure all day.
27:19The first time a man so sparing with words said this much at once.
27:23I don't know why you talk about your own girlfriend that way.
27:26And I don't agree that a girl who's had a boyfriend who's had sex is somehow dirty.
27:33Say one more thing like that about her. Go on. Try.
27:42Liam.
27:44You set me up on purpose.
27:46That night you did it deliberately.
27:49Baited me into bedding.
27:50Because you wanted her.
27:51Because you wanted to take her from me.
27:53If you were truly in earnest about her, no one could take her.
27:57So I'll say this one last time, Logan.
27:59The opening was yours to give.
28:02You put her in my hands.
28:05So what? You think she'll be with you willingly?
28:07She's poor, badly born, but she's stubborn to the core and proud to the bone.
28:10If she finds out you disguised yourself as me to play her, what do you think she'll do?
28:13She'll hate me, and she'll hate you just as much.
28:17So what?
28:19If I hadn't taken your bet that night, hadn't taken her away,
28:23would you have gambled her off to a third man?
28:26I wouldn't have.
28:27You would have!
28:29Other people may not know it, but you do.
28:31You'd had enough of her, grown tired of her.
28:34There was a younger, prettier girl already waiting to spend the night with you.
28:37Say it yourself, Logan.
28:39Isn't that right?
28:40Logan ground his jaw, breath heaving.
28:43And yet, somehow, he couldn't get out a single word in his own defense.
28:51You'd better worry about getting yourself through this first.
28:55That mess with father's sportswear line.
28:57The one the boosters front the money for.
29:00If you can't put a convincing story behind it,
29:03you can forget about keeping your spot here at all.
29:07It was you again?
29:09Logan came to it late, then jolted with the realization.
29:13How convenient.
29:14Liam barely transferred in, and suddenly,
29:17every project with Logan's name on it was falling apart at once.
29:22Every step laid out in advance.
29:25For night after night of stolen pleasure,
29:27he turned on his own brother,
29:30and set even the family's interests aside to do it.
29:33What if it was?
29:36If you had a shirk of skill or nerve,
29:38you wouldn't be at everyone's mercy at every turn.
29:45Do you tell her the truth yourself, or do I?
29:48Why?
29:49Why our whole lives, did you have to be one step above me in everything?
29:53You had it good off at that school in another state.
29:55Why did you suddenly have to come back here?
29:57You've got girls lining up for you.
29:58You've got a fiancé who's the most sought after girl in our whole circle.
30:01Why did you have to come and fight me for Avery?
30:06Standing a step above you all our lives.
30:08That was just each of us playing the hand we had.
30:11You think a single thing you own is something I'd want?
30:14Then what about Avery?
30:16Liam was about to answer.
30:18The study door was suddenly shoved open hard.
30:24I stood there outside the classroom, numb, trembling like a leaf in the wind.
30:30My face was bloodless, streaked all over with tears.
30:33A friend had dragged me into the theatre society.
30:36I'd picked up a little about acting.
30:38It was all coming in handy now.
30:40Avery.
30:42I stared at him blankly.
30:44Then I slowly moved my gaze to Logan's face and held it there.
30:47Not blinking.
30:49Just letting the tears run straight down.
30:51A man's guilt toward a woman is a weapon that never misses.
30:55The opening would vanish in a blink.
30:57And right now was the perfect moment.
31:01Logan.
31:02Avery.
31:04Don't come near me.
31:05Avery, let me explain.
31:06I-
31:06Logan, you're my first man.
31:07My first love.
31:08You know how much I cared about you.
31:10How much I loved you.
31:11I could accept that your heart changed, that you stopped loving me.
31:13But I can't accept that you gave me away.
31:16This past year with you I was so happy.
31:18So happy.
31:19No one had ever been as good to me as you were.
31:22And it turns out it was all just a dream I had.
31:25Avery.
31:26It's not like that.
31:27Let me explain.
31:27I can explain.
31:30Logan, I'm awake now.
31:32I'll never dream again.
31:34As the last word landed, I suddenly spun and ran for the second floor balcony.
31:40Below the balcony was a small garden.
31:42The gardener had just turned the soil yesterday.
31:45I'd take only the lightest injury.
31:47But the sight of a girl throwing herself off a balcony would be devastating.
31:51And I'd bet right.
31:53As Liam and Logan came chasing after me,
31:55I went over the railing without an instant's hesitation.
31:59As though I'd made up my mind to die.
32:01I heard them screaming my name behind me.
32:04I couldn't tell whose voice it was.
32:06In the brief plunge downward, I smiled, mocking.
32:11The whole campus fell into chaos.
32:13Liam, who was so far above everyone, who never appeared in public with a single crease in his shirt,
32:19now had mud caked on his trousers, and didn't notice at all.
32:23He reached out as if to hold me, then didn't dare touch.
32:27I lay curled on the dirt, my foot bent at a sickening, swollen angle.
32:32Avery, don't be afraid.
32:33The nurse is coming.
32:42Footsteps came pounding up the path, then closed in fast.
32:45The school's night nurse, kit in hand.
32:49I'm not going to the infirmary.
32:51Don't help me.
32:54I don't want to see you ever again, Logan.
32:59Avery.
33:05And I don't want to see you ever again either, Liam.
33:08Once two people have known each other's bodies,
33:11the boy will always carry some thin softness toward the girl.
33:14That sliver of softness was exactly what I wanted.
33:17Let the nurse look at you first, Avery.
33:19Be good.
33:20Not until you promise me.
33:22Or I won't let her touch me.
33:24This is not the time to be stubborn.
33:27Get her onto the stretcher.
33:29Don't move, Avery.
33:32But I wouldn't listen.
33:33At the break in the bone, the torn skin had split open and was bleeding.
33:38The blood ran slowly down over the old scar on my calf.
33:41Staining red that faded.
33:43Faded flower.
33:44Liam's pupils contracted all at once.
33:47In an instant, the color drained from his whole face.
33:50Stop moving.
33:55I promise you,
33:57neither Logan nor I will ever appear in front of you again.
34:03Sir, we trust you this way.
34:06That day at the campus, Liam had made that promise in front of many people.
34:10So through all my days in the infirmary, neither he nor Logan appeared even once.
34:14When I was finally cleared to leave, the Hayes family lawyer came to see me.
34:19A mild, well-mannered man.
34:21Miss Carter.
34:22Liam says that whatever you need, you have only to ask.
34:25Anything within his power.
34:28I want a sum of money.
34:30And I want to transfer, finish school somewhere far from here.
34:34My family was bad.
34:35Two older sisters above me.
34:37A younger brother below.
34:38My father was diagnosed with a serious illness.
34:42Both my sisters had dropped out early to work.
34:44And neither was doing well.
34:45I wanted to give my family a little money.
34:48Enough, at least, to make their lives somewhat easier.
34:51The money's long been arranged.
34:53As for the transfer, whichever school, whichever city you'd like, it can be done.
34:59Please give Liam my, my thanks.
35:05Miss Carter.
35:07Is there nothing you'd like to say to Liam?
35:10I looked down at my own thin wrist.
35:12Slender enough that it seemed a light snap would break it.
35:15Like an ordinary girl like me.
35:17In their eyes, nothing more than a plaything to be traded away at a whim.
35:22Maybe Liam really did like me.
35:24Maybe there was some sliver of true feeling.
35:26But true feeling set against money and standing, weighs nothing at all.
35:32There is...
35:36Please tell Liam.
35:38I hope the rest of his life is safe and smooth.
35:41Miss Carter?
35:43Nothing else?
35:44But I had already lain back down.
35:46He couldn't linger, and could only turn and leave.
35:56When I walked out of the infirmary for the last time, I saw Liam.
35:59He was standing under the row of oaks at the edge of the quad.
36:02He was a gentleman about it.
36:04He kept his promise and didn't come toward me.
36:07Didn't disturb me.
36:08And I, I didn't look back either.
36:12Liam sank down against the tree trunk and closed his eyes.
36:15It was as if he'd returned to that night.
36:17He had known about Logan's bet in advance.
36:20That was why, so unlike himself, he'd gone to that absurd party.
36:23So unlike himself, he'd gambled with his brother that once.
36:26He couldn't stand by and watch Avery.
36:28The truth was, that night he hadn't meant to do anything to Avery.
36:32But she had put her arms around him.
36:34She had said he smelled good.
36:35And he hadn't been able to stop himself.
36:37He'd lowered his head and kissed her.
36:39And she hadn't resisted in the slightest.
36:41She'd even answered him, sweet and pliant.
36:43In that instant, his selfishness, his greed, had won out.
36:46He'd thought, basely.
36:48Then let me have her once, under Logan's name.
36:50But some things, some people, you cannot touch.
36:53After the first time, you want a second.
36:56You want it without end.
36:57When he heard Logan say he'd take her back to the room,
36:59the last thread in him broke clean through.
37:02He'd thought, then let me fall all the way.
37:04Even if, in the end, she sentences me to death.
37:07But he had never imagined she would sever herself from them both in a way so absolute.
37:11She said she never wanted to see him again.
37:13Liam suddenly opened his eyes.
37:15He looked down at the old scar at the web of his thumb.
37:17The year she had bitten him, savage, blood everywhere.
37:20She had said the same thing then.
37:23My second year at college in the city,
37:26I ran into one of Logan's old friends from Stonebridge on the street.
37:29Avery! Long time no see!
37:31What are you doing here?
37:32Come on, let's eat. No refusing.
37:33Speaking of which, I've been thinking about Logan lately.
37:35Do you remember him?
37:36His brother originally planned to send him to a boarding school across the whole country,
37:39but somehow he ended up staying at Stonebridge.
37:41Honestly, he studied a lot.
37:42He actually business his dad left for him now.
37:44He took it seriously after everything that happened.
37:46And another thing, he hasn't dated one ever since.
37:48There was a party once.
37:49Someone happened to bring up your name and the look on his face.
37:51The truth is, at first, I hadn't liked Logan much.
37:54Maybe it was a prejudice I'd brought in from the start.
37:57Toward boys born to that kind of money and standing,
37:59I'd always kept my guard up.
38:01Later, he was truly good to me.
38:02I was young.
38:03When a golden boy like that lowers himself in front of you,
38:06of course your heart stirs.
38:08But before I could do anything foolish, reality woke me up.
38:12Though, he and his brother Liam seem to be on pretty bad terms now.
38:16Liam was supposed to get engaged this year too, I think.
38:18That fell through.
38:19And the girl everyone said he was promised to,
38:21she's gone and gotten engaged to someone else.
38:23I've got class.
38:24Let's do this another time when there's a champ.
38:27Avery, is there really no chance for you and Logan?
38:29You know, Logan really was a bit reckless back then.
38:30But from what I know, you two just had him understanding.
38:32He honestly never slept with that girl.
38:33Could we please not bring him up again?
38:35Alright.
38:35Thanks for dinner. Goodbye then.
38:37Hey, no need to be polite with me.
38:38Avery, come back to town and visit sometime.
38:39Everyone misses you.
38:40We'll see.
38:41A black car drove past me.
38:43My step caught just for a moment.
38:45But the car didn't pause an instant.
38:46It sped on ahead.
38:47I looked down, smiled, shook my head, and kept walking.
38:51Waiting at the crosswalk, the wind picked up.
38:55Hey, Avery.
38:56I turned without thinking,
38:57and looked straight into a pair of deep, dark eyes.
39:01Liam stood at the intersection.
39:02His black car parked behind him.
39:05Avery.
39:05He wasn't wearing glasses.
39:07Finner than two years ago.
39:09The line of his jaw sharper.
39:11What are you doing here?
39:13Passing through.
39:14Passing through.
39:15This is a college town.
39:16It's at least four hours from your city.
39:18He didn't answer.
39:20Just kept looking at me.
39:22His gaze heavy.
39:23Let me drive you back to campus.
39:25No.
39:28Alright.
39:32Avery.
39:33His footsteps followed, matching my pace, a few feet behind.
39:37What do you want from me, Liam?
39:40I want to talk to you.
39:42We have nothing to talk about.
39:44You promised.
39:45Both of you.
39:46I know what I promised.
39:47Then why are you here?
39:49For a second he said nothing.
39:50Then he reached into his pocket and took out a business card.
39:53If you change your mind.
39:55I looked at the card.
39:56White.
39:57Embossed letters.
39:58His name and a phone number.
40:00I took it and turned it over.
40:02Then I tore it in half.
40:04Then in half again.
40:05I let the pieces fall to the sidewalk.
40:08Don't come back.
40:09I turned and walked away.
40:11This time he didn't follow.
40:13I made it two blocks before I stopped.
40:15I leaned against a wall and pressed my palms to my eyes.
40:18My hands were shaking.
40:19When I got back to my dorm, something fell out of the pocket.
40:23A white card.
40:25The same business card.
40:26He must have slipped it in while I was tearing the other one.
40:29I hadn't felt a thing.
40:30I stared at it for a long moment.
40:32Then I opened my desk drawer, put it inside, and closed it.
40:36I flopped onto the bed and stared at the ceiling.
40:39Two years of quiet.
40:41Of nothing.
40:41I thought I'd built a safe life here.
40:44And Liam had found me in three days.
40:47I didn't call him.
40:48I went to class, as usual.
40:50I studied.
40:51I ate at the dining hall with my roommate.
40:53Everything normal.
40:54But lying on my dorm bed, my thoughts suddenly drifted back.
40:58At the marina, after too much wine,
41:01I'd told Liam exactly how I got the scar on my calf.
41:04Back then, I hadn't thought much of it.
41:06It was just an old childhood story.
41:09But now, lying alone in my dorm room,
41:11I found myself remembering it again.
41:14The memory felt sharper now than it had in years.
41:16When I was little, there had been a boy whose family was richer than anyone else in the neighborhood.
41:21He was spoiled, stubborn, and always surrounded by other kids trying to impress him.
41:27For some reason, he loved bothering me.
41:29Maybe it was because I never paid attention to him.
41:32The more I ignored him, the more determined he became.
41:35One afternoon, he followed me around for nearly an hour, refusing to leave me alone.
41:41Eventually, I lost my temper and shoved him.
41:43He shoved me back.
41:44We ended up fighting beside a row of concrete planters.
41:48I was smaller than he was and stood no chance.
41:50He pushed me hard enough that I lost my balance and slammed into the edge of a planter.
41:55The pain came instantly.
41:56I looked down and saw blood pouring down my calf.
42:00I remember sitting on the ground crying while he stood there looking horrified.
42:04Then, because I was furious and hurt and eight years old,
42:07I grabbed his hand and bit him as hard as I could.
42:10He screamed.
42:12There was blood on his hand and blood on my leg.
42:15Both of us were crying by the time adults came running over.
42:17A few days later, he showed up carrying medicine.
42:20I thought he had come to laugh at me.
42:22Instead, he crouched beside me and stared at the bandage on my leg.
42:27It doesn't look that bad.
42:29It looks like a flower petal.
42:33The day I jumped from the balcony, the blood ran over that same scar.
42:37Liam's face went white the moment he saw it.
42:40I climbed down from the bed and opened the storage box beneath my desk.
42:43Inside were old notebooks, photographs.
42:46After several minutes of searching, I found it.
42:48That year, there was a large photograph.
42:51Mr. and Mrs. Hayes, Logan, and Liam.
42:54My eyes fixed on Liam's right hand.
42:56At the web between his thumb and index finger, a scar.
42:59The boy who had called my scar a flower petal.
43:01The boy I had bitten until his hand bled.
43:04What if it had been Liam all along?
43:07Liam's version of that year starts the summer before.
43:10He saw me first at a scholarship dinner.
43:12He attended as a trustee representative.
43:15I stood on stage, accepting an award, wearing a dress that didn't fit quite right.
43:19I looked nervous, but I spoke clearly, thanked the donors, and walked off without looking back.
43:24He didn't think much of it, not then.
43:26Keep an eye on your brother.
43:28Logan's getting sloppy.
43:30Drinking too much.
43:31Chasing girls.
43:32The family name needs protecting.
43:34Liam arrived in September.
43:36At the private welcome reception, someone pointed out Logan's girlfriend.
43:39He saw how Logan talked to me.
43:41Casual.
43:42Dismissive.
43:44Your brother's putting his girl on the table tonight?
43:46You coming?
43:47The night of the bet, he knew about it before it happened.
43:50Liam came.
43:51He told himself he was there to stop it.
43:53To take me out of that room and tell me the truth.
43:55Then I hugged him, called him Logan, and told him he smelled good.
43:58He couldn't stop himself.
43:59He kissed me, and I kissed him back.
44:01At that moment, he didn't want to be the good one anymore.
44:04He wanted to be the one I chose.
44:06So he kept up the lie, night after night.
44:08He told himself it was temporary, that he'd confess when the time was right.
44:12Then I jumped off the balcony, and he realized the time would never be right.
44:16The lawyer went in the next morning.
44:18Liam had written the check himself, added three zeros to what the lawyer suggested.
44:22The lawyer came back and said, she wants to go far away.
44:25He didn't ask the lawyer to pass on a message, but the lawyer asked her anyway.
44:29Please tell Liam.
44:31I hope the rest of his life is safe and smooth.
44:34Liam went to his room and stayed there for two days.
44:37I didn't call.
44:38I waited a week.
44:40Then two.
44:40Then I found myself standing outside the coffee shop, where I'd seen him walk in three days
44:45in a row.
44:45He wasn't there by accident.
44:47He was there because he knew this was where I came on Thursday afternoons.
44:51I pushed the door open.
44:54I walked up to his table and sat down across from him.
44:57Tell me everything.
44:59From the beginning.
45:00The night of the bet.
45:02He told me everything.
45:03He came to stop the bet, but he kissed me instead.
45:06He kept pretending because he wanted more.
45:08He remembered the fight.
45:09He knew I was the girl who bit him.
45:12Two years.
45:13You had two years to tell me you knew who I was if it matters.
45:17I didn't think it mattered.
45:19Don't come back here again, Liam.
45:20I will.
45:21I'll come back.
45:21Every day if I have to.
45:23I waited two years because you asked me to.
45:25I'll wait two more, but I'll be here.
45:28I walked halfway down the block and stopped.
45:30I leaned against a wall and closed my eyes.
45:32Liam was the boy.
45:33The one who said my scar looked like a flower petal.
45:36The one I bit.
45:36The one who brought me medicine.
45:38The one who watched me fall and didn't catch me.
45:40I walked back to my dorm and opened the drawer, looking at the card.
45:43Then I heard someone call my name again.
45:45I looked out the window.
45:46For a moment, I thought it was Liam again.
45:48But I knew it was Logan.
45:51Avery, I know.
45:52I just...
45:52Someone told me Liam came to see you.
45:54I thought if he was breaking the promise lately, how things I could too work.
45:57You shouldn't be here.
45:57That's not how promises work.
45:59No.
45:59I know.
46:00Two years ago, I was...
46:01I know that's not enough to say.
46:03But I wanted you to hear it from me.
46:04Not through someone else.
46:05I don't need an apology, Logan.
46:07What do you need?
46:07I need you to leave, both of you.
46:09I built something here.
46:10Small, quiet.
46:11Mine.
46:12And you two show up in the same week and act like I'm still the girl from two years ago.
46:14I'm not.
46:15I don't wanna be.
46:16I know you won't hate Liam either.
46:17But I don't want either of you.
46:18Not anymore.
46:19Not the way you want me.
46:20The boy I'd been afraid of for a year.
46:22The boy who'd thrown me into a card game like I was nothing.
46:25Who'd stood by and let his brother touch me.
46:27Claim me.
46:28Ruin me.
46:29Is there anything I can do?
46:30You can go home.
46:31Take care of your family's business.
46:33Stop gambling girls away.
46:36Okay.
46:37I meant what I said.
46:38About you being the only one.
46:40Then he got into a car and drove away.
46:42A week passed.
46:43Then two.
46:44On the third Thursday, I walked into the coffee shop.
46:46Liam was sitting at the same table.
46:48He looked up when I came in.
46:50I walked over and sat down across from him.
46:52Two years.
46:53You said you'd wait two years?
46:56Yes.
46:56Then start counting.
46:57Is even up himself at the end in a nothing.
46:57So.
46:58Over Mohamed.
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